Choose Your Poison: It's All About The Delegates, Baby! Article by Craig Dixon, southcoast247.com correspondent
ahh, glory days
You've heard it before. In American politics, it's not about the popular vote: It's the delegates that matter.
In these 2008 Presidential primaries, delegates are a big deal. Well, at least on the Democratic side they are. As I write this (2/12/08), Obama just regained the delegate lead from Clinton for the first time since Iowa. The two are currently separated by less than twenty, and promise to be close throughout the remainder of the race. Delegate totals will be extremely important at the Democratic National Committee in Denver at the end of the summer. Unless something drastic happens, the party will not see a clear-cut winner.
Yet, few Americans understand the idea of delegates. Over the course of these primaries, I've been asked, "What's the deal with delegates?" "How can a candidate win the popular vote, yet still lose the delegate count?" And, "Why is California more important to a candidate than Rhode Island?"
Well, I could begin by saying that Cali has hotter female talent and better surf than RI, but that's neither here nor there. So, go on and get a snack. Take a bathroom break. Because this delegatsplanation is going to take awhile.
Bare bones, delegates are representatives of a state's population. Given this explanation, a state like California with a monstrous population is going to have higher delegate value than, say, a small state like Rhode Island. That's why you hear the media talking about how important California is to a candidate. And that's why candidates spend so much time there.
Furthermore, a heavily populated city like Boston is more valuable to candidates than a lesser-populated city like New Bedford, because more delegates are available in these areas and delegates usually vote with their constituencies. This explains why, though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada, Barack Obama performed better in the more heavily populated voting districts and took 13 total delegates to her 12.
Confused yet?
Now, depending on the party, we have different rules on how delegates are divided. The Democratic party divides delegates based upon percentages of the popular vote. So, if a candidate gets 40 percent of the vote, she'd win 40 percent of that state's delegates. 30, 30, and so on. However, if a candidate wins less than 15 percent of the popular vote, he isn't awarded any delegates. Zero.
Unsurprisingly, the Republican party works differently. Many states use a "winner take all" system. So, if a candidate wins the popular vote in a state by as little as a single vote, he wins all the delegates. In their proportional system, a candidate wins delegates by percentage of the popular vote. The Republican National Committee doesn't require a 15 percent threshold like the DNC, but states are allowed to decide for themselves if they want to require a cutoff.
There are some major differences between the delegates of the parties. For one, the DNC has 4,049 delegates, while the RNC has 2,380. It takes 2,025 delegates to earn the DNC presidential nomination, 1,191 for the Republicans.
The Dems have two types of delegates: Pledged and superdelegates. 3,253 are pledged, 796 super. Pledged delegates are chosen on the state or local level with the understanding that they will support that district's chosen candidate at the convention. Superdelegates are members of Congress, governors, national committee members or party leaders.
Though all delegates are expected to vote for the candidate of their constituency (this is good practice if one would like to get reelected), they aren't obliged to do so. This can lead to some interesting backroom wheeling and dealing by the candidates as they attempt to sway delegates their way.
The Republicans also have two types of delegates: Pledged and unpledged. 1,917 are pledged, 463 unpledged. Pledged delegates are chosen on the state or local level, and have to indicate support for a particular candidate at the convention. Unpledged delegates are not required to indicate support, but most do so.
Still confused? You're not alone. Math makes my brain hurt. But, until we have two candidates in the final showdown, we'll just have to deal with the complexities of delegate counting. In the mean time, you can always comfort yourself with the idea that district by district, state by state, our nation is moving closer to choosing a new president, turning the final page on Premier Bush's disastrous administration.
You've heard it before. In American politics, it's not about the popular vote: It's the delegates that matter.
