Obama Wins Iowa Again

Obama expanded his delegate lead over Hillary on Saturday, picking up nine delegates as Iowa activists took the next step in picking delegates to the national convention.

With all the Iowa delegates now picked, Democratic Party projections indicate Obama increased his number of Iowa delegates by nine to a total of 25 compared with 14 for Hillary and six for Edwards. More than half the 14 Edwards delegates switched to Obama. Iowa also has 12 superdelegates. Obama has been endorsed by four of those and Hillary three, and the rest remain uncommitted.

Obama also closed the gap in California as that state's Democratic Party finalized the delegate counts from the February 5 primary. Obama gained five more pledged delegates, while Hillary only picked up two.

According to the Associated Press, counting Saturday's new figures from Iowa and California, Obama now leads the delegate tally 1,617 delegates to 1,498.

Neither Obama nor Clinton can win the 2,025 delegates required for nomination without some combination of elected delegates and superdelegates (party and elected officials who are automatic delegates to the Democrats' Denver convention this summer). About 800 of the approximately 4,000 delegates are superdelegates and several hundred of them remain uncommitted to either candidate.

Given the remaining contests, Obama's existing hundred-plus delegate lead, and the rules by which Democrats apportion delegates, it is a political and practical, if not mathematical, certainty that Obama will have an elected delegate lead at the end of the nomination contests. Hillary's only hope of winning the nomination is to overtake Obama's elected delegate lead by winning the bulk of the remaining superdelegates.