Grinnell College mattered a lot in this election.
How? Just look at the vote for second place.
In Grinnell's precinct, the most powerful in the state, achieving bare viability is worth 6 delegates to the county convention. The state Democratic party reports results in terms of delegate counts.
John Edwards and Hillary Clinton are in a neck-and-neck battle for second place in Iowa. Being able to say that one didn't finish third--or last among the top three--is immensely valuable, particularly for Hillary Clinton, who needs to minimize the cost of her loss in Iowa.
How close is that race? Well, at the present time, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton trails Edwards by 7 delegates.
Clinton was non-viable in Ward 1 here in Grinnell, a mild surprise.
Had Clinton been merely viable in Ward 1, she would have received 6 delegates.
Clinton fell short of viability by 29 voters.
If THIRTY additional Clinton supporters had showed up to caucus for her, she would be in a virtual tie for second with Edwards--and perhaps ahead, if a viable Clinton group here might have attracted more support from the Richardson camp.
Alternately, if the Richardson camp had given most of their support to Clinton instead of Biden, Clinton would be viable.
Why wasn't Clinton viable in the most powerful Democratic precinct in the state? Well, for one, she didn't campaign here. She didn't even campaign in Poweshiek County. Surely an energizing visit by the potential first female president could have drummed up 30 supporters.
Also, on the subject of Grinnell's influence, let's not forget that it was a Grinnell student, Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff '10, who sparked a damaging scandal for Clinton by telling the S&B that her question to Senator Clinton at an event in Newton was planted by the campaign. That furor resulted in a week of bad headlines for Clinton and coincided with a newly aggressive Barack Obama and John Edwards and a fumble by Clinton at a debate. If Gallo-Chasanoff had stayed home that day, don't you think that Clinton would have at least been in second place tonight, if not first?
Thirty votes. One question. Grinnell matters.
(Hat tip to Doug Cutchins, who first pointed this out to me tonight.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This article has since been updated, pointing out that the precinct delegates are different than state delegates. At most, Grinnell would have given Clinton one more additional state delegate and probably not even that.
Post a Comment