Does Edwards still have delegates?

[JMDEM]

Just wondering. With the delegate battle so intense, it seems like there would be a big battle for whatever chips he holds.

[redqueen]

1. Yes. There's another thread speculating

what he'll do with them, and whether it might have any bearing on the eventual outcome.

What a mess this primary is.

[JMDEM]

4. How many? nt.

[redqueen]

6. I've seen both 26 & 48 given as answers here... I'm not sure though. (nt)

[Exilednight]

11. He officially holds 26. I don't know where people are getting 48 from.

[caledesi]

16. 26

Rumor is that Obama will pick him as VP (supposedly. that is why Edwards dropped out; they made deal). This is my DREAM ticket!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

2. 48 OF THEM

[Zueda]

3. I would think so being that he only "suspended" his campaign.

[JMDEM]

7. Suspension was probably done for financial considerations

Something about getting matching funds.

[Exilednight]

14. For financial and to control his pledged delegates. Once he drops-out he loses control.

[Kittycat]

5. Yes, but some have switched to Obama.

[Exilednight]

12. The super delegates can switch, but the pledged can not switch without Edwards say so.

[Kittycat]

20. Well, yes and now.

The first point on SDs, I agree with you 100%.

On the Pledged, they actually can vote for anyone come time for the election. But they did pledge to vote for him, and were elected to do so.

[bdamomma]

8. on CNN website it is saying 26

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/candidates/#1803

[JMDEM]

9. That's like winning a big state 60-40!!! nt.

[LiveLiberally]

10. I'm not sure the # of delegates matters in any case unfortunately....

From the media, I've seen figures ranging from 12 to 32 with 26 being the most common. http://www.electoral-vote.com/

My understanding, however, is that Edwards doesn't actually control these delegates. (The primary benefit of "suspending" a campaign is to allow a candidate to continue to receive public campaign financing to pay off accumulated debts.) At the convention, Edwards can urge his delegates to support a particular candidate, but they are not required by Party rules to do so. In essence, they are 26 (give or take 10) more "super-delegates"; however, they can't commit to anyone but Edwards until the convention.

[JMDEM]

15. True, but...

If they are committed to Edwards, wouldn't they be at least somewhat committed to what he recommends? Of course, maybe the big O or the big C offers them a nice free vacation in the Bahamas or something.

[LiveLiberally]

17. I would hope so but....

I personally don't think we will get to the Convention without a "presumptive nominee." It might last until June, but I think the general consensus is that the Party can't afford to lose the summer battling itself and then have only 2 months to beat McCain. So if there is a presumptive nominee, I think Edwards will ask his delegates to support her/him. He's made it clear from the outset that he would support the Party nominee.

[Fire_brand]

13. 26, but I don't think he can control them

He can encourage them to go one way or the other, but he can't force them

[Debi]

18. Here are the rules for Iowa's county/district/state conventions

pertaining to delegates selected at caucus -

<snip>

Saturday 15 March 2008: Democratic Party County Conventions convene in each county. Each County Convention chooses the county's delegates to both Congressional District Conventions and the Iowa State Convention based on presidential preference. A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be viable. Delegates assigned to a non-viable candidate will realign themselves to another candidate.

County Conventions choose both the county's delegates to the Democratic Party Convention of the Congressional District of which the county is a part as well as the county's delegates the Iowa State Democratic Convention; each presidential contender receives a number of the county's delegates to each respective Convention (District or State) in proportion to the number of county convention delegates supporting said candidate.

Saturday 26 April 2008: Democratic Party District Conventions convene in each congressional district to choose the district's delegates to the Democratic National Convention. A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated National Convention delegates at the district level.

29 district delegates are to be allocated proportionally to the number of district convention delegates supporting said candidate in each Congressional District:
CD 1: 6
CD 2: 7
CD 3: 6
CD 4: 6
CD 5: 4

Therefore, the very first time Democratic National Convention delegates from Iowa will be allocated to presidential contenders officially will be at these Saturday 26 April 2008 District Conventions!!

Saturday 14 June 2008: The Iowa State Democratic Convention convenes. The State Convention chooses 16 of the Iowa's Pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention. A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated National Convention delegates at the statewide level.

16 delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based the support for the presidential contenders in the State Convention as a whole.

10 at-large National Convention delegates
6 Pledged PLEOs
The remaining 12 National Convention delegates consist of

11 Unpledged PLEO delegates:
6 Democratic National Committee members.
4 Members of Congress (1 Senator and 3 Representatives).
1 Governor.
0 Distinguished Party Leaders.
1 Unpledged "add-on" (selected at the state convention).
These 12 delegates and will go to the Democratic National Convention officially "Unpledged".

Only as of Saturday 14 June 2008 will ALL of Iowa's 57 Democratic National Convention delegates have been allocated: the estimates made re: delegate allocation as a result of the Iowa caucuses will likely not match the presidential preferences and pledges of the National Convention delegates as actually chosen because it is rather probable that the field of Democratic presidential contenders on Saturday 14 June 2008 will very well be quite different from the way that same field looked at the time the Iowa Precinct Caucuses had taken place way back in January!

<snip>

emphasis added

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/IA-D.phtml

[LiveLiberally]

19. Very interesting -- tks for posting /nt