How Did Dean Get So Many Delegates?

[ThomWV]

I really don't understand this. How does Dean come up with the second largest delegate count? I'm not asking this to denegrate Dean, it just doesn't make any sense to me when I look at his lackluster performance in the Primary/Caucus so far. What's the deal here?

[DoveTurnedHawk]

1. Those Delegate Counts Include Superdelegates

Dean had racked up a lot of them prior to his decline. It's likely that most of these will end up voting for the eventual nominee, IMO.

DTH

[Lefta Dissenter]

3. I think that the superdelegate deal

absolutely SUCKS! And that's regardless of who's getting them. Why should a few people have SO much influence over the votes?? I just don't GET it! Where the hell did that idea ever originate???????

[goobergunch]

12. It's an attempt to give the party leaders more power in the convention

A bad idea, IMHO.

[King of New Orleans]

2. Back in Dec and Jan

when Dean was the frontrunner, he got alot of commitments from members of Congress and other Superdelegates who get a vote at the convention. (out of 4,300 overall delegates, more than 800 of them are Superedelegates, elected officials and party apparatus people).

Alot of his Superdelegates will recommit to others if/when Dean drops out.

[janx]

4. Slow and Steady Wins the Race...

This is probably not a literal translation of Aesop, but you get the idea.

[TexasDem]

5. Delegates are not committed by who wins the primary

I recently attended a democratic mock precinct caucus here in Dallas and learned this. The delegates are not based on who wins the precinct but on who the people commit to that show up at the caucus meeting AFTER the polls close.

So essentially Kerry can win by a large margin, but that doesn't prevent a large number of the caucus people from showing up and committing to Dean or anyone else still on the ticket.

[TexasDem]

6. Forgot last option

Delegates can show up and secure "uncommitted slots" if they have enought numbers

[Malikshah]

7. "The Old Fashioned way"

He *earned* them...

*in best John Houseman voice*;-)

[jaysunb]

8. In case you haven't noticed

Dean finished second or third in most of the primaries or caucuses. Delegates are awarded based on the number of votes garnered in each contest. Super delegates are also added into the mix.
A candidate could concievably win every primary and still not have enough delegates (2165) to win the nomination outright. Thus, Dean or Edwards could actually still be a major player come July should either win big in places like California and New York.
The anointing of Kerry is really premature at this point, although the way things are being played out, it seems most people don't realize--or don't want to realize--they can still vote for the candidate they believe in with a chance to either win or play a large role in the writing of the party platform at the convention.
A candidate must get at least 15% of the general vote in order to get any delegates.
BTW I've always found it a little odd that the fact that Howard Dean has finished second or third in nearly every race has been completely overlooked or ignored by the media.....from this post it seems to have been equally as effective as some of the other "kill tactics".

[Dookus]

9. Dean's

second or third place finishes have NOT been ignored or overlooked. I've seen it mentioned in every report on the primaries I read.

It made something of a splash in Iowa, as I recall.

[bhunt70]

10. not necessarily out of 12 races

Dean has had

0 - first place
2 - second place
5 - third place
3 - fourth place
2 - fifth place

Kerry has had

10 - First place
1 - second place
1 - third place

Edwards has had

1- First place
5 - second place
2 - third place
4 - fourth place

and Clark (I know he's out but just for comparison)

1 - first place
2 - second place
3 - third place
2 - fourth place
1 - fifth place
1 - sixth place

[stickdog]

13. Why lie about this?

Dean came in second in Michigan, Washington, Maine and Nevada. Dean came in third in Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, DC and North Dakota. That's 10 top 3 finishes out of 15, compared to 9 for Edwards.

Dean has won delegates in 8 states. Edwards has won delegates in 7 states.

Dean has beaten Edwards head to head 8 times. Edwards has beaten Dean head to head 7 times.

Dean has won 91 delegates while Edwards has won 139. Outside of the South, Dean has won 88 deletates, while Edwards has won 50.

[DjTj]

11. Pledged/Unpledged Delegates

Dean has 96 unpledged delegates, which aren't tied to primary results and are allowed to shift allegiances:

Pledged/Unpledged Counts:

Kerry: 440/127
Dean: 91/96
Edwards: 140/26