Shortly after I posted a comment calling for greater education on how to vote for President, I got a call from fellow YPPer and activist Karen Bojar sugguesting I blog on this subject. So here we go.

THE MOST IMPORTANT VOTE TO CAST IS THE ONE FOR PRESIDENT. The number of delegates a Presidential candidate receives in a given Congressional district determines the number of delegates he or she receives. A Presidential candidate who receives 85% of the vote or more--a possibility for Obama in the First and Second Congressional Districts--will win all of the delegates.

In Karen's 2nd Congressional District, represented by Chaka Fattah, nine delegates are at stake, five women and four men. They will be initially apportioned by votes for the Presidential candidate, and then apportioned again by sex. It is both possible and precedented (and for many annoying) that the top vote getters do not necessarily win.

However, within the constraints of candidate and gender allocations, the top vote-getters do prevail. The question then becomes for some, why not make recommendations--on sample ballots or elsewhere--like a Chinese menu, some from one camp, and some from another.

Voters do not need recommendations to find out who delegate candidates back. Delegate candidates have their preferences--because of the McGovern-Fraser Commission's enacted rules changes--listed under their names on the ballot. Thus, in the First Congressional District,represented by Bob Brady, electing four men, and three women (the First has many less Democrats than the Second), my name beside Button 23 is listed as Mark B.
COHEN
OBAMA.
(It's almost as if we're married, but the Presidential name is a wee bit smaller than the name of the delegate candidate on the ballot.)

Believers in clear communications of message (of which, generally speaking, I am one) advocate for listing all of a candidate's delegates on a ballot or other endorsement sheet. It's a way of saying for Obama or Clinton "We REALLY mean it."

People more focused on long-term maintenance of relationships than on Presidential choices tend towards the Chinese menu school of delegate names from different lists.

This may confuse some voters, but it scores points with whatever opposing slate delegate candidate is listed and their friends. (Note to Clinton supporters and unaligned groups: I will not protest being placed on your ballots as a delegate.)

Telling people how to vote for President is a good reason to start talking to them early. These elections occur only once every four years, and this is the first seriously contested Presidential primary in Pennsylvania since 1980, so many people's command of the details of the process is somewhat rusty. People usually appreciate being reminded how it works.

We have an excellent chance of breaking the 400,000 figure in total Democratic turnout for probably the first time in Philadelphia history (final registration figures should approach 800,000 total Democrats in Philadelphia and exceed 4,000,000 Democrats statewide).

Whatever approach to Presidential candidate and delegate voting anyone recommends, some voters will prefer the opposite approach. But getting the discussion going helps get people moving towards voting, whether by absentee or provisional ballots, or by coming out to the polls on April 22, 2008.

It's our country. It's our future. It's our time. Let's make it count on April 22.