In navigating all the election results, the delegate tallies depend on who you ask. According to CNN, the count is 1148 for Clinton and 1121 for Obama. According to the Associated Press it's 1136 for Clinton to 1108 for Obama. According to MSNBC, it's 943 for Obama and 895 for Clinton. According to ABC News, it's 1127 for Clinton to 1110 for Obama. And according to that bastion of reliability, Fox News, it's 1127 for Clinton to 1093 for Obama, which is the AP count minus the 24 delegates just awarded in Maine.
The problem is that except for maybe the MSNBC count, all of them are trying to count superdelegates. These are party officials, senators and congresspeople who act as a check against a bunch of college students saddling the party with another George McGovern. If there's no clear winner from the popular vote, these 796 people get to weigh in and tip the scales toward one candidate or another. But here's the thing, no matter who they say they're supporting now, they can change their mind at any time.
According to CNN, if you forget about superdelegates, Obama is leading Hillary 986 to 924. And while varying other counts aren't quite as high for either side, no one disputes that Obama is leading in delegates awarded by popular vote. It's not until you start counting delegates awarded by backroom deals, personal loyalties, and favors owed does Hillary jump ahead. But all of those news sources report the count including the superdelegates and then either disclaim that it includes superdelagates without breaking it out, or prints the breakdown in much smaller type than the tallies.
So, if you go to CNN, ABC News, Fox News, or the Associated Press, the first thing you see is that Hillary is leading by anywhere from 17 to 34 delegates. You have to look deeper to maybe see that Obama is leading the number of electorally committed delegates by between 48 and 62 while the numbers giving Hillary the lead are merely based on an opinion poll that could shift in the blink of an eye.
It's irresponsible and perhaps even biased for major news outlets to be reporting the polling numbers of superdelegates as if they were real, committed delegates. It's the only way Hillary has the lead, and any or all of those delegates could change their mind the next time they're polled. Some could leave Obama for Hillary, some could leave Hillary for Obama, and who they're really going to support is not guaranteed until they officially declare themselves at the convention.
So I'd like to ask the major news outlets to stop reporting super delegates as part of the totals. It's misleading and inaccurate since many of these delegates can and possibly will switch their allegiances before the convention.
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