A question about Senator Thompson and his delegates. SPOILER!!
How is it that a single US Senator would control 356 delegates and be able to give them to whomever he wishes?
Time wounds all heels.
He was a candidate for president. He got the delegates by winning or doing well in primaries or caucuses. A candidate can't quite freely deliver his delegates to someone else - they are, after all, independent human beings - but if a campaign is well organized, the delegates are typically strong loyalists who are somewhat controllable.
And 356 delegates probably isn't that many. As of the 2016 convention, there were a total of 4,763 delegates to the Democratic convention. Of course, the number of delegates in the fictional world of the movie might be different.
I think you missed the point of the question, and also missed something in the film.
Of course I was speaking of a candidate for president. I wasn't speaking of him being able to give the delegates to Mary at the line four checkout at Walmart. I thought that was obvious and didn't need to be specified.
Now, to the actual question and what it seems you missed...
How can a senator give SOMEONE RUNNING FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION (happy?) delegates by his own choice. And the second part which goes along with this...the senator was from NC, they were NC delegates, and the NC primary had not happened yet.
Also, and again, this goes with you evidently not paying attention to the film...
Those specific 356 delegates were VERY important and, although they wouldn't put him over the needed number, they would basically enable him to clinch the nomination.
While I appreciate your effort, I think, perhaps, that someone else would be better equipped to answer my question. Thanks.
Time wounds all heels.