Winners don't take all in Wisconsin's primary

BY SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer

Thursday, January 31, 2008 9:56 AM CST

MADISON -- With at least two strong presidential candidates remaining in each party, gaining Wisconsin's delegate votes has become more important to securing a nomination.

But as in other states, figuring out who wins in Wisconsin isn't as simple as looking at who gets the most votes in the Feb. 19 primary. Republicans and Democrats hand out delegates differently and not entirely based on who does the best statewide.

It takes 1,191 of 2,345 delegate votes to capture the Republican nomination for president. Democrats need 2,025 of 4,049 delegates.

Wisconsin Democrats will send 92 delegates to the convention that starts Aug. 25 in Denver. Seventy-four delegates go proportionately to the candidates based on primary results in each of the eight congressional districts.

But 18 super-delegates aren't bound by the primary vote and can support any candidate they chose. Of those 18, only six have said whom they plan to endorse. Two are for Hillary Rodham Clinton, two for Barack Obama and two were for John Edwards.

But Edwards announced Wednesday that he was dropping out of the race. State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke, who planned to back Edwards at the convention, said Wednesday he didn't know who he would support now.

"I anticipate I will be getting some phone calls in the coming days," he said with a laugh.

The other at-large delegate backing Edwards is U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausa. A spokesman for Obey said the congressman was traveling Wednesday and he had not spoken with him about it.

Wisconsin Republicans also award delegates for their convention, which starts Sept. 1 in Minneapolis, in two ways. The primary winner in each congressional district gets three delegates, for a total of 24. The statewide winner gets 13 delegates, and another three are free to chose whoever they wish.

One of them, Mary Buestrin, said she's backing Mitt Romney. The other two said they will support whoever appears to be the leader going into the convention.

Republican Sen. John McCain emerged as a front-runner following his win in Florida on Tuesday, but Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, remained a well-financed challenger.

Because the race is so tight, campaigns are becoming narrowly focused on winning individual delegates, said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor.

"There is an incentive for the candidates in both parties to pick the districts they think they can do better in," Franklin said. Even if the campaigns can't afford yet to do polling, they are doing research to see where in Wisconsin they have a chance of performing well, he said.

Republican Party executive director Mark Jefferson said he doesn't expect to see any of the Republican candidates until Feb. 6. Once they arrive, Jefferson said they will target areas where they believe their message will be best received by Republican voters.

They are likely to target heavily Republican areas such as the southeast corner around Milwaukee and the Fox Valley, he said.

Wineke said the limited amount of time before the primary means candidates are likely to focus on high-impact television advertising and personal appearances.

"This is not going to be the type of campaign you normally see," Wineke said. "A three-week race is nothing. That's not a lot of time."

But even though Wisconsin looks increasingly important, the candidates remain focused on Super Tuesday next week, when 41 percent of Republican delegates and 52 percent of Democratic delegates will be chosen in more than 20 states.

Only Obama has paid staff here, with an office in Milwaukee and another opening in Madison this week.

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