Originally Posted by Brad Cantona

I've spent the morning aquainting myself with how the primary delegate system works. Given none of the media outlets can be arsed doing their jobs and explaining the process over here. My conclusion is that it's a pile of nonsense, especially the involvement of superdelegates who can vote for whoever they please irrespective of the popular vote. And they carry 1/5th of the voter weight, so in a tight contest like the democrats have, they likely elect the party runner for the presidency. While Obama has a narrow delegate majority from the popular vote so far, he's actually quite far behind because so many superdelegates have already come out in favour of Clinton. Although I believe they can change their minds, which is nonsense. Obama is also claiming despite losing Nevada, he has more delegates from the state, which I haven't quite worked out how can happen yet. To the Republicans credit, I believe they have scrapped the superdelegate system their side

If anyone can concisely explain the system, please do so I can cement my knowledge. I wouldn't mind a list of how many delegates belong to each state, such knowledge still evades me thus far. I have seen 2004 results, so I assume the proportions will be somewhat similar. You really want to be winning California!