Everthing You Need to Know About the Texas Primary Delegate System

[Avalux]

It's no wonder the Clinton campaign is whining about the "Texas Two Step"; the complicated process of selecting delegates in this state. Trying to figure it out can make your head spin.

From what I've witnessed locally here in San Antonio, Clinton's campaign has been unable to organize their ground game in order to explain the dual vote/caucus process to their supporters. Obama's campaign, on the other hand, is all over it; I am getting tired of the daily text message alerts reminding me of what I need to do (not really, they're cool). ;-)

For anyone who wants to understand how Texas's delegates will be allocated, this is a fantastic breakdown from the Burnt Orange Report. There's also a lot of helpful links included on the page:

First and foremost, I want to thank the Lone Star Project for their incredible report and analysis. Without their numbers, we'd be starting from scratch. For those who may not be familiar with the Lone Star Project, they are one of the best research-based groups in the country. Their research on the Texas Congressional Redistricting fiasco, for example, informed every media story you ever read about Tom Delay's insane power grab into the Republican-run Texas Legislature. So hat's off to them -- and feel free to drop them some change if you'd like.

With that out of the way, here's how it all breaks down:

How Texas' 228 Delegates are Allocated

Texas has a mixed primary-caucus way of selecting delegates, in addition to "super delegates" -- but the process works well because it rewards the candidate that gets voters to the polls on election day.


193 "pledged" delegates decided by the primary-caucus system
35 "unpledged" or "super" delegates
The "super" delegates are self explanatory -- so let's see if we can't help you make sense of the primary-caucus mix of "pledged" delegates. Again, thanks to the Lone Star Project for doing a lot of our work for us.

http://www.burntorangereport.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4877

Pay attention to the text I've bolded above - the process rewards the candidate that gets voters to the polls on election day. That's why Clinton is threatening a lawsuit.


:hi:

[Yael]

1. Threatening a lawsuit?

What?

[Avalux]

2. Yep - here's a link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4817040&mesg_id=4817040

[Yael]

3. Wow WOW!!

If she can't win by votes, she is going to SUE her way to the nomination?

:wow:

[hobbit709]

4. The best explanation of the process

http://kissmybigbluebutt.com/

Scroll down to the Feb 20 post.

[Avalux]

5. lol! That's it exactly!

I've never thought of it that way but it makes sense; we usually are bored out of our minds. ;)