Michigan Yes, Florida, No

The state Democratic Party in Florida has decided not to hold a second primary or caucus. State officials said today that they could not hold one even if someone else, rather than the State of Florida, will pay for it.

That means the 210 delegates allotted to Florida are caught in no man's land. The State of Florida wanted to move its primary up to January 29 in defiance of Democratic Party rules. The Democratic Party said it would strip Florida of its delegates if it did (the Republicans merely cut their Florida delegation in half as punishment).

Florida went ahead anyway figuring the national party wouldn't dare not seat them. Well, now, the mess has been dumped back in the national party's hands.

This is important because Senator Hillary Clinton, who narrowly trails Sen. Barack Obama, "won" the primary although no one officially campaigned there. Sen. Clinton wants to have the delegates seated or new primaries held.

Now that the state says a new vote cannot be held, some Solomonic solution is needed. U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida suggested seating the delegation but giving each delegate a half vote. That plan is still alive but is likely to be absorbed into plans that are acceptable to the two campaigns, the national party, Florida's congressional delegation, and perhaps the governor.

Good luck with that; that's going to be a tough one.

Meanwhile, Michigan, which is in the same boat as Florida, has all but agreed to hold a second primary on June 3. State officials and the campaigns are considering the plans which allow for outside funding of the primary election.

The Clinton campaign would like the states' results to stand but a re-vote is always risky as the campaign for Sen. Obama caught fire well after the Florida and Michigan voting. What would be the result this time? Who knows?

And there are those who think the two states should be stripped of their delegates for violating party rules.

I heard from one web visitor from China who takes that view. What's yours?