The Voters Voice

Earlier this week Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney suspended his campaign for President - which in lamens terms means he’s out. With Romney’s exit, the GOP race essentially done, with Senator John McCain holding a clear lead with 697 pledged delegates and 17 unpledged RNC delegates, for a total of 714 delegates of the 1191 needed to win the nomination, to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s 181 delegates. Oh ya, Congressman Ron Paul has 16 behind him.Now, you’re probably wondering how a candidate gets all of these pledged and unpledged delegates.Well, the pledged delegates are awarded win you win a primary. Most states in the Republican primaries hold a winner-take-all primary, which means that the candidate who wins the state gets all of that states delegates pledged to them, hence “pledged delegates.” Some states hold primaries which are based upon the percentage of the vote a candidate receives, which means that the percentage of the vote a candidate wins equals the percentage of that states delegates pledged to them. (Allmost all of the GOP primaries and caucuses are winner-take-all, as the party bylaws state, in an attempt to have a nominee quicker.)Now unpledged delegates are a different story. Each state has two elected members to the Republican National Committee. (All 100 state members, along with numerous “honorary” and “territorial” members make up the legislative body of the party.) Each of these RNC members receives a vote at the national convention in September, also delegates representing the state party chairs and other state party “powerhouses” receives delegates under this classification. These “unpledged” delegates do not have to pledge themselves to one particular candidate, but are added in with the totals that a candidate wins from that member’s home state. So when you see, as on CNN or FOX News, the listing for a candidates delegates as, “Senator McCain has 714 convention delegates, with 17 of those being unpledged,” you now know that he really only has 697 real delegates.But back to the original reason I was writing. With Romney’s exit from the race today, Senator John McCain is all but guaranteed the GOP nomination. Though Governor Huckabee and Congressman Paul remain in the race, Huckabee would need almost 1000 delegates, about the number left to be awarded, to win the nod, and Paul has no earthly chance anymore.Now it comes down to two things, 1) Who is McCain going to name to be his running mate (my money is going on Huckabee, as that would balance the ticket, not only west and south, but for the evangelicals whom call him they’re man and 2) Who will come out as the Democratic Nominee (I would bet on Hillary, but her and Obama have very close delegate total, and many more states still have to vote.)So, after all this, the only thing that has changed from yesterday is, we have one less candidate in the race to become the most powerful man (or, god forbid, woman) in the world. Enjoy, and happy politics.(Ed. Note: Now would probably be a good time to note that, in line with our disclaimer - see the bottom of the main website page for that - this article does not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or positions of Kids Voting Dayton, it’s staff, or affiliates.)