Although Senator Obama made a clean sweep in Democratic primaries held on February 9^th and 12^th and forged ahead in the important delegate count (now estimated as 1,255 for him and 1,180 for rival Hillary Clinton), the indications are that neither candidate will get the required 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination before the Democratic national convention in August.

The closeness of the race has members of the National Democratic Party scurrying. Over the past week as discussions pertaining to the role of super delegates being the tie-breaker waged, arguments against this solution outweighed those in favor. In fact, several ranking Democrats threatened to leave the party should this method be adapted, and it is obvious that the party would be seriously damaged if this solution is adapted, opening the way for Republican John McCain to be elected president in November.

For some Democrats, like Riviera Beach’s John Swaby, if there is no winning candidate by the convention, then the candidate with the advantage in the national popular votes should be nominated.

Although Senator Obama made a clean sweep in Democratic primaries held on February 9^th and 12^th and forged ahead in the important delegate count (now estimated as 1,255 for him and 1,180 for rival Hillary Clinton), the indications are that neither candidate will get the required 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination before the Democratic national convention in August.

The closeness of the race has members of the National Democratic Party scurrying. Over the past week as discussions pertaining to the role of super delegates being the tie-breaker waged, arguments against this solution outweighed those in favor. In fact, several ranking Democrats threatened to leave the party should this method be adapted, and it is obvious that the party would be seriously damaged if this solution is adapted, opening the way for Republican John McCain to be elected president in November.

For some Democrats, like Riviera Beach’s John Swaby, if there is no winning candidate by the convention, then the candidate with the advantage in the national popular votes should be nominated.

The Hillary camp is pushing for Florida and Michigan delegates to be seated, despite the ban on the states for moving up their Primaries to January. Adam Sharon, press secretary to Florida’s Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek, a super delegate who is supporting Clinton, told the National Weekly that Meek’s opinion is that the 1.7 million votes cast by Florida Democrats must be counted by the DNC. Sharon declined to say if this means that the votes should be accepted as polled in favor of Clinton, despite the fact that Obama did not campaign in the state, in accordance with the pledge made by the Democratic candidates.

There is no rule that precludes the super delegates from voting on their personal convictions as opposed to voting in accordance with their constituents, so that is also a factor that will play big in the selection of the nominee.

As we await the upcoming Washington and Wisconsin primaries and the Hawaii caucuses on February 19, we look forward to see if Obama will continue his winning ways or if Clinton will find some way to stop his advance towards the nomination. Currently, Clinton is looking towards the delegate laden states of Texas and Ohio on March 4, with a total of 390 (elected and super) delegates, and Pennsylvania, with 181, on April 22.