News is emerging today that it looks like an agreement is coming together for revotes in both Florida and Michigan using mail-in ballots.
Florida Democrats were moving forward Monday with a plan to redo their presidential primary using privately-funded mail-in ballots, a key state party official said, even though some congressional and party leaders had yet to sign on to the idea."We're huddling with state brass now," the official said. "The spotlight will be on us. We will have a detailed plan."
The official said the state party expected both the Clinton and Obama campaigns to eventually agree to the plan.
"They've seen the writing on the wall and they realize this is something they need to get behind," the official said. "Both campaigns have reacted favorably to the idea so far."
There is positive news out of Michigan as well:
A specific plan for holding a second contest in Michigan this year to help decide the Democratic nominee for president could come together within days, with a mail-in primary the most practical scenario, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin said Monday.A day after Levin mentioned during a TV interview that the mail-in option might be the best way to hold a second primary, the senator acknowledged that his position on a do-over primary had changed because "there may be agreement among the candidates" that there should be a do-over
Last Friday, Levin -- a Democratic National committeeman -- said he didn't see "a practical and fair way" to hold an election in Michigan "given the immense financial and logistical hurdles."
Detroit Free Press: Primary do-over could come soon - Mail-in vote practical, Levin says
As many here may know, I have been particularly critical of the Obama campaign for apparently stalling the process of coming to agreement on revotes. I have pointed to ambiguous language coming from Obama surrogates Daschle and Kerry and the ridiculous 50-50 split proposal floated by Dodd. On the other hand the Clinton camp has agreed to revotes and surrogates Rendell and Corzine have offered up $15M. They have called upon the Obama campaign to pony up.
Most recently in an editorial today in the Washington Post:
When Barack Obama's campaign says that Hillary Clinton can't escape the harsh realities of delegate math, it's telling the truth. The problem with that argument is that neither can he....
Even if there were no other choice, having our nominee decided by superdelegates in the backrooms of Washington -- or Denver, at the convention in August -- would be less than ideal. But allowing superdelegates to determine the outcome of our nominating process while 366 pledged delegates, elected by more than 2 million democrats in Michigan and Florida, remain unseated is especially undemocratic and risks squandering the feelings of hope and optimism about a Democratic presidency that these two candidates themselves have done so much to engender across the country.
...
Fortunately, this enthusiasm has also translated into record-setting fundraising. So let's have a revote in Florida and Michigan, and let the Democratic National Committee pay for it. We'll even volunteer to help raise the funds.
If we don't pay now, we surely will in November.
WaPo: Delegates We Need - The Case for a Revote in Florida and Michigan
Well, maybe the pressure of standing on an untenable position is getting through to the Obama campaign. Or, maybe the short sighted self serving motivations that I ascribed to them were off base--as many Obama supporters have criticised. If the former, it is just water under the dam. If the latter, I apologize. The important thing is that we solve this problem in the manner that best preserves the Democrats chances for victory in the fall.
We shall see if these hopeful reports bear fruit, but they do indeed look hopeful. Presuming they are, and we get a valid, fair and meaningful revote agreed to quickly, I commend both campaigns for doing what is right for the Democratic Party. That is indeed the type of leadership we need to win this election in November.
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