Seth Said:

Are all Republican members of Congress automatically unpledged delegates to the Republican National Convention

We Answered:

The Republicans choose their unpledged delegates in a different, less uniform manner than do Democrats. All Republican Senators and Representatives are NOT automatically unpledged delegates, though many members of the Republican National Committee do become such delegates. Please see below for a more thorough explanation:

The Democrats base the number of unpledged delegates which are apportioned to a state on 5 calculations: the # of state Democratic National Committee members; the number of Democratic Members of Congress; Democratic Governors; "distinguished Party leaders" (such as former Presidents or VP's, former Senate leaders or House Speakers from the state, etc); and finally an "add-on" group of unpledged delegate spots based on the state's DNC member votes. Because the first 4 categories of unpledged Democratic delegates are generally high profile elected officials, they are often called the "Super delegates". For the Democrats, these delegates are always free agents, able to vote for whoever they wish at the national convention.

The Republicans again are more decentralized and less standard in their usage of unpledged delegates. Some states consider all of their delegates to be unpledged (Pennsylvania), while other states designate their At large delegation as unpledged (Illinois). Others have no unpledged delegates; the entire delegation is considered pledged (Connecticut).

For both parties, about 81 percent of the delegates to the conventions will be pledged. By subtraction, that means 19% will be unpledged. Numerically, the Democrats have more unpledged delegates than Republicans because Democrats have roughly twice the number of total delegates to their convention than do Republicans. (More accurately, Democrats have about 1.75 times more delegates, if one does the math.)

The Democratic national convention in August 2008 will include approximately 4,416 Democratic delegate votes (and approximately 4,436 actual delegates, since some territories are allowed to split delegate votes into 'half delegates'). A simple majority, or 2,209 as of December 2007, is required for the nomination.

The Republican national convention in September 2008 will include approximately 2,517 delegates. A simple majority, or 1,259 as of December 2007, is required for the nomination.

Lena Said:

If government health insurance is evil, why do Republican members of Congress use it?

We Answered:

We did not CHOOSE these programs. They were foisted upon us. Therefore, we made our financial plans on the basis of what was forced upon us.

The same is true for all members of Congress. Even though we may not have chosen to be part of these programs, we had no choice. Our paychecks were debited to pay for these, and the contract was that we would get certain benefits in return.

Had these programs not have been in existence, we would have made different decisions.

Denise Said:

Do you think the Republican members of congress passed around the nude pics of Obama's mom during his speech?

We Answered:

No because they have more respect for the institution than that, besides they are posted all over the restrooms in congress

Michelle Said:

Why do Democrats insist that there are no non-white Republican members of Congress?

We Answered:

Democrats think they have the market cornered on color, they keep forgetting it was a republican that put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court

Ryan Said:

What are the Pollsters telling the Republican Members of Congress?

We Answered:

They're telling them the truth. If they don't stop voting in unison with the President, they will be voted out.