DNC Convention = War

(Newser) - With a string of losses swinging momentum away, Hillary Clinton’s campaign staff and supporters are slowly realizing she could actually lose. “She has to win both Ohio and Texas comfortably, or she’s out,” a superdelegate supporting the onetime frontrunner told the New York Times. Other superdelegates say they might jump ship if Barack Obama looks stronger. More »

(Newser) - Even after Barack Obama's weekend primary victories, he and Hillary Clinton are neck-and-neck in the delegate race thanks to her lead among superdelegates. By the AP's count, Clinton has won endorsements from 243 of the 796 party officials and insiders who vote at the convention for the candidate of their choice. Obama has commitments from 156. More »

(Newser) - Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have long been courting superdelegates—the 796 Democratic insiders whose votes are becoming ever more critical to their party's nomination—but the situation is rife with potential pitfalls, explains the Washington Post . The idea that the votes of everyday Democrats may not end up deciding their candidate is just the beginning of the problem. The superdelegates—worth the equivalent of two Californias—give extra nominating clout to the party's elected officials. More »

(Newser) - With three monster victories yesterday, Barack Obama could be poised to extend his pledged, "locked-in" delegate lead over Hillary Clinton before March 4 brings contests in Ohio and Texas. The gain is a feather in the cap of the Illinois senator's strategists, who had been doubted for aiming so much money at races after Super Tuesday, Politico reports. More »

(Newser) - Michigan and Florida Democrats—stripped of delegates to the national convention when the states moved their primaries ahead of Super Tuesday—could get another shot at helping select the candidate, the Wall Street Journal reports. With Hillary Clinton and Obama in a dead heat, pressure is mounting on the states to come up with a new delegate-selection process, such as a caucus or convention, that doesn't violate party rules. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama's campaign is preparing for a deadlocked contest with Hillary Clinton and forecasting a virtual tie in the race for Democratic delegates, according to an internal memo. Bloomberg reports Obama's advisers envision him winning 19 of 27 remaining primaries but giving Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to Clinton. That scenario would give Obama a lead in delegates but not an outright majority. More »

(Newser) - With delegate allocations still incomplete after last night's voting, Barack Obama claims to have taken a lead over Hillary Clinton in Super Tuesday delegates. Counts vary, but they all show the two candidates virtually tied. NBC gives Obama about 840 to Clinton's 830—“give or take a few,” Tim Russert said on the Today show this morning, Politico reports. NBC has the running totals for the two Democrats only about 70 delegates apart, Russert said. More »

(Newser) - With Barack Obama still very much in the race after Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton turned away from her rival momentarily to take aim at the Republicans last night. "I won't let anyone Swift Boat this country's future," Clinton announced to followers. But she can't afford to take the long view for long, reports Time: primaries in the next few weeks are thought to favor Obama, who is virtually tied in delegates. Clinton will look to recoup in Ohio and Texas primaries in March. More »

(Newser) - So-called super delegates will end up crowning the Democratic presidential nominee, Open Left’s Chris Bowers blogs. Even if Hillary Clinton wins a whopping 937 delegates to Barack Obama’s 862 on Super Tuesday, she would have to score 76% of the rest to win the nod. That's where 796 super delegates—governors, congressmen, and other party bigwigs—come into play. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton took half the Democratic vote in Florida's primary but the numbers should still give her as much to worry about as to celebrate, writes the Nation . She took only a quarter of the black vote and came behind John Edwards in some rural counties—an ominous sign ahead of Super Tuesday, when many states with large numbers of rural Democrats will vote. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary in Florida tonight, but she'll have no delegates to show for it, the AP reports. None of the Democrats campaigned here because the national party stripped the state of convention delegates—a punishment for moving up its primary without permission. Still, 1.5 million Democrats voted, with Clinton getting 50%, Obama 33%, and Edwards 14%. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton will make her first official campaign appearance in Florida tonight just as primary voting ends, honoring the letter if not the spirit of the Democrats' pledge not to campaign in states that leapfrogged Super Tuesday without party permission. Barack Obama's campaign called the projected winner's timing "too cute by half," the Washington Post reports. More »