Blue Spot

Obama to Declare Win, Come Hill Or High Water - America’s Election HQ

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told FOXNews.com on Thursday that the Obama camp’s plan to declare victory based on a pledged delegate majority is “meaningless.” He said that a candidate will need a majority of the pledged delegates and the unpledged superdelegates combined to be the true winner.

“Until you get to twenty-twenty-five or twenty-two-oh-nine, none of this matters,” McAuliffe said, referring to the numbers being bandied about as the number of votes needed.

“In order to have a majority of the delegates seated at the national convention, that’s how you get to become the nominee, not the pledged,” McAuliffe said.

“If that’s the case, take everyone of the superdelegates away from him, if he doesn’t care about them.”

The Democrats will have 3,253 pledged delegates and 796 superdelegates at the Democratic National Convention, if Michigan and Florida are excluded. Without those two states, the eventual Democratic nominee will need 2,025 delegates. If those states’ delegations are ultimately seated, then a candidate will need 2,209 delegates to secure the nomination.

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary