The delegate fight
Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2008 9:15 AM by Domenico Montanaro
The New York Times front-pages, “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s victories in the primaries on Tuesday barely dented Senator Barack Obama’s lead in delegates, but they seemed to slow the Democratic Party establishment’s move in his direction while giving her campaign time to try to turn the race in her favor.” More: "Clinton and Mr. Obama are embracing sharply different approaches as they try to capture the nomination and rally superdelegates behind them. For Mr. Obama, it is a matter of delegate math as he argues that superdelegates should support whoever has won the most elected delegates after the primary season ends in June. For Mrs. Clinton, it is trying to build momentum -- and making a case that she is more electable -- to persuade superdelegates to support her."
VIDEO: What's next for Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton after Tuesday’s primaries? NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Polls will also certainly influence superdelegates, and a new
Washington Post/ABC poll shows both Clinton and Obama matching up favorably against McCain -- although Obama leads him by 12 points and Clinton 6 points. But how will these numbers look after the two Dems beat each other up for the next seven weeks in Pennsylvania?
Do-over? The AP: “The Michigan governor, along with top officials in Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign and Florida's state party chair, are now saying they would consider holding a sort of do-over contest by June. That's a change from their previous insistence that the primaries their states held in January should determine how the their delegates are allocated.”
The Miami Herald: “Clinton's position reflected a retreat from her hard line stance that the Florida and Michigan primaries should count toward her delegate total, even though the candidates ceased campaigning in the states and Obama wasn't on the Michigan ballot. Two of Clinton's top surrogates -- former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell -- floated the prospect of revotes before the results came in Tuesday.”
The Detroit Free Press: “If a second vote is going to happen, a decision may need to come quickly: Though the DNC considers Michigan without delegates to the national convention, the state party is set to select them at the end of this month. From a national standpoint, the next big state primary is April 22 in Pennsylvania, where Clinton holds a lead in the polls.”