At the end of tonight, even if the DNC decides to seat the entire Florida & Michigan delegations without any changes , Obama will have a majority of pledged delegates.
The Math (source)
Total Pledged Delegates: | | 3,556(3,253 +185FL+128MI) |
50% | | 1,783 |
Current (Obama Pledged) | | 1,612.5 |
+ Obama FL Pledged | | 74 |
+ Edwards FL Declared | | 2 |
+ MI Non-Clinton "Uncommitted" | | 55 |
Total | | 1,743.5 |
Minimum Obama delegates from tonight:
Oregon (50/50) | | 26 |
Kentucky (70/30) | | 14 |
Total Obama Pledged | | 1783.5 |
So why did Bill Clinton reply the way he did in the
NY Times?
He was asked whether Senator Barack Obama could make a credible claim that he had won a majority of pledged delegates after the votes from the Kentucky and Oregon primaries are tallied Tuesday night.
He can’t, Mr. Clinton said, "unless you decapitate Michigan and Florida, which violates our values and is dumb politics."
Maybe the Clinton campaign does not want to have the entire Michigan delegation seated, but only seat the Clinton delegates.
The argument would have to then be that since Obama’s name was not on the Michigan ballot, the people who voted against Hilary Clinton and voted for "uncommitted" were not voting against her, but had just not decided to vote for her yet.