Obama to clinch the Democratic Nomination

Delivered by a slew of superdelegate declarations ahead of the S. Dakota and Montana primaries, Obama will surely claim the title of the 2008 Democratic Primary Winner tonight.

MI and FL reinstated representation at 50%

The DNC (Democratic National Committee) just voted to seat all of the Florida and Michigan delegates at the convention, but to only provide them 1/2 a vote each.  This improves upon the original disenfranchising of these states' votes as punishment for moving their primaries forward in violation of the parties rules.  The debate on the topic was heated, but the final resolution was a consistent ruling for both states involved and preserved some form of punishment for violating the original rules.  The big losers in all this are the actual voters who have witnessed the gross stratification of power between common folk and super-delegates.

This link is to 2008 Electoral College models of Obama and Clinton vs. McCain in the general. And polling data on the topic is here.

Iraq is his Viagra

A hilarious interview with Huffington on the Cobert Report included some disturbingly possible commentary on John McCain including:

"He will be the oldest president ever elected ... Because he has such a passion for Iraq, that is his Viagra" said Huffington.

"The warning on that should be: if your erection lasts more than a hundred years, pull out." was Colbert's quick retort. 

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Obama fully denounces Wright

Obama fully distances himself from a 3 day press blitz by Former Pastor Reverend Wright. Obama made clear his outrage and disappointment in Wright, and reiterated that they in no way share views.

The half delegate

So this post should be about how Clinton got what she needed from the voters in Texas and Ohio.  And perhaps that would follow into the concern of many that the Democrats won't have a decisive candidate before the convention.  I'd like to draw attention to a more minor detail of the whole process, and that is the half delegate.  WHAT IS A HALF DELEGATE?  I first noticed this while browsing the New York Times results summary:

http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/delegates/index.html

You will notice that in "Democrats Abroad" that Clinton received 1.5 delegates to Obama's 3.  As of the date of this post, you would also notice that the New York Times is estimating Obama will receive 159.5 delegates based on a Survey of Superdelegates.  

So  in the case of the survey, a half delegate *could* be someone who basically said they'll flip a coin on the day of the vote.  While not all that helpful to report in a race this close, it is a valid statistical way to describe a delegate in such a quantum probabilistic state.  But in the case of the Democrats abroad, 1.5 delegates have pledged their vote for Clinton.  Does this mean that US territories get less of a vote?  I can't imagine someone agreed to give their arms to Obama and legs to Clinton.  What gives?

Last Stand at Austin Debate

The Democratic debate in Texas is in many ways Clinton's last stand against Obama's continuing momentum. The results were mixed. Factoring out an alleged low blow by Clinton early on when she accused Obama of xeroxing his speeches, most of the discourse was extremely cordial. The candidates stressed their similarities, dodged direct questions to point out their differences, and complimented each other regularly -- it was almost as if the two had struck a secret deal to be running mates no matter how it turned out. By the end however, Clinton came out the clear winner of the debate. She was more articulate throughout, came out ahead with her mandate for universal health coverage, and moved the audience to a standing ovation with an emotion evoking closing statement. In many ways she hit it out of the park, the question is will it be enough for her? Opinion polls were more mixed than this assessment -- with reactions split down the middle. Since it is unlikely either candidate will achieve the 2025 delegates needed to secure the nomination, the best result for Democratic voters would be if they did eventually agree to run together, and teamed up against McCain with a unified pair of candidates that the country is familiar with and excited about.