The heat is on

With just days until super duper Tuesday, we bring you an excellent overview of the Democratic race from the Guardian newspaper. For American politics watchers there is a danger of drowning under sea of election coverage. This short article focuses on the main points

The magic number is 2,025: Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton need this number of delegates to win the Democratic nomination. It represents a majority of the 4,049 delegates to the Democratic party convention in Colorado in August.

The present delegate tally, including so-called super-delegates, stands at 230 for Clinton, 152 for Obama, and 61 for John Edwards.

· Obama has won a larger share of delegates through election following contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Candidates win a proportional share of delegates in each state. In South Carolina, Obama took 25 delegates, Clinton 12 and Edwards eight.

· Clinton has greater support from super-delegates - former presidents, governors, and members of Congress who are automatically given privileges to the convention.

· Next primary is Florida tomorrow. The state is holding its primary early in breach of Democratic party rules. As a penalty, party officials barred Florida delegates from the convention and banned candidates from campaigning there. But Clinton, Obama and Edwards all have their names on the ballot.

· Michigan, which held its contest earlier this month, was also stripped of its delegates for going early. Clinton - the only frontrunning candidate on the ballot - won. Expect a battle by the Clinton team for Michigan and Florida to have their delegates restored.

· Super Tuesday, February 5. Democrats are contesting 22 states, plus Democrats abroad. These together amount to 2,075 delegates, including the super-delegates.

· The key states on February 5 are the most populous. California has 441 delegates, New York 281, Illinois 185, New Jersey 127, Massachusetts 121, and Georgia 103. All these counts include super-delegates.

· According to polls, Obama is expected to take Illinois, his home state, as well as Alabama (60) and Georgia, where a big proportion of the Democratic vote is African-American.

· Obama’s team boasts a better on-the-ground organisation and hopes this will help him, as it did in Iowa, in the seven states holding caucuses on Super Tuesday, including Minnesota (88), Colorado (71) and Kansas (41).

· Clinton is expected to take New York, her home state, and neighbouring New Jersey, and hopes the Latino vote will deliver California and Arizona for her. She should also take Arkansas, where Bill Clinton was governor.

· The proportional system and the tightness of the race between Clinton and Obama means that February 5 will not be decisive. The contest is almost certain to continue through March and April. Important contests after February 5 include: Washington state (97 delegates) on February 9, Virginia (101) and Maryland (99) on February 12; Ohio (161) and Texas (228) on March 4; and Pennsylvania (188) on April 22.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/story/0,,2247885,00.html