Intellectual Property Law

Local television station Kvue reports that both the campaigns of senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are accusing each other of breaking the Texas Democratic Party's caucus rules even before Texans started caucusing. That caused the Texas Democratic party to send out a memo telling both sides to behave.

Because of the high stakes and potentially decisive nature of the contests, everyone's on edge, quick to try to seize an advantage, and quick to point fingers.

There are 141 delegates at stake for the Democrats in Ohio and 193 in Texas. At stake in Rhode Island, which also held its primary today, are 21 delegates. Vermont has 15 Democratic delegates.

A Democratic presidential candidate must have the support of 2,025 delegates to win their party's nomination.

Real Clear Politics has a breakdown of the delegate count  for the two Democrats so far here.

The Dallas Morning News reported over the week-end that Clinton's caucus training materials instructed supporters not to cede leadership positions to Obama's supporters:

"DO NOT allow the supporter of another candidate to serve in leadership roles ...
If our supporters are outnumbered, ask the Temporary Chair if one of our supporters can serves as the Secretary, in the interest of fairness. ... The control of the sign-in sheets and the announcement of the delegates allotted to each candidate are the critical functions of the Chair and Secretary. This is why it is so important that Hillary supporters hold these positions."

Obama supporters in both Ohio and Texas were e-mailing each other over the week-end to remind their friends and associates to go to the polls and caucuses prepared.

That meant programming voter protection numbers into their cell phones, arming themselves with digital video cameras, and making sure the date and time stamp functions were turned on in case anything shady were to happen.

I just checked in with an Obama supporter volunteering in Houston, and she says that everything's going smoothly, and it's pretty calm.

Did you caucus this evening? Did you take any pictures or shoot any footage? Share them with your fellow readers by sending them my way, and I'll post anything worthwhile here.

Update: MSNBC reports that the Clinton campaign just held a conference call alleging "that Obama supporters were confiscating precinct chairman manuals at the caucuses, as well as locking out Clinton supporters from the precincts."

A lawyer from the Obama campaign jumped on the call to refute the charge. Read about it at MSNBC.

Or listen to the call here.

Image: SBatterman