burlingtonfreepress.com

Sponsored by:

vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen


3.05.2008

 

Delicate delegates

In Texas this morning, they are having the morning-after-caucus roundup to decide which candidate gets to run off into the sunset on the best horse. No, not really, they limit themselves to just the primary and the caucus (which one of the people related to me in Texas reports was fairly chaotic - something about the Clinton people running out of pens).


But this delegate-divvying business strikes me as a tad crazy. I know I said recently that I now embrace the fact that every town in Vermont conducts town meeting slightly differently from every other town, but I've not quite come around to the same feeling about the way we pick delegates who choose the leader of the free world.


In Vermont, if you want to keep track of the delegate count you'd better hope you remember some of that trigonometry because I'm pretty sure cosine is involved.


Ten delegates were directly at stake in yesterday's voting. They're divvied up by percent of vote. If it ends up 60-40 for Obama, he gets 6 delegates and Clinton gets 4. Those 10 choose five more, the presumption being they would end up 3 for Obama, 2 for Clinton (total now=9 for Obama and 6 for Clinton). Those 5 choose 1 more, who presumably would be for Obama (10-6).

Add in the state's seven super-delegates, five of whom have pledged to Obama, 1 to Clinton and Howard Dean staying neutral and you have 15-7.

Carry the one and multiple by the participle minus the barometric pressure plus Howard Dean's blood pressure and you have your final results.

Can someone explain to me what committee came up with this and why this system is better than a more direct vote-delegate link?


- Terri Hallenbeck

Comments:
It is all very fitting for the Democrats. You see they see a bigger picture than us simple folks.

Even though you placed your vote for what you wanted, they realize that what you voted for is not exactly what you really need. Compound that with the need to ensure it is progressively spread over the voter demographics. You know take away a little of the vote of the rich and redistribute it to the less fortunate.

Rest assured the Party knows what is best for you and will make sure they rearrange your vote to reflect what it is you don't even realize you need. Thanks DNC.
 
In the grand tradition of Kunin, Wright, Dean, Shumlin, Symington, Parker, and Racine. Will the last business owner leaving for greener pastures please turn off the lights. Ooops, I forgot, Entergy already did that for us!
 
About 10 years ago I didn't think grapes would thrive in Vermont. Along came some excellent local wineries and dispelled that notion.

Now I find out that the sour varieties grow in the wild as well, mostly in the poison ivy patch on on our right.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

June 2006   July 2006   August 2006   September 2006   October 2006   November 2006   December 2006   January 2007   February 2007   March 2007   April 2007   May 2007   June 2007   July 2007   August 2007   September 2007   October 2007   November 2007   December 2007   January 2008   February 2008   March 2008   April 2008   May 2008   June 2008   July 2008   August 2008   September 2008   October 2008   November 2008   December 2008   January 2009   February 2009   March 2009   April 2009   May 2009   June 2009   July 2009   August 2009   September 2009   October 2009   November 2009   December 2009   January 2010   February 2010   March 2010   April 2010