i dont get your comment at all.  why would she give up her delegates if he has what he needs to acquire the nomination?  the whole thing is v. confusing to me.

healthcare she can hold her delegates. It's called party platform. It's called negotiations. She wants universal healthcare. He says universal is too hard and does not want mandates.

She will have positive influence with or with out.

Seriously I know what you are quietly hoping, fine. And it will not matter whether she has her delegates or not. They all can come back and all the others can come over.

I'm sorry, but you haven't actually made a case here.

If something should happen that keeps Obama from being able to serve as the nominee (and fretting over poll results is frankly not going to be enough to overturn the strong plurality of pledged delegates), then Hillary is the natural choice for the top spot.  But that's the case whether she has the delegates in her pocket or not!

Put it another way: everyone is completely open about the fact that the delegates can change their mind down the line should circumstances require it.  So why would she need to keep her delegates pledged to her?  They're her strongest backers, and if the situation appears where she is needed as a surrogate nominee for Obama, there's no reason why they couldn't then vote for her.

But look at it from the other direction: if she insists on retaining them, then the OBAMA delegates who would have to acquiesce to a Clinton surrogacy are likely to be turned off to the idea and would likely deadlock the convention.

So if the idea is to set the stage for Clinton to be the nominee should shit happen, then the way to go about it is to gain the goodwill of as many delegates as possible, not to horde the minority of delegates she already has.  Her best bet, by far, is to release her delegates, secure in the knowledge that if the unthinkable should happen she's heir apparent.

Stop thinking of this as a delegate fight--it stopped being that once the last ballots were cast in Montana.  Now it's about intra-party politics, and winning that game takes a very different strategy than what you're advocating.

I disagree. I think it is disrespectful for Obama to call on Hillary to quit. He should respect her 18 million voters.

When McCain reached the magic number of Pledged Delegates? Is that correct.

I see your point, but I think this is different. I see this rush to unity as a sign of disrespect for my vote, and those of 18 million other Democrats. I think we should all be sensitive after this incredibly tough campaign.

Has Obama actually passewd the magic number?

...Let's review the DNC's rules for winning the nomination.

It's not complex.  In a nutshell (and I will attempt to fill this in later with official sources for those who really have time on their hands):    If a nominee does not win a sufficient number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination, the automatic (or "super") delegates must determine who the nominee will be.  The automatic delegates, who are elected and unelected party officials, can use any criteria they each find appropriate when voting, but the original intent and purpose of the super delegate system was to ensure that the party nominate the most electable candidate for the general-election battle.

Most importantly:  The automatic delegates cast their votes at the Democratic National Convention, along with the pledged delegates.  ... Their votes, by the way, will be cast by private ballot.

That's the status of the Democratic Presidential nomination process.

Now, Barack Obama can "declare himself the nominee" ... The Clinton-hating Party Clique can "proclaim" that Obama is the nominee; the mainstream media can continue to ignore reality...None of this is surprising, and none of it matters...

Because there will not be a nominee until August.  There will not be -- there cannot be -- any nominee until August.   And even the "presumptive nominee" status is a stretch because normally that claim is made by a candidate who has reached the required number of PLEDGED delegates (as John McCain did).