It’s Gonna Get Ugly

As politico.com reports, it’s gonna get ugly and we’re not talking about the credit markets.

With the delegate count split between Obama and Clinton, the decision will come down to the convention which is increasingly looking like it will be a mud wrestling match.

Pledged delegates are not really pledged at all, not even on the first ballot. This has been an open secret in the party for years, but it has never really mattered because there has almost always been a clear victor by the time the convention convened.

But not this time. This time, one candidate may enter the convention leading by just a few pledged delegates, and those delegates may find themselves being promised the sun, moon and stars to switch sides.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that neither candidate is going to get a clear mandate from the party before the end of the primaries. And, in the absence of a clear winner, any delegate heading to the convention is fair game.

So far, Clinton has been more heavily reliant on support from super delegates ie the party big-shots. If that is the basis for a win, it will split the party. She needs to swing support from pledged delegates or an ensuing a presidential win will be in doubt. Pundits are thus expecting some major schmoozing from her camp.

But how many of her own delegates will have been swept up in the momentum of Obama fever by the time they reach the convention?