Enfranchised in VA.

It's nice to be able to vote. It's even nicer when your vote counts, like mine now will, along with 4,571,072 other registered voters in Virginians (not to mention those in Maryland, DC, and however many more states end up enfranchised). We'll all have a say, a real say, in at least who becomes the Democratic presidential candidate. But rest assured, we have the sincere apologies of the primary-election designers for inconveniencing us with this unfortunate civic duty (read: inalienable right). Whoever they were, it surely doesn't appear that they designed the system with the aim of counting states such as mine on a regular basis. The results are often determined long before they reach us, as was expected this year. But VA, MD and DC cannot claim this sacred place at the end of the line all our own, some 22 other states have either a Democratic and/or Republican primary or caucus after today--that's round about half the country, I'll be.

Oddly enough, some people find this disconcerting, maybe even...undemocratic. Some, such as the highly-respected senior Senator from Michigan, Carl Levin, have suggested simply having four to six days or so of primaries, not far apart on the calendar. Each of those days would include a diverse mix of states in terms of size, geography, and perhaps other factors. Hey, he's got my vote. That is...if it's not decided before I get a chance to vote...

I should note, on a related topic, that I'm not sure where I fall with the recent controversy over the Democratic, and to a lesser degree, Republican parties stripping Michigan and Florida of all or some of their delegates; I just haven't read enough about it. Regardless of that though, I remember a little about that d-word I learned about in high school government, and this overall primary system just ain't it.

What's a Super Tuesday?

Below is a link to a great overview from Congressional Quarterly on what Super Tuesday's all about, and what some of the implications of it are. Interestingly, for some such as myself, there's a high likelihood the Democratic run will continue on into next Tuesday, when Virginia will vote (along with Washington DC and Maryland), and possibly on into early March and beyond, when big states like Ohio and Texas enter into the equation.

The CQ article has a brief explanation for each of the following eight questions:

1. How many states are holding contests Feb. 5, and what types of contests will be held?

2. What times might election results be reported?

3. What is the difference between a primary and a caucus and a convention?

4. How many delegates are at stake on Feb. 5?

5. Which Feb. 5 states provide the richest delegate prizes to the candidates?

6. How are delegates allocated among the presidential candidates?

7. So why are so many states voting on the same day?

8. Does the huge number of delegates at stake mean both parties’ nominees will effectively locked in by the Feb. 5 results?

Update: Everyone's saying results are split tonight between Obama and Clinton, for all intents and purposes. NPR has a great system set up on their website to track the outcomes as they come in. They're also doing live coverage of the outcomes, both of which you can find here. California will be a big one that has yet to report at 11:02 pm, but hopefully we'll hear something conclusive soon.

Update 2: A funny note--in Obama's Chicago speech tonight, he was talking sort of casually, saying at one point that he asked his nine-year old daughter Malia if she wanted to come out on stage, and she said, "You know that's not my thing dad." I love it, nothing like being reminded of the human qualities in a candidate.

Update 3: Still undetermined, the race will undoubtedly go on. NPR just reported that Clinton strategists were even considering tactics for the Pennsylvania primary--in April.

Update 4: Here's a great CQ overview of the Super Tuesday contest, as most results are in. As I said however, results are only news that the race will continue, as the numbers in this line from the CQ article reveal: "The delegate count as of early Wednesday was at 744 for Clinton to 679 for Obama, with 2,025 needed for the nomination."

Update 5: This pic's great--all credit for goes to a fellow Obama supporter for this picture of Obama's grandmother, Sarah Hussein Obama, 86, as she awaits results from Super Tuesday (credit also to photographer Paula Bronstein/Getty Images). As the Obama supporter who sent me this astutely suggested, a great header for the pic. would be "Who says older woman don't support Obama?" Notice who's in the picture she's holding (a way young Barack Obama), and the sign to her left: