Follow the $$$$

It’s over https://t.co/ro8nySxTuW

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 12, 2020

The total number of delegates a candidate needs in the Democratic primary is 1,991.  A total of 65 have been won, but the race is over because Iowa and New Hampshire have spoken.  Two states described by a political scientist on a radio program I'm listening to as almost wholly unrepresentative of the Democratic party.

So now the narrative will be that Bernie is the "front-runner", although:

Pete, after winning Iowa, is almost beating Bernie in a state Bernie won four years ago by 22 points. Under any normal standard of assessing the Democratic race, Pete would be called a frontrunner.

— Jeremy W. Peters (@jwpetersNYT) February 12, 2020

Well, and we still have only 65 delegates selected, or 3% of the total number of delegates needed to win, and that 3% divided among 5 candidates.  So who's on first?

Bernie is claiming victory in both states, but that's a fund-raising meme, and nothing else.  If Warren can keep running until Super Tuesday, she may well expand her appeal, one that wasn't that wide-spread in Iowa or New Hampshire. She rose in national polls for a while, but this is not a national race; it's very much a local one.

On MSNBC, South Carolina powerbroker @WhipClyburn says of @JoeBiden's struggles: "He has not projected out into the future the way people would like him to do." But he adds, "He is still the leading candidate in South Carolina."

— Janet Hook (@hookjan) February 12, 2020

I don't really want to see Joe Biden win.  But nobody, at this point, is inevitable.  And if Tulsi Gabbard can stay in the race (I thought she'd dropped out already, to be honest), then Elizabeth Warren can stay in through Super Tuesday, at least.  This, of course, will be "disruptive" and destroy "unity" in the party, and other such bullshit.  For some reason I don't really fathom, the national punditocracy favors Iowa and New Hampshire and wants the primary over before it's started because polls are easier to report on than primaries (it takes SO LONG to get results!  And then what do they mean?!?  So much easier to take the report the pollster gives and repeat/report that!  News is hard!!!!!).  Okay, maybe I can fathom it.

I just heard an analyst on a national NPR program say that "a lot of Democratic voters don't know what they want" based on the results from New Hampshire and Iowa.  Oh, and based on polls.  Despite the fact the polls aren't reflecting the results, and MOST DEMOCRATIC VOTERS HAVEN'T VOTED YET!

I'll retire to Bedlam....