Posted May 14, 2008

Last evening Senator Barack Obama lost the West Virginia primary to his opponent Senator Hillary Clinton in a landslide 26 to 67 percent of the vote. Where's the other seven percent you ask? In an ironic twist, the remainder of the vote went to one John Edwards. A former North Carolina Senator, former presidential candidate, and current superdelegate who today will announce his endorsement of Senator Obama.

The announcement will serve as yet another blow to the Clinton campaign, which suffers mounting pressure to give up the fight. Clinton, who netted 12 pledge delegates in her win last evening, trails Obama in total delegate count by 166.

Though Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe insists that the prolonged fight for the Democratic nomination is good for the party, history suggests otherwise. Similar battles in 1972 (McGovern), 1980 (Carter), and 1984 (Mondale) produced Presidential losses for the Democratic nominee.

The current delegate count is as follows:

Barack Obama - 1,884 total (1,600 pledged, 284 super)
Hillary Clinton - 1,718 total (1,445 pledged, 273 super)

Each candidate now needs 2,026 delegates to secure the nomination.