Gloria Penner on the Role of Delegates in the Upcoming Primaries

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 23, 2008 at 10:24 AM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Delegates to the national party conventions are a hot commodity this election year. Despite winning the popular vote in Nevada, Hillary Clinton came away with one less delegate than her Democratic riv

Tom Fudge : The California presidential primary is coming up on Feb. 5. When you cast your vote, and I know you will, you may think you're voting for a presidential candidate. But in fact, you're actually voting for delegates. These are the delegates who are committed to one candidate or the other, who will represent the general electorate at the party's national conventions. The rules that govern how delegates are chosen have a real impact on who is the actual victor in a primary. Remember the Nevada caucuses of about a week ago? Among the Democrats, Hillary Clinton got the most votes, but Barack Obama came away with the most delegates.

Guest

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Gloria Penner , political correspondent and host of Editors Roundtable . She also writes a weekly political blog for KPBS.org.