By Elizabeth Mishler
As predicted, the Democratic contests on Feb. 5 or the so-called “Super Tuesday” elections, were very close.
The presidential hopefuls, Sens. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), split the total popular vote almost evenly. The candidates also split the number of delegates, causing both campaigns claimed victory, and the campaign to continue.
The Super Tuesday elections included 23 nominating contests across the country, from Alaska and California to New York. But candidates are awarded delegates based on the percentage of their vote in congressional districts, as opposed to winner-take-all contests conducted in many Republican primaries. Therefore, a campaign could accurately claim victory in a state when it actually lost the popular vote in that state.
The Democratic Party also has two different types of delegates: pledged delegates and super-delegates. A super-delegate is usually an elected member of the Democratic Party, who does not have to commit to a specific candidate. In the Democratic Party, there are 4,049 delegates. The candidate needs 2,025 delegates backing them in order to win the nomination.
According to an Associated Press estimate, Clinton has 1,045 delegates, compared to 960 for Obama.
Clinton won eight states, including New York and California, the two largest states up for grabs. She held her election night rally at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and in her speech, she said she wanted to bring her voters “values and dreams” to the White House. “Tonight is your night. Tonight is our night,” she said.
Obama won 13 states, including Illinois, Kansas, North Dakota, Colorado and Missouri. Missouri was called for Clinton early in the night, but the Associated Press changed its decision to Obama at 2:48 a.m. Obama held his rally in Chicago, where he called attention to the uniqueness of his campaign. “This time can be different because this campaign for the president of the United States is different,” he said. “Ordinary people can still do ordinary extraordinary things.”
Both of their speeches stirred up the troops and made clear that there was no end in sight for either campaign.
Neither candidate can afford to slow down, but Clinton is rapidly losing money. The New York Times reported Wednesday night that Clinton lent her campaign $5 million in late January to continue fighting to win the nomination.
There are still more than 20 states that still have to vote for the Democratic primaries. This race is far from over. Clinton and Obama are close in the polls making the upcoming primaries and caucuses a fight for every state.