Varying numbers have both campaigns saying they're in the driver's seat. So who's right?
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is so tight, and the logic behind the apportioning of delegates so complicated, that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama claimed Wednesday (February 6) to be in the lead. And, to make it even more confusing, they might both be right.
Both campaigns held conference calls with reporters before the sun came up in California on Wednesday to give their take on where the numbers are more than halfway through the primary season, according to CBS News. Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said Clinton's strategy of trying to wrap up the nomination on Super Tuesday "failed miserably" and that his client proved it by winning more states (13 to Clinton's 8) and more delegates.
"Through the first 26 states, we have won more states, won more delegates, won more total votes than Senator Clinton," Plouffe said. "It's clear [Clinton's] strategy was predicated on trying to secure the Democratic nomination last night, and on that score they failed miserably." Obama's campaign released a spreadsheet breakdown of the Super Tuesday vote that had their candidate with an 845-836 victory in the national contest and an overall 908-884 lead for pledged delegates. (Obama's campaign is not counting the yet-unpledged, party-insider "superdelegates".)
Clinton strategist Mark Penn countered by pointing out that Obama's strategy of spending big money and getting big endorsements failed in California and Massachusetts, and in an e-mail to journalists Wednesday morning claimed, "Hillary continues to lead Senator Obama in the race for thousands of delegates and superdelegates nationwide."
CBS News crunched the numbers and declared Super Tuesday a draw, with both senators winning 715 delegates. Factor in the superdelegates and Clinton leads 974-906, but take those superdelegates out of the equation and Obama leads 778-763.
As if that's not confusing enough, NBC has yet another set of numbers, projecting Obama to top Clinton in Super Tuesday delegates 840 to 830, while The Associated Press called the fight 1,000 to 902 in favor of Clinton, with Obama beating Clinton on Tuesday 546 to 542. AP reported that several hundred delegates are still not yet allocated, so the numbers could change several more times in the coming days. Either way, neither candidate is anywhere near the 2,025 needed to secure the nomination, so the fight will continue to the next slate of contests this weekend.
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