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No comma before "but"?
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Akavall  #466273  Sat, 19 Jan 08 05:38 PM

I just saw this sentence in a yahoo article:

"Among Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton still has a lead but rival Barack Obama has started to close the gap."

Shouldn't there be a comma before "but", since "Hillary Rodham Clinton still has a lead" and "rival Barack Obama has started to close the gap" are two independent clauses?
  
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Anonymous  #466327  Sat, 19 Jan 08 08:40 PM

It is a simple compound sentence.  The word "but" is a conjunction joining the two thoughts. "And" is also a conjunction.

  
Futurehuman11  #466328  Sat, 19 Jan 08 08:42 PM

That sentence falls in the catagory of having a double predicate (since "Among Democrates" is considered the subject), in which case the comma is optional. 

I can explain further if you are still confused.
  
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Akavall  #466352  Sat, 19 Jan 08 10:19 PM
Could you please explain a little more.
  
Clive  #466392  Sun, 20 Jan 08 01:16 AM

Hi,

The subjects are Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Best wishes, Clive 
  
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