One of the main questions that I contantly receive is who are those super delegates and why do only the Democrats have them? The second question is why are there so many different delegate vote counts for Obama and Hillary? The answer to question two is question number one. Let me try an unravel this mystery that only the Democratic party embraces.
Pledged delegates are based upon how the people in the state vote; however, it"s not quite that simple. Unlike the Republicans who have a winner take all simplicity to their format, the Democrats give 51% of "some" of the delegates to whomever wins 51% of the vote. Then they give the "rest" of the delegates to the candidate who wins the various number of congressional areas within the state. A person could carry the state by winning in a very populous district but lose the total delegate vote.
Ah but wait, it gets more confusing. Not to mention what"ll happen if New Mexico never gives us a full count.
The latest number that I heard is that there are around 796 super delegates. They"re on their own and and vote based on some astrological sign if they so choose. Who gets to be a super delegate? The easiest partial answer is that every Democratic member of Congress (the two senators and whatever number of representatives the Democrats have in the House).
No it gets rellay fuzzy. Ex presidents and vice presidents get to vote. That"s a small number. Superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention also includes the Democratic governors, various additional elected officials, members of the Democratic National Committee, all former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Minority Leaders, as applicable, and all former Chairs of the Democratic National Committee."
Joe Lieberman has been voted out! :-(
For a complete list CLICK HERE! So, when the count you see from one news source has Hillary leading and another has Obama leading, it"s probably because one is using on the pledged delegates while the other is factoring in "know superdelegates". But of ource, super delegates chanchange their minds any time which is what makes them oh so super!