I'm having an argument with someone on another bbs and he claims to be a political "expert" and this is what he is saying... I think he is wrong, can someone clear this up for me? He is claiming that delegates won in the primaries can be taken away from a candidate at the convention...
You have time to argue on another board too 'expert' is technically correct that pledged delegates could theoretically change their vote. Afterall, they haven't voted yet. But they were selected specifically to vote for a particular candidate. So they'd be blatantly going against the reason they were selected and committing political suicide within the party. I suppose it 'could happen' --- but practically it's not an issue. McCain could also select Hillary as a running mate -- but that ain't going to happen either.
The delegates are not legally bound to their candidate. However, the delegates are handpicked by the campaigns - so in general, you're going to have the most committed Obama supporters as delegates from New Mexico. They aren't going to jump ship because of Bill Richardson and more than all of Ohio's delegates will all jump to Clinton because she's from Ohio. But that doesn't technically prevent Clinton or Obama from, for example, offering people jobs or whatever to try to steal each others' delegates. Both campaigns have pledged not to do that, though - and you'd be trying to flip very, very loyal people. I think the only time you'd really have any success with that strategy is if there was a huge scandal with one of the candidates that turned a good number of their supporters against them.
This sentence was a disaster. It was supposed to say: They aren't going to jump ship because of Bill Richardson any more than all of Ohio's delegates will all jump to Clinton because the Ohio governor is a Clintonite.
haha. Did you not read the thread title, why did you click on it? lol. I'm not an expert that's for sure. I'm fairly new to politics. Obama has that type of draw for those of us who never really were interested before. Thanks for the honest tho.
Actually, "expert" is not right. His opening argument was that Richardson endorsing Clinton would cause the pledged delegates from NM to shift. Desert may have gotten the details wrong, but on the substance, he was right - the delegates won't shift in any way. Nice try, though. Perhaps by 2012, you might understand these processes.
Yes, I have noticed that the vast majority of Obama supporters are unfamiliar with politics and naive. He's been preying on the weak by using celebrity influence (Oprah and others) and Joel Osteen-inspirational talk
Stated by the person that didn't know the most basic thing about the Dem primary, that pledged delegates are proportional. Your "what happens when Clinton has a 600 delegate lead after Super Tuesday" kind of blew your credibility on these elections as far as process goes.
Major, as I have stated, that entire post was phrased in the form of a question, thereby rendering your criticim invalid. Nice try. Will you please contribute money to this website? If not, why? Do you not value Clutch's hard work? Will it blow your cover with RM95? Which one is it? You've stated that you have money to blow on gambling, yet nothing for a site that you've spent a decade on?
Major I read a blog post this morning that CA finished counting Feb 5th primary yesterday and Obama actually picked up 7 or 8 more delegates, but I can't find a confirmation anywhere. Any way to confirm this?
Here is the breakdown of delegates for New Mexico: District-Level Delegates: 17 1st Congressional District 6 Sen. Hillary Clinton 3 Sen. Barack Obama 3 2nd Congressional District 5 Sen. Hillary Clinton 3 Sen. Barack Obama 2 3rd Congressional District 6 Sen. Hillary Clinton 3 Sen. Barack Obama 3 At-Large Delegates: 6 Sen. Hillary Clinton 3 Sen. Barack Obama 3 Pledged Party Leader & Elected Official (PLEO) Delegates: 3 Sen. Hillary Clinton 2 Sen. Barack Obama 1 SO THE ABOVE ARE PLEDGED DELEGATES. THE FOLLOWING ARE UNPLEDGED DELEGATES. Un-Pledged At-Large 1 Un-Pledged Delegates (Super Delegates): 11 Governor Bill Richardson Lt. Governor Diane D. Denish U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman Congressman Tom Udall DPNM Chairman Brian S. Colón DPNM Vice Chairwoman Annadelle Sanchez DNC Committeeman Raymond G. Sanchez DNC Committeewoman Mary Gail Gwaltney DNC Committee Member Fred Harris DNC At-Large Member Mayor Martin Chavez DNC At-Large Member Christine Trujillo TOTAL Number of Delegates: 38 Alternates: 4 TOTAL DELEGATION SIZE: 42 My understanding is that the pledged delegates reflect the will of the voters and are not able to change their vote at the convention. That being said, if you really want the dope on the Democratic Party rules of New Mexico, check out this website: http://www.nmdemocrats.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1030314 Oh, and T_J: I'm sure it would make you feel better if you could classify the Obama supporters as political nubes, but that won't work for everyone. I have a degree in Political Science, I have worked for state agencies and universities and have volunteered at numerous campaigns. I am a 3rd year law student and as such have studied the inner workings of the branches of state and national government. Oh, and I am a delegate to the Harris County convention for Barack Obama.
Interesting argument, but wholly untrue. The post in question: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=140620&page=7&pp=20 So Hillary is about to pick up a 600-delegate advantage over Obama and a boatload of momentum. Has Obama seen his best days come and go? Will there be anything left to decide after Super Tuesday? Sorry, but the initial statement was not in the form of a question, and it clearly shows you had no clue how the process works. Nice try, though.
I read the same thing - not sure where it was, but it indicated that Obama picked up 4 more delegates than projected, and Hillary 4 fewer - so an 8 delegate swing. They had the totals, and they match the totals now reported on RealClearPolitics. I have no idea if RCP always had that number or if they updated it recently, though. But the RCP numbers include the new California info.
Weighing in here late my understanding is that yes it is correct that delegates can change their vote and that this isn't completely unheard of as delegates pledged to a candidate who suspends but doesn't end their campaign do sometimes change their allegiances even though they were pledged to a candidate. I'm guessing there might be some different rules depending on the states so this might not be applicable to all delegates.
