# The Democratic nomination process: good or bad difference?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-nomination-process-good-or-bad-difference/446486>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [April 23, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-nomination-process-good-or-bad-difference/446486 "2008-04-23T01:27:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-nomination-process-good-or-bad-difference/446486/1 "2008-04-23T01:27:48Z")

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A quote from a blogger:

> [@Stephen Green](#):
>
> “If the Democrats ran a winner-take-all system like the Republicans and the Electoral College do, she’d have this thing clinched — and Obama would look like a regional candidate who can’t win much outside the South and his home state of Illinois.”

I got to thinking about this, and I began wondering: is this necessarily an indictment of Obama and/or his candidacy? Could the differences that allow him to stay in the race be a GOOD thing? Is “winner take all” too limiting, or a less accurate reflection of the “will of the people,” whatever that is?

Thoughts?

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**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-nomination-process-good-or-bad-difference/446486/2 "2008-04-23T11:02:45Z")

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You have to wonder about a nominating process (proportional) that is so different from that of the general election.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-nomination-process-good-or-bad-difference/446486/3 "2008-04-23T18:31:20Z")

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Umm… hasn’t Obama won more states than Hillary?

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**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democratic-nomination-process-good-or-bad-difference/446486/4 "2008-04-23T18:54:09Z")

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_“If the Democrats ran a winner-take-all system like the Republicans and the Electoral College do…”_

Yeah, and if Edwards defeated Osma bin Laden using a laser powered robo-mammoth, he’d be the winner. Or at least he should be.

The rules for the primaries weren’t kept secret from the candidates and both made their own decisions on how to best exploit those rules for a win. Obama happened to have the better plan. If the rules were different, it’s a safe bet that they would have planned differently and the situation now would be irrelevent.