Friday, July 18, 2008

A candidate doesn't need to be "nominated" to receive votes

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

CQ has a story about some Clinton diehards who think she still has a chance to win the nomination if given a chance. The negotiations between the Obama and Clinton camps over when she will be speak and whether her name will be placed in nomination are ongoing, but some things are clear regardless of any political decisions:

After nominations for presidential candidates have closed, the Convention shall proceed to a roll call vote by states on the selection of the presidential candidate. The roll call voting shall follow the alphabetical order of the states with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and the territories treated as states for the purpose of the alphabetical roll call.
  • Clinton does not need to be nominated in order for delegates to vote for her. (VIII)(C)(7)(c):
Delegates may vote for the candidate of their choice whether or not the name of such candidate was placed in nomination.
Now it is true that Clinton does need to give her permission in order for her to be nominated, and that is what the negotiations are about.

But even a political expert like Craig Crawford gets it wrong:
All the more reason for Obama to make sure that there is no roll call including Clinton's name on the ballot at the national convention.
And even Howard Dean gets it wrong:
When asked about the ads criticizing him and Speaker Pelosi for Clinton supposedly not being on the ballot at the convention, he scoffed. Clinton will be on the ballot at the convention.
There is no "ballot" at a convention. Delegates can vote for anybody they want to. If delegates want to vote for Clinton, they can, and I don't think there's anything the Obama or the Clinton teams can do to stop it.