Reply #21: I can help you out a little on one question you raised. [View All]

[TexasObserver]

You wrote:

"Also it is a strange 2 step system where a caucus is held at night after the primary vote. I honestly don't understand exactly how this works but some talking heads are saying that this may help Barack."

There are 126 delegates who will be picked based upon the votes in each of the 31 Texas State Senatorial districts. The formula is already in place for how many delegates each district gets.

The attendees of the caucuses after the primary election are about WHO among the candidate's delegates get to go to the convention in June. In reality, this is not a big deal, because the rules state fairly clearly that the delegates to be chosen in June at the state convention (the additional 67 delegates) are to be chosen proportionally based upon the March 4th results. Because Obama is expected to win some districts bigger than Hillary will win her districts, the split of delegates between Obama and Hillary will be virtually even in many of the districts she wins, but in some of the districts he wins, he'll get more than a split, he'll get extra delegates. At the convention in June, this will give him an edge, or is expected to do so.

Here is the exact language for those 67 delegates:

Friday 6 June - Saturday 7 June 2008: Tier 3. State Convention. The State Convention will choose the remaining 67 pledged delegates. A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated National Convention delegates at the statewide level.

•67 delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the presidential preference of the delegates at the State Convention as a whole.