Jan 23, 2008 11:08 pm US/Central
Reality Check: How To Count The Delegates
(WCCO)
If you think it's tough to figure out where the 2008 presidential candidates stand, try doing the math on who's really ahead in the delegate race.
Republican presidential candidates need 1,191 delegates to win the party nomination. It's fairly straightforward; whoever wins a particular state, that candidate gets the entire state's delegate votes.
IN FACT...
Sen. John McCain may be leading in national polls, but not in the actual delegate count. So far, Mitt Romney's has 72 delegates; McCain's total is 38, Mike Huckabee's count is 29 and Rudy Giuliani has just two delegates.
It's TRUE.
The reality is that Guiliani needs Florida's winner-take-all 57 delegates to get him back in the race.
As for the Democrats, it takes more than a delegate scorecard to figure out who is ahead. It might take a computer.
Here's WHY.
If it was just adding up the delegates that Democrats won in state caucuses and primaries, Sen. Barack Obama would be leading Sen. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.
However, for Democrats, it's not that simple. There's a secret race going on behind the scenes for something called Super Delegates.
That's why for Democrats, it's NOT THE WHOLE STORY.
Super Delegates are political insiders who get automatic convention votes. Super Delegates include governors, members of Congress, and retired politicians, which includes former presidents and vice presidents.
In all, 842 Super Delegates make up almost 40 percent of the Democratic convention total.
Here's what you NEED TO KNOW.
When the insider Super Delegates are added to the state delegates, Clinton is far ahead, with 210 delegates to Obama's 123, and Edwards' 52.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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