Daily Kos (who I linked to in the previous post) isn’t the only one to show that Obama, not Clinton, leads in the popular vote. The Nation looks at who is really leading, whether the popular vote matters, and what Clinton might be up to:
Moreover, the popular vote is no more than a symbolic statistic when it comes to choosing a nominee. The Clinton campaign knew full well when the race began that delegates determine the Democratic nominee. As Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said back in January, “this is a race for delegates.” It was only when Obama starting racking up delegates at a faster pace than Clinton that the Clinton campaign started hyping the popular vote.
They’ve pursued a similarly surreal strategy with regards to Florida and Michigan. Lest you forget, the Democratic Party voted near unanimously to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates last August when the two states moved up their primaries in violation of party rules. Clinton adviser Harold Ickes backed the decision on the Democratic Party’s Rules Committee, as did other Clinton confidantes. Yet Obama gets the blame.
Arguments like these stoke divisions at the very time the party is trying to unify. Comparing Florida’s sham primary to elections in Zimbabwe or the 2000 recount, as the Clinton campaign has done recently, feeds the myth that this election was rigged against Clinton. As Josh Marshall blogged: “What she’s doing is not securing her the nomination. Rather, she’s gunning up a lot of her supporters to believe that the nomination was stolen from her–a belief many won’t soon abandon.”
Maybe Clinton is just trying to gain enough leverage to force herself on the ticket when she exits the race in a week. If so, she’s going about it in an increasingly bizarre and cynical way.
I think it is just a desperation move from Clinton to claim she is winning the popular vote. She’s running out of reasons to argue why the superdelegates should override the primaries and caucuses and appoint her as the candidate. If Bill and Hillary could do it like Putin they would, but they can’t. Therefore they resort to making a lame argument as opposed to none at all. Like most of their weak arguments, this one has backfired against them, showing that Hillary is both dishonest and doesn’t play by the rules (which is rather important for a democracy to work). It’s no wonder the vast majority of superdelegates who didn’t choose early are now backing Obama.
Ithink that the “popular vaote” factor can be applicable. I would only take it into account if all the contests where both candidates were involved are considered. So I would exclude Michigan. Also I would exclude Puerto Rico since it would have no bearing on the general election.
You’d also have to exclude Florida. Without campaigning, Clinton had an advantage due to greater name recognition. This advantage was increased as for all practical purposes Clinton was campaigning for Florida in the final days while the other candidates did not.
Counting the popular vote is also erroneous because of the caucus states where often there is no official count. Even where there is a count the turn out is lower, so a nation wide popular vote when some states use primaries and some use caucuses is erroneous.
The major problem with Clinton’s argument is that the nomination is based upon delegates. Obama’s strategy was based upon maximizing the number of delegates he could win, not upon winning the most popular votes. His strategy would have been different if the nomination was based upon the popular vote. You cannot change the rules of an election after the fact.
I left out another major reason why the Florida results are not valid. Voters were told before the vote that it would not count, causing many to stay home. Again, you cannot change the rules of an election after the fact.
Ron you definitely have it right. You can’t changed the rules in the ninth inning. Obama wasn’t even on the ticket in Michigan. This whole thing about the delegates is a joke. I’m really starting to think that Hillary just wants to Sabotage Barack Obama.
But try telling that to Young Hillary Clinton, or the monster she grew up to be.