Clinton Backer Evan Bayh Points to Electoral College Votes as New Measure

NYT: Clinton Backer Points to Electoral College Votes as New Measure
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: March 24, 2008


(Charles Dharapak/AP)
Senator Evan Bayh campaigning last week with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, who backs Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, proposed another gauge Sunday by which superdelegates might judge whether to support Mrs. Clinton or Senator Barack Obama. He suggested that they consider the electoral votes of the states that each of them has won. “So who carried the states with the most Electoral College votes is an important factor to consider because ultimately, that’s how we choose the president of the United States,” Mr. Bayh said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

In a primary, of course, electoral votes are not relevant, but the Clinton campaign is trying to use them as an unofficial measure of strength. So far, Mrs. Clinton has won states with a total of 219 Electoral College votes, not counting Florida and Michigan, while Mr. Obama has won states with a total of 202 electoral votes.

Mr. Obama, of Illinois, is ahead of Mrs. Clinton, of New York, in most other leading indicators: popular vote (by 700,000 votes out of 26 million cast, excluding caucuses and the disputed Florida and Michigan results, a difference of about 3 percent); delegates (1,622.5 compared with 1,472.5 for her, according to The New York Times’s count); and number of states (27 compared with 14 for her, excluding Florida and Michigan). The opinion polls are mixed but give Mr. Obama a slight edge.

Asked how she could win the nomination, Mr. Bayh said: “Well, I do think the popular vote is important. But that’s a circular argument. It brings us back to Florida and Michigan.” He said he would also factor in electability and momentum, then added: “But ultimately, you know, if you look at the aggregate popular vote, and as we all recall in 2000, to our, as Democrats, great sorrow, we do elect presidents based upon the Electoral College.”

The Clinton camp has argued that Mrs. Clinton’s having won the big states should be an important factor when considering her electability. “Presidential elections are decided on electoral votes,” a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, Howard Wolfson, said in an e-mail message. But Mr. Wolfson said superdelegates would also be looking at the popular vote when determining which candidate to support....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/us/politics/24campaign.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

:popcorn:

If the Hillary/Obama race was the general election...he'd have a point.

nt

The "grasping at straws argument"

Very persuasive!

:sarcasm:

And having the person who get the most - like we've done for a REALLY REALLY long time - that's a bad idea now?

Why? Because Hillary is losing maybe?

He is attempting to go back to the "winner takes all" approach for the states -- the GOP approach.

I guess Bayh is trying to change the system for 2012.

IIRC :hi:

... who wouldn't have shit without his last name. An empty-headed pretty-boy mooching off the family name.
Just like the current resident of 1600.

:puke:

a Clinton supporter was highly enthusiastic about this idea ... I thought they sounded nuts.

-FedoraLV