Kamala Harris has the support of enough Democratic delegates to win the party’s nomination for president, according to CNN’s delegate estimate.
While endorsements from delegates continue to come in, the vice president has now been backed by well more than the 1,976 pledged delegates she’ll need to win the nomination on the first ballot.
Harris crossed the threshold amid a wave of endorsements from state delegations Monday evening.
Just like in the actual presidential election, during the primary, you are voting for electors (delegates) who have pledged their votes to a candidate, and their votes are cast at the convention.
If that candidate leaves the race, those electors still get to vote their conscience. That is what you have entrusted them to do.
So that means that at least Florida, Delaware, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Indiana must have primaries still for any delegates?
A state is allowed to allocate their delegates by whatever rules they see fit, it varies state to state. In Maine they don’t even all have to go to the same candidate.
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No kidding. Now go learn what an open primary is.
Allowing multiple candidates to present their case at the primary would give the public the chance to choose and try and to convince their delegates. It would be a farce that Kamala would still win, but it would at least present the Democrats as trying to represent instead of rule.
We should have had a proper primary in the first place. By the way, do you even know what delegates you “chose” to represent you? I doubt it. Then how did you choose them? How many Americans do you think even know who their delegates are? I’m pretty wonky, and I have no idea. Delegates (and electors) aren’t even known, nevermind trusted by the vast majority of Americans.
We did have a primary. Remember “write-in uncommitted”? Those were primaries. Anyone who wanted could have ran, even you, assuming you’re an American citizen over the age of 35. Which is actually pretty unlikely now that I think about it, but whatever.
I said a proper primary. I’m not going to argue the point though. If you think we had a proper primary then I can’t help you.
In what way do you think it should have been fixed? A Philips/Biden/Williamson debate?
Didn’t they already tell you? The primary election is done.
It’s hard to keep the talking points in order, I guess.
This particular thread is about whether we had adequate primaries or not. Not when they were.
Sure, but “The primaries are over.” Whether that primary was “adequate” when Biden was a candidate is kind of orthoganal to Harris securing enough delegate endorsements.
Seemed like the other commenter was dismissing the primary as “over” with one side of their mouth while complaining about its “inadequacy” with the other.
Sure. I was mainly concerned with the inadequacy side of it this time. My problem is tangential to the OP post but not directly related. I firmly believe the primary was actually adequate, and am interested in discussing it, at great length if necessary.
The primaries are over thing is a legitimate argument imo, I have no issues with it. I fully understand how people could be upset with the current situation, I think that is a healthy, democratic opinion a person can have, even if I don’t personally share it.
I didn’t bring up the primary. Someone else brought it into the conversation (you in fact) and I responded to that point. That’s why threads fork.
It’s not complicated. There is no time for a primary at this point. We had an official primary, but it was a farse. This is where the incestuous relationship between the political establishment and the media establishment comes in. They can do their primary without it ever being an actual contest. When mainstream media backs a single candidate and shuts out all others from public view, a primary becomes a joke.
This is where the blue MAGA accusation becomes valid. You would never in a million years be OK with this state of affairs if it didn’t benefit your chosen candidate. You don’t want democracy, you want to be in charge.
It might have saved us the Biden Trump debate.
Probably not. Dean was running to the right of Biden and unlikely to appeal to current day dems, and Williamson has no political experience.
If the Biden that debated Trump showed up to debate Williamson, she would hand him his ass. If she’s inexperienced then let her make a fool out of herself. I’m not outraged that I didn’t get my choice, but I am outraged that the establishment can just shut opponents out of the public discourse and subvert the primary. You don’t get to decide all by yourself who is qualified to be President.
Making a requirement that a certain amount of support is necessary before wasting time and money on debates is reasonable. Williamson has no experience, and debate performance has minimal value in deciding who wins an election or how good of a president they would be. Hilary won debates, lost the election.
This hanging onto debates as some sort of important thing is foolish. In 2020, the DNC set a record of 20 million people watching their most viewed debate. Out of 330 million citizens. Almost two dozen people participated in the debates. People just don’t really give a shit about debates, they’re not a particularly good medium, and are unnecessary to understand a candidates positions in the era of wikipedia.
I’m not sure why not having to be registered with the party whose primary it is has any relevance here, and I’m not sure why you think that’s important in this context.
Sorry, brain fart. I meant open convention.
That’s essentially what’s going on right now.
The fact that this torch-passing is happening in an organized fashion, as opposed to “at the actual convention” is irrelevant. Having a contested nomination at the convention (in Chicago, no less) would be “a bad idea.”
A bad idea? Protesters got major concessions from the Democratic party that improved the primary process markedly. It’s still shit, but it’s not a bunch of white guys smoking cigars in a back room. Fostering democracy isn’t a bad idea. Protesting isn’t a bad idea. Mayor Daley with the blessing of the DNC cracking down on protests with over the top police violence is a bad idea. Just don’t do that and it will be fine. What kind of a pussy country curtails the political process out of fear of protests? That’s some despotic shit.
Where are the public discourse between the candidates? Who in media is informing voters of the options? When the media establishment conspires with the political establishment to focus all discussion on a single candidate, that’s not a healthy democracy. This is just back to cigars and back rooms.
Giving attention to the diversity of opinion under the Democratic party is healthy. The establishment always insists that any kind of contention is bad, but that’s bullshit. Clinton and Obama had a contentious primary and he won the general. Sanders challenged Hillary with kid gloves and she lost the general. Trump had massively contentious primary and he won. Biden has a contentious primary and he won. Biden has a show primary this time and that worked out great!
This is the period when the people actually have some shred of influence over the party direction. We don’t expect a fair primary because we know that the system is designed from the ground up to make that impossible. However, when we don’t really get to run, that’s not something I’m going to shut up about.