| | Obama has struggled in some of his own primaries, despite the lack of media attention to them. 40% of ''[[Democrats]]'' voted against [[Obama]] in the [[Arkansas]] and [[Kentucky]] primaries in May 2012, and in Arkansas Obama was not declared the winner of his own primary by some in the media until nearly midnight.<ref>http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/229023-in-kentucky-42-percent-of-dems-pick-uncommitted-instead-of-obama</ref> | | Obama has struggled in some of his own primaries, despite the lack of media attention to them. 40% of ''[[Democrats]]'' voted against [[Obama]] in the [[Arkansas]] and [[Kentucky]] primaries in May 2012, and in Arkansas Obama was not declared the winner of his own primary by some in the media until nearly midnight.<ref>http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/229023-in-kentucky-42-percent-of-dems-pick-uncommitted-instead-of-obama</ref> |
| − | The [[Republican Party]] is in the process of selecting its nominee through the [[2012 Republican Primary]]; the latest delegate totals are [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/republican_delegate_count.html here] and [http://www.politico.com/2012-election/delegate-tracker/ here]. About 1,144 delegates<ref>http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/republicanracelateentry/</ref> are needed to win the nomination.<ref>Primaries held before April 1, 2012, awarded delegates based on the proportionality of the votes (except Florida claimed to award winner-take-all, at half the delegate count, for its primary on Jan. 31). However, some early states are winner-take-all by Congressional district, sometimes leading to a single candidate taking a large majority of the delegates. For instance, in South Carolina, the winner of each district got 2 delegates (for a total of 14), and the winner of the state got 11. This was permissible because less than 50% of the delegates were awarded to the state winner automatically. Newt Gingrich won all but one Congressional district, as well as the state overall, earning him 23 delegates to Mitt Romney's 2. Beginning on April 1, the traditional winner-take-all system may be used by states, but the second biggest state, Texas (155 delegates), will be proportional, and the biggest state, California (172 delegates), is winner-take-all by each of its 53 congressional districts. [http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_19843184] Only seven primaries totalling a small number of delegates are winner-take-all; New York was winner-take-all only if one candidate were to win more than 50% of the vote. [http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2012/0131/Florida-primary-Why-it-s-one-of-the-last-few-winner-take-all-states]</ref> The dates of the primaries are [http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/events.phtml?s=c here]. | + | The [[Republican National Convention]] is expected to nominate [[Mitt Romney]] for president and [[Paul Ryan]] for vice president, after an exciting [[2012 Republican Primary]];<ref>The dates of the primaries are [http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/events.phtml?s=c here].</ref> the latest delegate totals are [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/republican_delegate_count.html here] and [http://www.politico.com/2012-election/delegate-tracker/ here]. About 1,144 delegates<ref>http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/republicanracelateentry/</ref> are needed to win the nomination.<ref>Primaries held before April 1, 2012, awarded delegates based on the proportionality of the votes (except Florida claimed to award winner-take-all, at half the delegate count, for its primary on Jan. 31). However, some early states are winner-take-all by Congressional district, sometimes leading to a single candidate taking a large majority of the delegates. For instance, in South Carolina, the winner of each district got 2 delegates (for a total of 14), and the winner of the state got 11. This was permissible because less than 50% of the delegates were awarded to the state winner automatically. Newt Gingrich won all but one Congressional district, as well as the state overall, earning him 23 delegates to Mitt Romney's 2. Beginning on April 1, the traditional winner-take-all system may be used by states, but the second biggest state, Texas (155 delegates), will be proportional, and the biggest state, California (172 delegates), is winner-take-all by each of its 53 congressional districts. [http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_19843184] Only seven primaries totalling a small number of delegates are winner-take-all; New York was winner-take-all only if one candidate were to win more than 50% of the vote. [http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2012/0131/Florida-primary-Why-it-s-one-of-the-last-few-winner-take-all-states]</ref> |