I'm writing this column to give everyone a chance to look at and discuss the same numbers.
ELECTED DELEGATES---SUPERDELEGATES----TOTALS
---OBAMA/H.Clinton---Obama/H.Clinton------Obama/H.Clinton
NBC 1078/969---------NO REPORT----------NO REPORT
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21660914 CBS 1101/965---------141/210-------------1242/1175
http://election.cbsnews.com/campaign2008/d_delegateScor... NPR 1063/956---------160/242-------------1223/1198
http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1... /
CNN 1059/953---------156/234-------------1215/1190
http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results /...
NYT ---------------------------------------927/1041
http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results... (The New York Times, which supports Hillary Clinton, does not add in the results of caucauses)
Shouldn't these delegate numbers all be the same, or even roughly the same?
Note in the elected delegate category: HRC's votes have a 16 delegate differential; Obama's votes have a 40 delegate differential.
H. Clinton won 50% of the vote in Florida, and 55% of the vote in Michigan. (NYTimes is the source)
However, the delegates remain stripped in those states. Using that source and multiplying percentages against total delegates, HRC would get 93 to Obama's 61. Edwards would walk away with 27 delegates. In Michigan, Clinton would get 70 elected delegates. The "undecided" delegates would then go to Obama, at 52. No one knows what would happen with the superdelegates in these states.
So the delegate difference is +50, favoring HRC if both Florida and Michigan are counted into the mix.
As it stands, the delegates have been stripped from these states by the Democratic Party for a reason and a good one:
they broke the election rules.
Do you think they should be included in the general election? If so, when?
NPR and CBS show a shift beginning in superdelegate positions: HRC's superdelegate lead of 93 has diminished to 69 according to CBS; and Obama's gaining superdelegates, while HRC's superdelegates remain the same, according to NPR.
How do you think the superdelegates should be added into this mix? Should they represent the winner of their state? should they represent the percentages of voters within their state? Should they only vote at the end of the election? Also, when should their vote be added into the mix of other delegates?
How the media counts superdelegates is anyone's guess, but one thing is certain: they'll count them in the most divisive manner possible, because there's no story in a finished election.
Essentially, what you're looking at is the most divided message of all. It is the mathematical proof that these media agencies cannot agree on basic delegate math.
Isn't that something we can all agree on?