Obama’s Delegate Bank

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3317


Obama’s Delegate Bank

May 27th, 2008 by Ron Chusid

Until the DNC’s rules committee makes a decision on Florida and Michigan we will not know exactly how many delegates are needed to clinch the nomination. Current estimates show Obama only needing about fifty more delegates to clinch the nomination, but that number will change in the next week. Obama appears prepared to clinch the nomination in early June after the last votes are held. Marc Ambinder reports that Obama has been banking superdelegates who are ready to support him:

Neither the Clinton nor the Obama campaign is clear what the DNC’s rules and bylaws committee will do on May 31; depending upon how or whether they re-allocate delegates, Obama could wind up within to 20 to 30 votes of the nomination — a situation rectifiable by a piddling performance in Puerto RIco, South Dakota and Montana — or more than 100 delegates short, requiring solid performances in those states plus a few dozen superdelegate endorsements to put him over the top.

To prepare for that eventuality, the Obama campaign has, for the first time, really, begun to bank delegates. Sources close to the campaign estimate that as many as three dozen Democratic superdelegates have privately pledged to announce their support for Obama on June 4 or 5. The campaign is determined that Obama not end the first week in June without securing the support of delegates numbering 2026 — or 2210, as the case may be.

and every vote count"

By not clinching it early, he lets everyone vote and everyone's vote mean something, and it further lessens Clinton's fading rationale for staying until the convention.

David

I hope they use this resource wisely and encourage the super delegates to come out in full force and can convince her to exit the race.