March 4th, 2008
10:03 PM ET
14 years ago

Schneider: Clinton's delegate problem

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(CNN) - In what may be bad news for Clinton, Democrats across all four states overwhelmingly say they want super delegates to vote based on which candidate finishes ahead in the pledged delegate count at the end of the primary season.

Majorities of Democrats in Texas (62 percent), Ohio (61 percent), Rhode Island (57 percent) and Vermont (66 percent) all said the super delegates should cast their vote for the primary winner, not for who they think can best win in November.

Why is this bad news for Clinton? As CNN's John King has made clear on his interactive delegate map, it is nearly impossible for Clinton to catch up to Obama's pledged delegate count. She would have to win the rest of the states convincingly to do so, given that the party allots delegates proportionally. Barring large blowouts in the remaining contests, its likely Clinton will finish behind Obama in pledged delegates.

Related Video: CNN Political Editor Mark Preston discusses Tuesday's results

–CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider

soundoff (351 Responses)
  1. uthea romero

    Cnn, what about she stopped obama's lead. Hillary is coming through. What a winner, get real people!

    March 4, 2008 10:15 pm at 10:15 pm |
  2. Rusty Bedsprings

    Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton

    This is what America calls change?

    Some democracy.

    March 4, 2008 10:16 pm at 10:16 pm |
  3. Debbi

    Hillary should go all the way. Neither of them will have 2025 regardless, she has come back well and should not quit now. It is interesting how Bo suporters want her to just throw in the towel. You guys have lost your marbles.

    March 4, 2008 10:16 pm at 10:16 pm |
  4. Obama's the One

    Hillary should bow out gracefully, but she will not. The Clinton's have never done anything gracefully. She is destroying the Democratic party by staying in.

    March 4, 2008 10:16 pm at 10:16 pm |
  5. Lisa Nagy M. D.

    How dare anyone tell Hillary what to do. Had I contributed money and worked on her campaign I would be angry if she threw in the towel before rthen end when it is so close. We shouldn't obsess over the super delegates. The rules are the rules we should let the battle run its course and let us all hope for who we want to win.

    March 4, 2008 10:16 pm at 10:16 pm |
  6. jgd

    i'm a graduate student living in Asia but i've been closely following the primaries there in the states and here's something that i (and my colleagues) have noticed:

    when there's something good happening in clinton's campaign, CNN quickly has something "negative" to say about it. when somethign good about obama comes out, it's always on the front page.

    and for crying out loud, look at your cnn.com/politics page right now: the news headline about obama winning vermont has been there all the time while Clinton winning Rhode Island is nowhere to be found.

    if you think about it, neither obama nor hillary would clinch the magic number with only the pledged delegates.. and that's nothing new, right? so why do you guys have to pound hillary so bad on this issue?

    just a little FAIRNESS please.

    March 4, 2008 10:17 pm at 10:17 pm |
  7. To the Mean Half

    Obama supporters please read your posts and tell me your proud of your writings. Vile to the core and this is supposed to be a "party of unity"? Since Obama is in the lead your entire position has changed. Suddenly the popular vote isn't so important to you as you believe Florida and Michigan made their beds. How would you like to be the average voter in those states who had no say and whos vote now will not count? Since you started you argued that all the people should be heard, yet you now want 50% silenced Two months ago you screamed over the unfair dispursment of superdelagates. Which superdelagates are you now willing to release based on your new found position....Kerry, Kennedy......?

    March 4, 2008 10:17 pm at 10:17 pm |
  8. Margie-Military Mom in Va

    Hi
    My question to this group...Why the DNC chose to leave to states out of the primary. What message are they sending to Americans...some of you voters mean something to us and well some of you dont.

    Hillary should follow Huckabee's sentiment..until the numbers say you are the nominee- then I am in the fight....

    Go America...keep your voices strong in memory of those Americans preceding us that fought and died for this great nation.

    March 4, 2008 10:17 pm at 10:17 pm |
  9. psburton

    To be fair to CNN, they do a decent job with general news, but for some reason all the networks are behaving like teenage girls around the Beatles when it comes to Barack, Still even if Hillary is not the nominee, P.S. Burton's children and grand children win no matter which democrat becomes the next President.

    March 4, 2008 10:17 pm at 10:17 pm |
  10. exasperasted with politicians

    disappointed, something in your comment makes me think they should be sending lawyers to your precint to check for voter fraud. no matter their age (as long as they're 18 or older, of course), no matter whether they've voted before or not, their vote counts just as much as yours does- just because they don't share your opinion doesn't make them any less valuable. i do want to share my sympathy with you, however, that your candidate wasn't able to inspire young voters enough for them to come out to the polls.

    March 4, 2008 10:17 pm at 10:17 pm |
  11. Richard

    Hillary cannot catch Barack now. She needs to drop out. But she won't. Hillary is the Democrats worst nightmare and the Republicans best friend. It will be interesting to see how many superdelegates switch Wednesday.

