Edwards Just Put Obama Over the Top

[davidswanson]

John Edwards just endorsed Barack Obama. If Edwards' 19 delegates take his advice and vote for Obama, then Obama now has 1,620 pledged delegates to Clinton's 1,441. There are 189 delegates left to be pledged in remaining states. Clinton needs to win 184 of them (or 97 percent) in order to win, whereas Obama only needs 6 more delegates to put him over the top. To be clear, these are the numbers for pledged delegates, not including super delegates. Obama leads in that category as well, but I don't think anyone will or should stand for super delegates deciding an election.

There are, of course, states that have not yet voted. I'd love it if they could have a say in this thing. If it were up to me I would put every primary on one day in late October. It's not my fault that this particular race is over. It's not over in the way races are for candidates whom the corporate media hounds out of the race following one or two states. This one really is over.

Florida and Michigan are not included. The candidates did not compete in those states, and allowing them to do so now would involve a change in the rules mid-election, which seems highly unlikely.

Just as the Democratic primary has been over for several months, it's still over. Clinton cannot win. Period. She can only hope for an anti-democratic coup by Super Delegates that would destroy the Democratic Party. And she'd have to be delusional to even hope for THAT at this point.

So, why does the corporate media behave as if it's still a contest, and why does the independent media obediently fall into line? Presumably those two questions have two different answers.

When has any other candidate been kept on life-support by media corporations in this way? Hasn't the standard for dropping out always been - for every other candidate - the impossibility of winning, not actually having lost?

What can Clinton hope to gain from staying in other than hurting Obama's chances in order to avoid his running as an incumbent in 4 years?

And why is it so difficult for people to think for themselves and let the media and the Super Delegates and the Democratic Party know that WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH?

Don't believe me? Don't know how to do addition? Don't own a calculator? Here's a video of Chris Matthews admitting the media's role in this farce:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/32937

Here's how you can contact the DNC: 877-336-7200 or
http://www.democrats.org/contact.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. The new delegate number is "Infinity."

[Catherina]

2. Edwards just endorsed Obama? This is great news

:woohoo:

[Muttocracy]

3. it's coming in a moment - there's a thread tracking his airplane! nt

[nongrata]

9. Better late than never

It's good that he did this on the heels of the WV primary, even though the WV primary is largely irrelevant. I think Edwards could have helped matters by endorsing Obama a long time ago. He could have given guidance to all of his supporters long before this. It's about time.

[marions ghost]

4. thank you John

:toast:

[phrigndumass]

5. My math agrees with yours :)

Those 19 pledged delegates would put Senator Obama's projected delegates at 2,033. And that's if no further supers endorse him.

Add 19 to this and you split the top off:



:woohoo:

[Mass]

6. Happy to see that Edwards endorsed him, but Obama had already won.

[Zachstar]

27. His endorsement is going to wreck Clinton support in Kentucky and Oregon

It ruins her gain in WV...

So more than likely not Clinton is going to exit next week. Without Edwards on the fence. The other supers are going to start to flock towards Obama and now Clinton can't use Edwards sitting as a talking point.

[oldpol]

7. Hillary 'I can win 97 percent of the delegates remaining'

bwaaaahaha!

[tinrobot]

8. Is Edwards a superdelegate?

If so, add one more to the pile.

[Prophet 451]

12. Is he allowed to vote?

I distinctly remember that Edwards "suspended" his campaign when he dropped out instead of formerly ending it so does he still have super credentials?

[Liberal Gramma]

13. No, he's not

His endorsement is valuable for other reasons: adding his delegates to Obama's, if he chooses to release them, and encouraging his supporters to support Obama.

[onehandle]

10. DU's Favorite Candidate has made his choice. Good for you, John. nt

[FatDave]

15. And he chose DU's other favorite candidate

w00t!

[Prophet 451]

11. Great to get the endorsement but...

...the contest had been realistically over for a while. Edwards was actually my second choice (after Kucinich) and I'm surprised he waited so long.

Let's be honest though: The Clinton campaign will not concede. They will say that the new number is , they will say that FL and MI must be seated (FL is a possibility but Clinton has ruled out any solution to MI that doesn't give her all the delegates and Obama none so that's out), the pledged delegates can still change their mind, the superdelegates should decide and nominate someone "electable", every single person not in the bank for Hillary is sexist and so on and so on. The Hillbots will echo them all as well.

The sad thing here is that I used to respect Hillary. She wasn't my preferred candidate but she was a good one, made a good senator, probably would have made a fine president but the stubborness and the increasingly surreal metrics used by her campaign sadden me.

[snappyturtle]

14. K&R n/t

[cali]

16. Obama already had it. Axelrod has said that they have the SDs

on tap to put Obama over 2025. Furthermore, a one day primary is a terrible idea. It would make it impossible for a Jimmy Carter or other unknown to have a chance.

[2rth2pwr]

17. What does an endorsement from Edwards mean? This from a guy who says anything

to get elected and promised from the bottom of his heart, because it was personal to him, that he would take it all the way to the convention.

From a guy who couldn't put it on the line when it counted, and only makes a decision when it's "safe".

[stillcool]

18. No endorsements 'matter'...

actually there is very little in this Primary Season that "matters". Well, maybe uneducated white hard working blue collar workers in West Virginia, but everything and everyone else only 'matters' some times. What are you hoping the "Catastrophic Event" is that allows Hillary to grasp the nomination?

[AllentownJake]

20. 19 delegates

So it's like almost two WV for Obama :-)

[2rth2pwr]

21. He has no control over who they choose after the first ballot.

[thewiseguy]

22. watch Iowa

[AllentownJake]

23. True

but I think 19 phone calls will help push them in the right direction :evilgrin:

[mhoran]

25. So, Clinton and her supporters keeping saying it's not over...

...but Edwards waited until it was over to endorse?

Which one is it?

:banghead:

[Connonym]

28. wow I thought Clintonistas only hated Obama

I didn't realize they hated Edwards too. He was honorable enough to drop out instead of risking party division. Clinton could learn a thing or two in that regard. I used to really admire her. I'm a lot farther left than she is so she wasn't the candidate I preferred but I still respected her. She lost that respect the day she said that McCain was more qualified than Obama. I now loathe her. If by some strange miracle she gets the nomination I'll vote for her in the GE because I believe the party in power matters more than the person in power. But she sure as hell doesn't seem like a team player.

[Justyce]

30. All Edwards did is hurt himself with this endorsement. He now looks like a sellout. nt

[grantcart]

19. the largest number of the 19 are from Iowa andthey will go Edwards

[mhoran]

24. Not much longer now

Thanks John.

[georgecolombo]

26. The Cowboys Had A Better Chance Against The Patriots

If only Hillary's strategy had been conceived at the end of last year's football season, perhaps Wade Phillips could have made an appeal to the commissioner of the National Football Conference. (Okay, I'm sure there really is a commissioner of the National Football Conference, but go with me on this one.) Coach Phillips could have plausibly argued that the Giants were not a good matchup against the Patriots and that his team, the Cowboys, had a better shot. So even though the Giants beat them in the playoffs, the Cowboys and not the Giants ought to represent the NFC in the upcoming Super Bowl. It would be tough to treat seriously an argument about a team's superiority... when they just got beat.

[Name removed]

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