Obama + 9 (not 7) , Hillary -1 in Iowa; Obama +5 Hillary +2 in CA

[PetraPooh]

According to a late news story at the Washington Post, Hillary now needs to win all remaining contests by 65% or more.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/15/obama_wins_7_more_delegates_in.html?hpid=topnews

Obama Wins More Delegates in Iowa, Calif.

Updated 11:33 p.m.
By Peter Slevin
CHICAGO - Sen. Barack Obama picked up nine more pledged delegates in Iowa, state Democratic officials said late Saturday night, as thousands took part in county conventions.

All but one of the delegates had been among the 14 won Jan. 3 by former senator John Edwards, who has since dropped out of the Democratic presidential race. Election-night projections showed Obama getting 16 delegates and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 15.

With the other six standing firm for Edwards at the county conventions, Obama's camp claimed 25 delegates from Iowa to 14 for Clinton.
<snip>

The Associated Press reported late Saturday that, in final counts from California's Feb. 5 primary, Clinton picked up two more pledged delegates, and Obama added five. According to AP's count, the Iowa and California results give Obama a national lead of 119 delegates, both pledged and superdelegates, over Clinton.

Plouffe said the Obama campaign's numbers show that Clinton must win 65 percent of pledged delegates available in the 10 remaining contests (not counting Michigan or Florida) to overtake the Illinois senator.
<more at link>

Hillary has done this to herself. She has run a shoddy campaign in the republican style that so many are so sick of. And I cannot understand at all why she hasn't conceded.

[loveangelc]

1. there's no way she catches him pledged delegates.

I think it's almost a moot point now

[mikekohr]

3. Not Impossible

but very improbable.

mike kohr

[hedgehog]

2. I'm an Obama supporter, but I'm disturbed by the delegate who switched

from Clinton to Obama. I would think a pledged delegate should stay pledged at least until the first vote at the convention. That delegate promised to represent a group of voters and has now reneged on that promise.

I figure super delegates can change their mind at any time, but pledged delegates have a certain obligation.

Looking over the OP, I think the suggestion here is that the delegate switched in response to Hillary's negative campaign. I'd have to say that a pledged delegate could switch if there was good reason to think that the voters had also switched because of something the candidte did or said or new information emerged. Has this happened? Have voters in Iowa changed their minds and/or has Hillary crossed the line?

[mikekohr]

4. More info?

I am of the understanding that pledged delegates can not switch? Am I incorrect?

mike kohr
[e-mail]

[ampad]

5. I agree

As a Obama supporter I'm a little uneasy with that as well. Most Obama supporters would be howling if Obama was behind and his pledged delegates switched to Clinton. It's uneasy because it could easily go the other way: Clinton getting Obama's pledged delegates. I just want all of this over already.

[thevoiceofreason]

6. It was many supporters who switched.

Enough did so that it swung the count of one national delegate.

All caucus delegates are non-binding to a point.

So, you can't do well at first then ignore the state.

You ought to experience our continued ground game in Texas. The biggest deal comes in two weeks at our senate/county conventions.

[democrattotheend]

8. I think it was a result of many people switching, not one delegate

It came out to a loss of one allocated delegate at the next level, so multiple precinct delegates (delegates from round 1) would have had to switch to result in a loss of one county-level delegate. And I agree, it is a bit disturbing. If it was just delegates deciding to switch on their own (and I heard one such story) there's not much the campaign can do about it, although I do think it is wrong for people who were elected as delegates for one candidate to switch even if they changed their mind. But as long as it's individuals and not an organized effort there's nothing to get worked up about. I doubt the Obama campaign is engaged in any sort of organized effort to get Clinton delegates...just Edwards delegates.

[tabasco]

9. Hillary HAS crossed the line.

Her filthy, rotten "kitchen sink" slime campaign will only hurt her in the long run. She thinks like a republican, i.e., she can't see past the end of her nose.

[JackORoses]

16. It wasn't just a single delegate.

It was a whole group of county delegates that represent that single state delegate who switched.

Hillary lost many more than one person.

That's what you get when you deem Caucus States insignificant.

[JVS]

7. Ohio undone

[Scurrilous]

10. K & R

:thumbsup:

[DerekJ]

11. kick

[DerekJ]

12. kick

[thevoiceofreason]

13. K&R

[4_Legs_Good]

14. Looking back, she should have dropped out after Wisconsin

By then the writing was definitely on the wall, and she could have exited very nicely ahead of her expected "wins" in Texas and Ohio looking like the bigger woman. Now she just looks like a sore loser, IMO, and it's even more obvious that she simply cannot win, and is hanging on for some other reason.

I know she'll win Pennsylvania and it'll look like a big turn around (again!) for about 12 seconds, but then people will realize that it really doesn't mean anything, and then NC and Oregon will roll around within a couple weeks, and it'll be "all over" again, and then where will her next "graceful exit" opportunity be?

If she can somehow figure out how to exit gracefully at this point, she may still have a bright future in politics and in the Democratic party.

David

Edit: typo

[JackORoses]

17. This is what Jonathan Alter suggested back then

He foresaw all this and the eventual outcome.

Sadly, Hillary cannot see too far into the Future because she is blinded by her ego.

[Johnny__Motown]

15. She has not conceded because she wants to try again in 2012 and needs Obama to lose so she can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZsYWiywdCA&feature=related


I see no other reasonable explanation for these comments

[BeyondGeography]

18. The pledged delegate lead is now 159

==Pledged Count: Obama leads 1,409-1,250==

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/16/773831.aspx

[cooolandrew]

19. Barack also has his interantonal elegates to be added too.

[tabasco]

20. Clinton's smear campaign is back firing.

Glad to see it.

[Zhade]

21. Niiiice, she creeps closer to finally accepting her loss.

NT!

[DrFunkenstein]

22. Iowa and California are DEAD to Clinton Supporters

They are running out of living things.