What is a 'delegate'?

I'll admit it- up until i changed my major to political science about 5 months ago, I was NEVER interested in politics. However, partly because of the classes I am taking and partly because of the monumental upcoming election, I have become very interested in Campaign '08. To full understand the ins and outs of the election, I have had to learn a lot about the basics of the election process. That brings me to today, were I have had a crash course on 'delegates.'

Before this year I didnt even know what a delegate was and what they did. Little did I know that they are actually the ones who pick the nominee for their respective party. Yes, they are a big deal. This has led me to do some research on who the delegates are and when their vote comes into play.

The democratic party and the republican party have different numbers of delegates. The democrats have 4,049 and the republicans have 2,380. To win the democratic nomination for the presidency one needs a total of 2,025 delegates while the republican nominee 1,191. I would get into the specifics such as how to become a delegate, different types of delegates, and how to win delegates but, I do not have the ability or the patience to explain such a complex issue. Therefore, I recommend you checking out Why Delegates Matter In The Presidential Race compliments of CNN. It gives a quick rundown of all the topics that I have just mentioned. You will come out of it much more politically intelligent and you will be able to talk about delegates with your friends and coworkers without sounding foolish. Enjoy!
-Another youtube video...this one on What is A Super Delegate?