As a result of the March 4 contests, the Democrats do not have clear nominee yet. While Senator Barack Obama of Illinois still leads over Senator Hillary Clinton of New York in delegates, his momentum has slowed down. At the same time, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York has regained her momentum. But, both Democratic frontrunners are virtually tied.
Hillary Clinton had won the Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island primaries while Barack Obama had won the Vermont primary. Texas and Ohio were considered “must win” states for Hillary Clinton. Her husband, former United States President Bill Clinton had even acknowledged she would have to win both Texas and Ohio.
But, Texas still remains a big issue. The delegate rules in Texas set by the state’s Democratic Party could be considered to be quite interesting. It was revealed that the state of Texas has both a primary and a caucus. Weeks before the March 4 contests, Hillary Clinton was trying to get the rules changed. In preparation for the contests, Clinton said to her supporters to vote twice.
In that regard, supporters would have to vote for her early in the day. Then they would have to return later in the evening to take part in the caucusing.
Regardless, Clinton has neutralized Obama’s winning streak which has started after the Super Tuesday contests. Still, Obama has a marginal lead over Clinton because the delegates are allocated proportionally. This differs from Republican delegates which is winner take all.
In a previous article, Mike Huckabee who had recently dropped out of the GOP race said that the Republican Party should adopt the method that the Democratic Party uses. Huckabee’s withdrawal from the race further helped John McCain cement the nomination from the Republican Party.
Due to how the Democratic delegates are allocated and the results of recent contests, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are still virtually tied. However, if the allocation of delegates was like the method used by the Republicans, it could have been a different story.
There is a chance this could go up to the Democratic National Convention. However, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that a nominee could be decided even before then.
The next major Democratic contest is seven weeks away to be held on April 22, in the state of Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, there will be 158 delegates up for grabs. However, there are plenty of concerns raised.
“Pennsylvania on paper is a good state for Clinton. It’s a lot like Ohio demographically. Like in Ohio, she has the support of the very politically active governor, Ed Rendell. So I think Obama has his work cut out for him there,” according to Time magazine political analyst, Mark Halperin.
But, there is still a problem. There are not enough votes left among the pledged delegates to determine who will clinch the Democratic nomination. Ultimately, it will be up to the superdelegates. These delegates are unpledged and can vote for whoever they want. Currently, Clinton has 238 while Obama has 199.
Nancy Pelosi said that it is time for the rest of the superdelegates to make the necessary choices.
However, Clinton has been fighting to have the votes in both Florida and Michigan to count. She had won both contests. But, the victories did not count as they were punished for violating rules for having their primaries early.
There is the possibility of doing the primary contest over in Florida. But, the main problem is funding.
On a side note, a friend of mine is one of the superdelegates.
Leave Your Comments