http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/could_loser_of_popular_vote_co.phpCan The Process That Determines Outcome In Florida And Michigan Be Hijacked? Nope.
By Greg Sargent - February 19, 2008, 1:26PM
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The process is convoluted, but in essence what happens is that each campaign gets to send a number of members to the credentials committee out of each state in a number that's proportional to the number of delegates he or she has in that state. This virtually ensures that the number of credentials committee members he or she seats out of each state is roughly proportional to the popular vote he or she won in that state.
“Membership is proportional to the vote in each state,” says DNC press secretary Stacie Paxton.
So, while it's remotely possible that, say, Hillary, should she lose the overall popular vote, would end up with more credentials committee members here and there, in states like California, it would be virtually impossible statistically for her to have more members than Obama does overall, let alone a majority.
One other side note: It's not even clear yet what scenarios the credentials committee will be considering. Once the voting is over, and the credentials committee is seated, it will meet publicly to consider a whole range of options for Michigan and Florida -- not just the scenario favored by the Hillary campaign, which is the seating of the delegations as determined by the votes in those states.
One proposal, for instance, that's being talked about is that the delegations are split 50-50 between the two candidates. But again, it's unclear what scenarios will ultimately be considered. In the end, the credentials committee itself has a great deal of discretion over what scenarios to vote on, and hence, over what will ultimately happen.
But in the end, the scenario that envisions Hillary losing the overall pledged del vote but having a majority of members of the credentials committee -- and thus determining what happens with Michigan and Florida -- is pretty much impossible.