    March 4, 2008 10:18 pm at 10:18 pm |
  12. Jessica

    Steve and Aaron, the second and third names on this comment list, show they do not have a brain and do not have a knowledge of the election. People who have voted for Obama do not have a brain. They only voted for a "Sexy Man" as they chanted, but not a president of the United States. Barack Hussein Obama should quit. He should not be in the race from the very first begining. Even El Gore and John Carry did not join the race because Hillary was in, Obama's joining was totally stupit.

    March 4, 2008 10:18 pm at 10:18 pm |
  13. Floridian

    I was expecting to see Clinton going to leave foot prints on Obama's back at the rate she moving throuh the Obama Hype. Where is that headline.

    Where is the Article that Floridian go to court to make their vote count just when you thought it wouldn't.

    March 4, 2008 10:18 pm at 10:18 pm |
  14. pj

    And most people think we should get rid of the electoral college too...

    The purpose of the superdelegate is not to parrot the vote of their constituents. If it was – why have them at all? I don't necessarily agree with this system, but the fact is less a million votes separate these two candidates throughout all of the primaries. Few reporters actually point this out. If either one of these candidates is forced out, many voters will feel disenfranchised. The party leaders need to figure out how to handle this diplomatically.

    March 4, 2008 10:18 pm at 10:18 pm |
  15. From Florida

    It was Obama who wanted to bomb Iran 😉

    Not sure about MI but it was FL government that changed the law (state law) and moved the primary date. It was very foolish in my opinion for Democrats not to count at least some of the votes like Republicans did. The whole mess about votes and leaving very important state's voters out would have been avoided.

    March 4, 2008 10:18 pm at 10:18 pm |
  16. jb

    Hillary still has the option to sue for Michigan and Florida. And she can rightfully say the other candidates had the opportunity to stay on the ballot just like she did. Now that makes it a whole different delegate count my friends.

    What say you now Mr. Schneider?

    March 4, 2008 10:19 pm at 10:19 pm |
  17. ConventionRevolt

    If Sen. Clinton stays in the race and the super delegates go against the will of the pledged delegates I will never vote for a Democrat again.

    March 4, 2008 10:19 pm at 10:19 pm |
  18. patrice kihlken

    I just returned from my caucus in Nederland, TX – it was overwhelmingly Clinton.
    We voted 90 for Clinton, 16 for Obama. Four years ago, 8 people showed up for the caucus!

    March 4, 2008 10:19 pm at 10:19 pm |
  19. Michiel W

    What about the popular vote? The way some of these delegates have been awarded seems patently unfair. One candidate wins the popular vote and the other garners more delegates! That is not democratic. The Superdelegates should be awarded in line with the popular vote!

    March 4, 2008 10:20 pm at 10:20 pm |
  20. Clofitas

    She was the only person on the ballot in MI retards and I didn't think Obama set foot on FL soil, so of course she won those votes...duh. Many FL residents didn't vote b/c they knew the votes would not count. My mom and father are Obama supporters and they live in Ft. Lauderdale, but they stayed home on primary night.

    March 4, 2008 10:20 pm at 10:20 pm |
  21. s.b.

    Florida and Michigan!

    2 million democratic voters. How about they get to decide.

    March 4, 2008 10:20 pm at 10:20 pm |
  22. sairefgm

    To Hillary Clinton

    You will never be the president of the United States. For your hatred, the African American will see to it that you never ever mind the white house. The closet you get will be in the senate and guess what this is your last run.

    March 4, 2008 10:20 pm at 10:20 pm |
  23. Dan

    As a consultant to Fortune 500 clients, I have learned not to ask a question if I do not want to hear the answer.

    If you had the slightest interest in playing it fair, this question should not even have been asked since most voters would give the expected answer (as they want their vote to prevail). If the Super delegates HAVE to reflect the view of the popular vote, then there is no need to have superdelegates.

    If we want to play fair (as in eliminate the possibility of superdelegates not reflecting the popular vote), let's change the rules of the game (by getting rid of the superdelegates) BUT for the NEXT game (meaning 4 years from now) and NOT at half time.

    March 4, 2008 10:21 pm at 10:21 pm |
  24. Nick N

    If Obama gets the nomination, I am voting for John McCain. Plain and simple.

    Believe it or not, those of us who are supporting Hillary Clinton may not faint at rallies or even attend them, but we are no less staunch in our support of her. We support her because we believe she will make a great president. We are not about to give our votes to a person who has spent his entire 3 year Senate career running for the presidency.

    What's wrong with you people? Ever hear of Jim Jones and his followers who drank the Kool-Aid? Give me a break.

    The media is largely responsible for the possibility of our putting a guy in the White House with little or no experience. And don't even bring up Abraham Lincoln. Those were very different times and certainly the population is a fraction of what it is today – and the problems were internal.

    To me – what's been happening is disgraceful. It smacks of the public lack of knowledge of how Congress works and instead points to the culture's fascination with celebrity culture and all that is new. Never mind logic or how dumb this whole thing has been.

    March 4, 2008 10:21 pm at 10:21 pm |
  25. Farhad

    Hillary, please exit while it is still honorable! You keep making it to hard for democratic party and acutally hurting Bill's legacy. Please quit!

    March 4, 2008 10:21 pm at 10:21 pm |
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