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Don't Mess with Texas!
February 19, 2008 10:34 AM
More evidence that Team Clinton was completely unprepared for the Texas contest?
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, herself last night told reporters, per ABC News' Eloise Harper: “I’ve got people trying to understand it as we speak. Grown men are crying as we speak. I had no idea it was so bizarre.”
Does the Clinton camp think this is cute? These are really odd admissions for a campaign that claims experience and preparedness.
Former Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, writing in a column today says that "the delegate selection process in Texas is so complicated that it is more than theoretically possible that the candidate who wins the popular vote may not, in fact, win the most delegates."
He calls it a "Rube Goldberg-esque delegate selection process."
But then he explains it fairly well. And if I can get a hold of the basic idea, certainly Clinton campaign staffers should be able to get it.
The state will send 228 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, 126 of which will be elected from the state’s 31 state senatorial districts on primary day itself, March 4.
These 126 are distributed throughout state senate districts, which e between 2 and 8 delegates, depending on how Democrats did in recent general elections. These delegates will be awarded proportionally to Obama or Clinton within that district.
There are also 67 delegates that will be assigned per a caucus that begins after the polls close and finishes during the state part convention in June. Voters have to vote in the primary to participate in the caucus.
There are also 35 superdelegates.
In any case, what seems most glaring is that Clinton has been unprepared for this. And I don't think that's particularly amusing, really.
- jpt
February 19, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (32)
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To gain an understanding of the Clintons, read Kathleen Willie's book 'Target'.
Posted by: David Welsh | Feb 19, 2008 11:28:23 AM
If Clinton wins the popular vote in Texas she wins the nomination, regardless of a few delegates.
Nominating a man who can't win any major democratic state against the wishes of Florida and Michigan, is political suicide.
Winnning caucuses and pretty stolen speeches isn't enough to go up against the big boys. It just ain't
She wins Texas pop vote, she wins.
Posted by: s.b. | Feb 19, 2008 11:26:30 AM
I'd like to know why ABC and the rest of the MSM are not investigating Hillary's campaign manager, Maggie Williams, after a Secret Service agent SWORE UNDER OATH at the time that he saw Williams remove BOXES of personal files from the office of dead Clinton insider Vince Foster, shortly after Foster's alleged suicide....
Posted by: adam | Feb 19, 2008 11:25:52 AM
Those grown men just don't want to see us fall backwards.
Posted by: Just Some Guy | Feb 19, 2008 11:21:14 AM
Dude, what's your problem? What she's talking about is the VOTING process in Texas, which is two-pronged (just like Bevo). Good lord, if you don' think that her campaign doesn't understand the delegate distribution, then you're nuts.
Posted by: John | Feb 19, 2008 11:21:09 AM
So... Mrs. Clinton wants us to elect her because of her experience and ability in office yet claims to be caught flat-footed by the Texan delegate process, a state that she says she has deep ties with. That really makes me feel confident about her as the U.S. President. I wonder if she'd be unprepared for the Oval Office despite having seen her husband as President for eight years as well.
Rob H.
Posted by: Tangent | Feb 19, 2008 11:20:13 AM
Why all these Twists and Turns of the Hillary Campaign. It is too much now. Is anyone out there who is tired of them as I do?
Posted by: Peace | Feb 19, 2008 11:16:33 AM
Team Clinton should have thought about this before taunting Obama to "meet me in Texas."
Posted by: Vote4BO | Feb 19, 2008 11:15:17 AM
Obviously, the Clintons are trying to create an excuse for why they might lose Texas. The problem is that their excuse reflects bad on them. The fact that they're still willing to use it shows how desperate they are. Texas is a must-win for them.
Posted by: Mike | Feb 19, 2008 11:09:25 AM
That's okay, HRC doesn't have to understand our big bad old delegate selection process. She's just going to try to switch them all (super- and "pledged") to her side after Pennsylvania, anyway. . .
Posted by: kat | Feb 19, 2008 10:57:11 AM
Jake, as an Austin Hillary campaign worker, I can tell you the campaign understands the rules. We had training on the primary/caucus the very first day the campaign opened offices. I think Hillary was just referencing the arcane and bizarre ways of Texas more than referencing an inability to understand it.
Posted by: Jim | Feb 19, 2008 10:42:42 AM
Ready on day one! Yep...
Posted by: Penny | Feb 19, 2008 10:41:35 AM
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