The American presidential election (9)
Tomorrow is Super Tuesday in the American primaries to determine the Democratic and Republican candidates for the Presidency. It is given this name because so many states are voting on the same day.
In the case of the Democrats, 22 states are choosing a candidate plus Democrats abroad (I hope to observe an event in London). Altogether this will account for 2,075 delegates out of a total of 4,049 including super delegates (former presidents, governors and members of Congress). To win the nomination, the Democratic front runner needs a total of 2,025 delegates.
The key states tomorrow are California (441 delegates), New York (281), Illinois (185), New Jersey (127), Massachusetts (121) and Georgia (103). All these counts include super delegates.
In the Republican primaries, the winner in a particular state often takes all that state’s delegates but, in the case of the Democrats, delegates are allocated roughly proportionate to votes.
So John McCain will probably sew up the Republican nomination tomorrow, but neither Barack Obama – my preferred candidate – nor Hillary Clinton is likely to make a knock-out blow, so the Democratic contest will continue through March and April – although a favourite might emerge on Tuesday.