up for grabs

Question

Mr Obama claimed 37.6% of the delegates up for grabs, to Mrs Clinton's 29.5%.My dictionary says 'up for grabs' means 'available for anyone who is interested', but I don't know how it is applied to this sentence.I think it means '~~the delegates who have vote ', but I'm not sure. Please help me.

Philip · Accepted Answer

AhnMr Obama claimed 37.6% of the delegates up for grabs, to Mrs Clinton's 29.5%.

My dictionary says 'up for grabs' means 'available for anyone who is interested', but I don't know how it is applied to this sentence.

I think it means '~~the delegates who have vote ', but I'm not sure. Please help me.

Delegates that are 'up for grabs' are those not committed to anyone (yet).

Ahn · Answer

By the way, why are the delagates not committed to anyone yet when they voted for Obama?

Hoa Thai · Answer

AhnBy the way, why are the delagates not committed to anyone yet when they voted for Obama?

Hi,

Mr. Obama claimed 37.6% of the delegates up for grabs, to Mrs. Clinton's 29.5%.

The two candidates claimed (i.e., stated they know for certain) the number of 'uncommitted (still available) delegates to get the votes from' differently.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Yes, I agree with HT.

Obama is saying that there are greater number of uncommitted voters than the number cited by Clinton.

It would be more clear if they used a verb. ...of the delegates ARE up for grabs...

Ahn · Answer

Mr Obama has been a favourite of the media for months, but his victory over Hillary Clinton, of the Democratic Party's first family, seems partly to be a result of a massive increase in turn-out in Iowa (nearly double that of 2004), especially by young voters. Four in ten first-time voters (among the Democrats) apparently favoured Mr Obama. Mr Obama claimed 37.6% of the delegates up for grabs, to Mrs Clinton’s 29.5%. She even trailed, just, John Edwards, who drew 29.8%. Mr Obama also did well by scooping a large chunk of independents, and a small number of Republicans who came to the Democratic caucus to vote for him. He even beat her among women. Ms Clinton will say that she nearly tied him among real Democrats. But Mr Obama's campaign will sensibly retort that Iowa proved the crossover appeal needed to win a general election. Change was the theme of the night, and Iowans who want it strongly preferred Mr Obama.

It is the paragraph where the sentence was. I think 'claim' here means not 'to say something is true', but 'to gain or to win (votes)' because Obama actually gained 37.6% of the vote and Clinton actually got 29.5% of the vote in Iowa caucus. Are there any mistakes in my opinion? If not, I still don't understand what 'up for grabs' here means.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Ahn, this is a great example of how providing the entire context will help us give you better answers.

He took for his own (claimed them) the delegates that previously had not given their allegience to any of the candidates.

If something is "up for grabs" it means that no one owns it or has an undisputed right to it. If I have a sweater I don't wear anymore and I bring it to work to give to any of my coworkers, I can say "I have a sweater here up for grabs." Whoever wants it can take it.

Ahn · Answer

I understand. I should have written down the entire context earlier. Thank you.

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