March 26, 2012

Untangling the Republican Delegate Mess

By Greg Lewis
It is possible that Mitt Romney might not get the requisite number of delegates before the Republican National Convention is held in August, but that's looking more and more unlikely as the primary season grinds on.  Because it could happen, though, here's a review of the "delegate math," as well as a look at how it might be skewed by the tangled web of rules spun by the Republican Party and the flouting of those rules by a couple of key states. We've had 28 primaries as of March 25.  Here's the delegate math.  Total delegates decided thus far: 1,043.  Delegate Count: Romney 565, Santorum 256, Gingrich 141, Paul 66, according to Real Clear Politics.  Number of delegates left to decide: 1,244 (of a total of 2,287, although because of RNC rules, some counts differ by four votes).  The number of delegates up for grabs should be between 2,429 and 2,433, but there have been penalties levied against Arizona and Florida for holding their winner-take-all...(Read Full Article)