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The Texas Blue
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The Texas Blue: News

The Superdelegates That Didn't Bark

Most primaries are followed by a cascade of endorsements and superdelegate commitments. These usually go to the winner, although Obama has also used big endorsements (Kerry, Kennedy) to blunt the impact of a loss. So why did nothing happen on Wednesday? As far as I can tell, not a single superdelegate committed to either side.

Lupe Valdez Already Whipping Republicans

Obviously Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez had a big night when she won the Democratic primary outright against 3 challengers. But did you know that more people voted for Sheriff Valdez in a four-way race than voted for all the Republican candidates for sheriff combined?

Plenty of Steam Building for Michigan Re-Vote

Courtesy of my father, who lives in Michigan: even the local media is getting in on the re-vote idea, and the public opinion seems to be tilted heavily towards doing it again. The 'firehouse' idea sounds interesting, but I can't imagine that Florida and Michigan will have primary contests that do not generate massive turnout.

News Roundup, 3/6/08: Recapping the Primary

Yesterday's news cycle was, predictably, all about the Tuesday primaries.

No Final Caucus Results Until At Least March 29

According to the Texas Democratic Party, we can expect to see somewhere around 50% of the precincts report Tuesday night's caucus results in the immediate future, but the final figures won't be tallied until at least March 29, when the Senate District conventions convene around the state.

A Mulligan of Epic Proportions

After the DNC firmed up on what scenarios could possibly lead to seated delegates for Michigan and Florida, it became apparent that despite some occasionally varied message, the Clinton campaign is signaling that holding new primary contests in those two states is a viable option. Seems like this might actually be happening.

Breakouts in HD 96; Zedler Vulnerable

The Chris Turner campaign just released some numbers and analysis from last night, and the results in HD 96 are very interesting. You might guess that Democrats outvoted Republicans, but they outvoted Republicans in incumbent Republican Bill Zedler's district by a greater ratio (2.45:1) than in Tarrant County overall (1.98:1) and statewide overall (2.07:1). Turner garnered 16,912 votes to Zedler's 7,129, and 25% of Republican primary voters in Zedler's district voted against him. Read the whole release here in PDF.

No Way Out On Pledged Delegates

CNN's John King just did a little instant touchmap math to show what kind of arguments each candidate can make about the rest of the contests. With the caveat that it was purely hypothetical, King showed what would happen if, alternatively, Senator Clinton won all remaining states 55-45, and what would happen if Senator Obama won all remaining states 65-35. The result is that neither one can get to the finish line on pledged delegates alone, and I'm not even sure either one gets there in either scenario with Michigan and Florida added in. I can't verify his math, but if it is true, it is provocative.

McCain, For Some Reason, Accepts Bush's Endorsement

John McCain looked slightly nervous and President Bush acted like the press conference was closer to the Romper Room than the West Wing. Bush endorsed McCain and said that he was ready to do whatever McCain needs most, even if that turns out to be making appearances and speaking against McCain. From a man who has put on some bizarre press conferences, this may have been the weirdest yet. You can get some video footage over at Huffington Post.

TDP Reports That More May Have Caucused Than Voted for McCain

The TDP just sent out a statement that, because 35% of precinct conventions included just under 400,000 voters, it is conceivable that the caucus turnout could both exceed John McCain's total Texas vote from yesterday and exceed total 2004 primary turnout, which was 839,000.