The Real Delegate Count

Does not include al those mind changing superdelegates.

via [ Election Center 2008 - Election & Politics News from CNN.com ]

Barack Obama cruised past a fading Hillary Rodham Clinton

Obama Wins Wis. Primary, Hawaii Caucus:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama cruised past a fading Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Wisconsin primary and Hawaii caucuses Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in a Democratic presidential race for the ages.

The twin triumphs made 10 straight for Obama, and left the former first lady in desperate need of a comeback in a race she long commanded as front-runner.

It's not looking good for Hillary. People don't like her going negative.

Allocation of the 20 Hawaii delegates was not being calculated until later Wednesday.

The network commentators like John King on CNN are now asking people to exclude the Superdelegate count when looking at the race to see who is ahead.

Like I've been saying all along.

Superdelegates are going to change their minds and back the front runner.

CNN Delegate Scorecard Excluding Superdelegates

Based on:

Election Center 2008: Delegate Scorecard - Elections & Politics news from CNN.com

Since no one else is going to do it, here's the actual pledged Democratic primary delegate count. Why they continue to highlight superdelegates is troubling me. It's like the media wants to hold on to the idea of Hilary Clinton as the front runner.

They should break their reporting down to show actual delegates, and then as a secondary report, put in superdelegates.

At the convention the superdelegates can vote any way they want, and could all then vote for the presumptive favorite candidate.

Maybe I'm wrong, but if there is that possibility, why continue to include superdeledates as the main tally of delegates.

If you see any news outlet excluding superdelegates in their main tally, I'd love to hear about it and send them a thank you note.

The Boston Globe reports the non superdelegte count in the eighth paragraph of this story, Obama sweeps; Huckabee is strong:

Heading into yesterday's contests, Clinton held a small lead over Obama in the delegate count, 1,055 to 998, according to an Associated Press tally, which includes the results of primaries and caucuses, plus a survey of unpledged superdelegates. But Obama's campaign said last night that after his wins, he leads Clinton by about 70 delegates among those awarded in actual contests.

At least I think it's the non superdelegate count. Not sure where the number 70 comes from. That's the problem.

More:
796 Insiders May Hold Democrats' Key:

With more than half of the superdelegates unclaimed, both campaigns remain hard at work. And even those whom they believe are secure could move. Arceneaux, the Baton Rouge delegate whose husband was named by Clinton in the 1990s as head of Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student loan company, said she is well aware of the fact that superdelegates are not firmly bound to a candidate until they stand up at the convention in August.

"I always have the option of changing my mind," she said.

Delegate Count? Exclude Super Delegates.

Delegate Count? - Originally uploaded on flickr by stevegarfield.

Update: 2/6/08 1:47 PM
MSNBC.com


Update: 2/6/08 6:22 PM
CNN Politics.com


Checking the delegate count at USA Today, Time.com, CNN Politics.com and MSNBC.com I can see why people are confused about where the 2008 Presidential primary race stands. While compiling these results two of them changed within 15 minutes. By the time you read this, they'll probably be different. I think all media outlets should EXCLUDE super delegate totals since they can vote any way they want and are not guaranteed to vote they way they might be leaning today.

Related:
Political Wire: Delegate Count
The Nation: Obama Claims 9-Delegate Win for Super Tuesday
Slate: Momentucrats vs. Arithmecrats

Update: 2/7/08:
WSJ: Delegate Numbers Are All Over the Map