And...they're off to Nevada! According to the latest oh-so-reliable polls, Saturday's primary is predicted to be a close match between Senators Clinton and Obama on the Democratic side, whereas Mitt Romney appears to be the favorite in the anyone-goes Republic field.
But as we know, we do not have a direct-election system in Murka; we elect representatives who, essentially, vote for us. The regular guy or gal who goes to the voting booth (or caucus) during the primaries is only the beginning of the process, which culminates in a final delegate count during the National Conventions in July. Delegates can be either pledged, unpledged or uncommitted to a particular candidate. There are also superdelegates, who are usually high-ranking Party officials. The delegates that are pledged, as far as I can find out, do not change their votes during the primaries unless their candidate drops out of the race.
The common wisdom about the delegate counts is that they are very close on the Democratic side, with Obama narrowly in the lead. The Republic count has Romney with a comfortable lead.
But what if we take a look at pledged delegates and superdelegates too? The picture changes dramatically on the Democratic side, showing Hillary with a large lead, and John Edwards, unfortunately, not making a strong showing.
Don't get me wrong. I still think the race is wide open and that anyone could win on either side of the aisle. In fact, my very very super-secret hope is that the Democratic convention will be brokered - no candidate having enough delegates to win - at which point, AL GORE COULD BE DRAFTED! (I know, I know. A girl's gotta have dreams.)
My real question is, why isn't the traditional media mentioning the pledged delegates and the superdelegates when they show the count?
Oh, that's right. They think we're idiots. Got it.
And now, back to your 900th hour of "American Idol!"
But as we know, we do not have a direct-election system in Murka; we elect representatives who, essentially, vote for us. The regular guy or gal who goes to the voting booth (or caucus) during the primaries is only the beginning of the process, which culminates in a final delegate count during the National Conventions in July. Delegates can be either pledged, unpledged or uncommitted to a particular candidate. There are also superdelegates, who are usually high-ranking Party officials. The delegates that are pledged, as far as I can find out, do not change their votes during the primaries unless their candidate drops out of the race.
The common wisdom about the delegate counts is that they are very close on the Democratic side, with Obama narrowly in the lead. The Republic count has Romney with a comfortable lead.
But what if we take a look at pledged delegates and superdelegates too? The picture changes dramatically on the Democratic side, showing Hillary with a large lead, and John Edwards, unfortunately, not making a strong showing.
Don't get me wrong. I still think the race is wide open and that anyone could win on either side of the aisle. In fact, my very very super-secret hope is that the Democratic convention will be brokered - no candidate having enough delegates to win - at which point, AL GORE COULD BE DRAFTED! (I know, I know. A girl's gotta have dreams.)
My real question is, why isn't the traditional media mentioning the pledged delegates and the superdelegates when they show the count?
Oh, that's right. They think we're idiots. Got it.
And now, back to your 900th hour of "American Idol!"
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