Once Again, I Get Mail!

The Daily Brew 
February 10, 2008

As I was watching the returns come in from Maine, where Senator Obama won his forth straight contest since Super Tuesday, I was getting irritated by the fact that the corporate news continues to include the so-called Super Delegates in the reported delegate totals.  As we know, the Super Delegates can change their minds, and there is good reason to suspect they might. Many senior party members are already cautioning the Super Delegates that they should think twice before changing the results, should they eventually show a decisive preference among the voters.  

Reporting the Super Delegates as though their votes were cast in stone has the effect of showing Senator Clinton as "leading" the race, when in fact, Senator Obama has actually won more delegates in the state contests.  This is just one of the myriad of small ways the corporate press use to try to control the outcome of our political process.

Since it is clear that the media is using the Super Delegates to skew the race, I was curious to see how much effect the Super Delegates are having in undermining the voters from their own states.  So I did a quick check to see how many of the Super Delegates were committed to a candidate that lost in their home states.  

What I learned is that there are 42 Super Delegates committed to Senator Clinton from states Senator Obama won, and there are 32 Super Delegates committed to Senator Obama from states Senator Clinton won.  This discrepancy accounts for more than a third of the 27 delegate "lead" that CNN is reporting for Senator Clinton.

Here, for your edification, are the names of those Super Delegates:

Just for kicks, I thought 

Super Delegates Committed to Senator Clinton from States Senator Obama
Won:
(42 total so far)

DNC Patti Higgins (AK)
DNC Joe Reed (AL)
Rep. Diane DeGette (CO)
DNC Manny Rodriguez (CO)
DNC Maria Handley (CO)
DNC Ramona Martinez (CO)
DNC Ellen Camhi (CT)
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (DE)
DNC Rhett Ruggerio (DE)
DNC Karen Valentine (DE)
Rep. David Scott (GA)
Rep. John Lewis (GA)
Michael Thurmond (GA)
Carole Dabbs (GA)
Lonnie Plott (GA)
DNC John Rednour (IL)
Rep. Leonard Boswell (IA)
DNC Sandy Opstvedt (IA)
DNC Sarah Swisher (IA)
DNC Mike Gronstal (IA)
DNC Teresa Krusor (KS)
Gov. John Baldacci (ME)
DNC Ken Curtis (ME)
VP Walter Mondale (MN)
DNC Jackie Stevenson (MN)
DNC Rick Stafford (MN)
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (MO)
Fmr. Rep. Dick Gephardt (MO)
DNC Doug Brooks (MO)
DNC Sandy Querry (MO)
DNC Don Fowler (SC)
DNC Marva Smalls (SC)
DNC Hon. Karen Hale (UT)
DNC Helen Langan (UT)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (WA)
Sen. Patty Murray (WA)
Rep. Jay Inslee (WA)
Former Speaker Tom Foley (WA)
DNC Ron Sims (WA)
Rep. Norm Dicks (WA)
 
Super Delegates Committed to Senator Obama from States Senator Clinton 
Won:
(32 total so far)

Gov. Janet Napolitano (AZ)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ)
Rep. Anna Eshoo (CA)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA)
Rep. Barbara Lee (CA)
Rep. Adam Schiff (CA)
Rep. George Miller (CA)
Rep Zoe Lofgren (CA)
Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA)
DNC Hon. Eric Garcetti (CA)
DNC Norma Torres (CA)
Rep. Robert Wexler (FL)
DNC Allan Katz (FL)
Gov. Deval Patrick (MA)
Sen. John Kerry (MA)
Sen. Ted Kennedy (MA)
Rep. William Delahunt (MA)
Rep. Michael Capuano (MA)
DNC Alan Solomont (MA)
Rep. John Conyers (MI)
Rep. Steve Rothman (NJ)
DNC Steven Horsford (NV)
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH)
Rep. Paul Hodes (NH)
DNC Hon. Martha Fuller Clark (NH)
Fmr DNC Chair Fred Harris (NM)
DNC Kitti Asbury - (OK)
Rep. Jim Cooper (TN)
Rep. Steve Cohen (TN)
DNC Lois DeBerry (TN)
 
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