Obama Meets With Clinton; Senate Chaffs At Process

Update: Edwards rules out Veep role

Reuters and FOX are reporting that Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for president, met Thursday night with Sen. Hillary Clinton. FOX reports that they met at the home of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Reuters declines to speculate.

Neither candidate has enough delegates selected in caucuses and primaries held across the 50 states as well as four territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands). Obama has 1,762.5 pledged delegates; Clinton has 1636.5 pledged delegates. However, the magic number to secure the nomination is 2,117. However, Obama is projected as the winner based on public statements made by unpledged (soft) super-delegates -- delegates who are bound only by their conscience.

Politico reports that there are "two bills pending in the Senate to institute some form of rotating regional primary system." And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said the Senate Rules Committee will "take a look at" the "difficult" nomination process! Under what authority? No political party reports to Congress and the Senate has no power over any party's rules.

In 1968, only 17 states held primaries; these contests accounted for about one-third of the convention delegates for each party. According to Presidential Elections, there were 34 Democratic Presidential primaries by 1980 and 40 by 2000; Republicans followed suit. And was this expansion of citizen influence over the nomination mandated by Congress? No. Each change was orchestrated by the respective party's rules committee. Some members may have been Senators or Representatives, but the directive for change came from within the party.

Caucus states for 2008: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming. States with both caucus and primary: Texas and Washington.

The parties should have the right to determine how they are going to pick their nominees. That process should not be an edict from Congress! In fact, the sooner the two main parties are weaned from the bureaucracy and infrastructure of the official election -- and the politicking of state legislatures -- the better.

See Cliff Notes Guide To The Presidential Nomination