[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Cross-posted on the Huffington Post. 

The Democratic race is too close to call. It is entirely possible that the losing candidate will be supported by 49% of the voters and the delegates. It is also possible that one candidate could win the popular vote but lose the delegate contest. Amidst all this uncertainty, one thing is clear: the candidate who wins will win by a nose.

Some believe that the fight between Clinton and Obama has hurt Democrats. They are dead wrong. This is the best thing to happen to the Democratic Party in a long time.

Voter turnout and engagement is up virtually everywhere. People who have never been politically involved before -- especially the many women and African Americans who feel a strong sense of connection to the candidates -- are excited.

It has been too many years since Democrats have been wildly passionate about whom they want to win the nomination. We have a good thing going, and we need to keep it going through November. We need to keep it going all the way to the White House.

There's more...

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Washington, DC's ban on handguns. The court's decision, whatever it may be, will likely set the tone for the gun control debate for years to come.

California conservatives are depending on the popular vote to advance their agendas, says theSacramento Bee. Four ballot campaigns, including a constitutionalamendment to ban gay marriage, have gathered nearly $9 million to date.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Clinton and Obama campaigns are exchanging new barbs, now on accountability and ethics. What is that phrase about a house divided...?

There's more...

Image courtesy Associated Press

by Phil Specht [courtesy of Blog for America]

Why is the press too lazy to correctly report that all state contests are being held within the Delegate Selection Rules? Each state has "unpledged" delegates as part of that plan. (the so called Super Delegates) awarded across the nation by the same rules; and as well each state is conducting contests in all kinds of different but fair ways of allocating "pledged" delegates so that they reflect proportional support of those citizens who align themselves with the Democratic Party for the various candidates for President on the Democratic Party ticket. These slots are pro-rated by National Rules to represent the Democratic voters of past elections. After (rarely before) the allocation process, there is a separate election of the actual individuals who will attend the National (nominating) Convention in Denver in late summer. Bottom line, the candidate that picks up the most pledged delegates from a state won that state. Total popular vote numbers are meaningless since each state varies in how it does the allocation, by caucus or primary, or in the case of Texas both. In all cases they are proportional and fair.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Today the results of the February 5 primary become official.  The final spread in the popular vote between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is 8.9%.  Clinton garnered 51.8% to Obama's 42.9%.  The final delegates will be 203 for Clinton to 167 for Obama.  This roughly averages out to the exact spread in the head-to-head popular vote (Hillary got 54.6% of the head-to-head vote and 54.8% of the delegates), so the convoluted delegate apportionment system worked in the case of California.

I'm also pleased to announce that 47,153 "double bubble" votes were counted in Los Angeles County.  The expectation on the day of the election was that none of these ballots from decline to state voters would be counted, but the pressure put on by the Courage Campaign and other groups led to this result.  And by the way, 51% of those votes went to Hillary Clinton and 42% to Barack Obama, so those who insisted upon viewing this through some partisan lens can respectfully shut the fuck up.  This was about voter rights and remedying disenfranchisement; it always was, even though it had no material impact on the overall election.  

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

(Brian touched on the quirks of the primary process here; I ran the numbers.)

We hear a lot about the back and forth of the Democratic primary in California.  We hear about various campaign rallies, some of it useful and interesting.  Heck, I've written about them myself.  What I see less about is the actual nuts and bolts of the California election, and what its quirks will mean for the delegate counts for Obama or Clinton.  The AP came close the other day.