Press Silent on Obama Texas Win

by jaurez | March 8, 2008 at 08:48 pm
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Today the press is in a bind.  Having announced prematurely a Texas win to Clinton, they stand today to be corrected. A quick search on Google yields few articles on the Texas nominating contest results and updated projections.  A silence has characterised a reticence to correct an error of grand proportions:  based on the results of the first step of the Texas primary, but not taking into account the second step, media has crowned Clinton the winner.  Winner of what?  The implication being made by the major press is that they are declaring the winner of the Texas nominating contest.  In the Texas contest voters casted ballots at both the primary election and at the caucus.  In Wyoming, the headline "Obama wins in Wyoming" means he has won the nominating contest of the Democratic primary, although the primary contest is based on a caucus. 

So who won the Texas nominating contest (and beware of the usage of the word "primary"!)?
Based on complete primary election results, and on half of the caucus results, the projected winner is Obama, winning 61 in the first stage of the contest, and 38 in the second stage, a total of 99 delegates to Clintons estimated 94 delegates.  The Texas nominating contest gives Obama a win by 5 delegates. 

Can the press face up ?  How will they say "Obama Wins in Texas" once all results are in, after saying "Clinton Wins in Texas"?

Obama has won a majority of nominating contests, including caucuses, but note Penn’s use of “primary.”


Clinton won the state's primary 51 percent to Obama's 48 percent. The state party awards the delegates proportionally statewide -- Clinton earned 65 delegates to Obama's 61.

The caucuses determine how the remaining third of Texas' delegates are allocated.

 

Here is a list of which candidate from each party has won each of
the nominating contests held to date in U.S. states, Washington, D.C.,
the capital city, and U.S. territories:

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama:

Iowa, South Carolina, Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North
Dakota, Utah, Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, Maine, Washington, D.C.,
Maryland, Virginia, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Vermont, U.S. Virgin Islands,
Democrats Abroad, Wyoming

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton:

New Hampshire, Michigan*, Nevada, Florida*, Arizona, Arkansas,
California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma,
Tennessee, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, American Samoa

 

Correction: Obama Won In Texas Delegate Count
You may have received incorrect information about what happened in the
Democratic presidential race the other night. There is the widespread
impression that Hillary Clinton won Texas.
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Karen Hatter
Karen Hatter
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:39 on March 9th, 2008

Jaurez, good stuff.

mrbarky
mrbarky
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:15 on March 9th, 2008

I'm glad as least someone has picked up on this

This story was created over 3 months ago, the comment thread is now closed.

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