Happy Leap Day!

I have nothing to say about Leap Day other than this 366 day year is already going by too quickly.

But I did want to mention the results from the Democrats Abroad Primary. Read on...

An e-mail I got on the 24th:
"February 24, 2008
Dear Democrat in India,
Thank you!
Many thanks to all of you who voted, wherever and however you did it! This is the first time that DA's primary has been truly global, with Voting Centers around the world, and with internet voting that even enabled an American in Antarctica to vote. So you have helped make history - and all Democrats know that we can make even greater history in November, when we will elect an absolutely outstanding Democratic candidate to be President of the United States!
Results of the Global Primary
You joined in with over 23,000 Americans in 100 countries around the world to cast votes by mail, fax, Internet and at walk-in voting centers in 33 cities. The results:
Biden 0.1%
Clinton 32.7%
Edwards 0.7%
Kucinich 0.6%
Obama 65.6%
Richardson 0.1%
Uncommitted 0.2%
How did India vote?
The results of the Global Primary in India are as follows:
Biden 0%
Clinton 27.7%
Edwards 0.6%
Kucinich 0.6%
Obama 71.1%
Richardson 0%
Uncommitted 0%
343 Democrats in India cast ballots: 169 by Internet and 174 at our walk-in voting center in Delhi. Of course, many more will have voted by absentee ballot in their home state, rather than in the global primary, so overall participation by Democrats in India was higher still.
Today's Civics Lesson: How many delegates does each candidate get?
The DA delegation to the Democratic National Convention in August will consist of 22 delegates, each with 1/2 a vote for a total of 11 votes. Now put on your thinking cap and stay focused on the VOTE count, not the number of delegates: The worldwide results of the Global Primary determine the allocation of 4.5 pledged Regional Delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention, so the delegate count comes down to Senator Obama winning 3 delegate votes, and Senator Clinton winning 1.5 delegate votes. A further 2.5 pledged At Large votes will be determined at the Democrats Abroad Global Convention in April. In addition, Democrats Abroad holds 4 superdelegate votes.
Now put on your thinking cap again, and let's switch our analysis to actual people on the DA delegation: The 7 pledged votes described above will be carried to the Denver Convention by 14 people who will make up your Democrats Abroad delegation. These 14 delegates will be elected through three Regional Caucuses, and at the April 11-12 Global Convention of Democrats Abroad in Vancouver.
Based on the Asia Pacific Region's share of the total number of votes cast in the Global Primary (16%), our region will elect one pledged Obama delegate. (The Americas will elect one Obama and one Clinton delegate; and the Europe-Middle East-Africa region will elect 4 Obama and 2 Clinton delegates.) At the Global Convention, 5 more delegates will be elected who are not tied to regions but who will be pledged to vote in proportion to the global vote (3 for Obama and 2 for Clinton). The remaining 8 delegates, who are members of Democrats Abroad who serve on the Democratic National Committee, are some of the famous "superdelegates" we've been hearing so much about: they can decide for themselves who they will cast their vote for.
If you do the math, yes, all this adds up to 22 people for 11 votes: 4.5 for Obama, 2.5 for Clinton, and 4 as yet unpledged. Whew."
More can be read about Democrats Abroad, the voting results in various countries and about the next steps to the White House at http://www.democratsabroad.org