ANALYSIS
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No, She Isn’t Winning the Popular Vote
Claim divisive at best, untrue at worst, so let's just call it a tie
By Jonas Oransky
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Posted May 22, 08 12:13 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Hillary Clinton’s insistence that she’s winning the popular vote not only promotes a meaningless rubric in a delegate contest, but it's also a dangerous claim—and a false one, Jonathan Alter writes in Newsweek. Not only is Clinton trampling on old sore spots (think Al Gore in 2000), but she’s also in the wrong, Alter asserts, then runs through the math.
True, Obama’s lead of 449,486 votes disappears if you count Michigan and Florida primaries, but Clinton’s advantage is only 63,373 if you factor in (typically excluded) caucus states. Halving the outlaw delegations or giving Obama the “uncommitted” Michigan votes puts him back in front. Noting that we’re talking pennies in a 35 million-vote contest, Alter concludes, “Everyone should agree to call it a tie.”