Reply #9: Democrats' delegate dilemma [View All]

[Crooked Moon]

Neither Hillary Rodham Clinton nor Barack Obama is going to win the Democratic presidential nomination based on the primaries alone.

At this point, it's just about mathematically impossible. That's the central reality of the race now that Super Tuesday has come and gone.

The contests yet to come - including Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia on Tuesday; Texas and Ohio on March 4; and Pennsylvania on April 22 - remain tremendously important.

But the object of the game has changed: Now the idea behind winning primaries is to gain momentum and thereby impress the 796 superdelegates, most of them party and elected officials.

Those are the individuals whose votes at the convention will carry one candidate to the magic number and the nomination.

But their influence, depending on how it's exerted, could leave millions of Democratic voters feeling cheated - and less enthusiastic about their party heading into November.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080210_Democrats_delegate_dilemma.html