Who's Winning The Delegate Count? The Networks Differ So Far
So who won the delegate count last night? Where do Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama currently stand in the delegate battle?
The networks are differing on that question, largely depending on how they're doing the counting. Here's a rundown on what all the nets are saying about this:
• NBC News has done projections based on yesterday's returns, and they are projecting that last night, once all the votes are counted and the delegates apportioned across the districts, Obama won with 840-849 delegates, against Hillary's 829-839 delegates.
NBC concludes that Obama is winning in total pledged delegates, too: Obama has 903-912 delegates, and Hillary has 877-885. When super delegates are factored in, however, NBC finds that Hillary edges into a lead, with approximately 1,145 total versus 1,082 for Obama.
• CNN's method is a bit different. They are not projecting delegate outcomes that haven't been fully determined. Rather, their numbers are based on where their current tallying stands now, as we await all the returns. Done this way, CNN says that Hillary and Obama are basically tied in pledged delegates, 625-624
When CNN factors in super-delegates, their current ongoing tally finds Hillary leading 818-730.
• The following news orgs, meanwhile, are electing to present their current tally including super-delegates as they await ongoing returns. Done this way...
• ABC finds that Hillary leads, 1,038-940.
• CBS finds that Hillary leads 1,044 to 966.
• The Washington Post finds Hillary leading 1,000 to 902.
• And the Associated Press finds Hillary leading 845-765.
Keep in mind that those last four include super-delegate counts, and that these numbers reflect only what the news outlets are willing to declare right now as part of a tally that's ongoing — meaning that they are fleeting snapshots, not any sort of final call.
We know that this is confusing. So in the end, NBC's numbers might just be the most reliable guide to the full picture, since they represent not a momentary conclusion during an ongoing tally, but a calculation of where the totals will end up when all the returns are factored in. At this point, NBC is the closest we have to a final projection on the night's results.





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