If Hillary Clinton wins Ohio and Texas on Tuesday, there is no doubt this primary will continue, likely at least into late April when Pennsylvania votes. And if that happens, while it's been off the radar screen a bit, we should expect a return to a discussion of what happens to Michigan and Florida, because, let's face it, Hillary Clinton needs those delegates to close the pledged delegate gap with Barack Obama.
Up to now, the Clinton party line is that the delegates in both states should be seated based on the results of the January primary votes and that, as the DNC rules state, this dispute should be resolved in committee. This is looking more and more like a flawed position since the credentials committee won't meet until the summer and let's say for argument's sake that the decision does go her way and that the delegate allocation ultimately decides the nomination in her favor (an unlikely scenario) her victory will be tainted with the perception of backroom deals, the party picking the nominee over the voters, etc. What Clinton should hope happens, both because she needs an infusion of pledged delegates sooner rather than later and because she needs a nomination victory to be a clean unambiguous win, is that Michigan and Florida are allowed to redo their primary following a period of campaigning by both candidates. This would appear the fairest scenario and, while it poses logistical problems to be sure, it's certainly a scenario that neither side would appear to have a viable argument against.
The concept of some sort of re-vote has been getting some buzz lately, with Michael Moore recently advocating for a Michigan re-vote (either a "primary or caucus"), Florida Democratic state legislator Dan Melber urging for a vote by mail primary for Florida on his blog, and a new Mason-Dixon poll of Florida Democrats finding a slight plurality favors a re-vote.
28% - Florida should hold another Democratic primary or caucus24% - The DNC should seat a Florida delegation that reflects the January results
20% - Not Sure
15% - Penalty should stand
13% - The DNC should seat a Florida delegation that is made up of an equal number of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters
But the concept got perhaps its biggest boost today with the news that Florida Governor Charlie Crist would support a do over in Florida and that DNC Chairman Howard Dean would be open to same.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist said he'd support a repeat of the Democratic presidential primary so the state's delegates can be counted at the party's national convention.Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said he's open to the possibility. Primary elections are paid for by a state's taxpayers, so the offer from Crist, a Republican, is "very helpful" because money is an issue, Dean said.
"We're very willing to listen to the people of Florida," Dean said on CNN's "Late Edition" program today.
It is, of course, difficult to separate Crist's words from his status as McCain supporter and possible VP pick (i.e., it is arguably in his interest for the Democratic primary to drag out even longer) but it's undeniable that the endorsement of the governor gives the concept political viability that it hadn't had before. If this primary continues past Tuesday, look for the up to now theoretical concept of one or more do-overs to become a very real possibility.
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