Why the Michigan/Florida delegate resolution is likely to limit Clinton
Mark Schmitt puts it more indelicately, suggesting Team Clinton opposes revote resolutions. However, based on the proposals put forth and the reservations expressed, it now looks like a Michigan re-vote is likely, while Florida’s delegation may ultimately be counted as is.
Personally, I think the revote is the only sensible option for Michigan, since Obama’s name was not on the ballot. There may, however, be a crossover vote problem if GOP broadcasters like Limbaugh, try to wreak havoc with the outcome.
I still maintain that some penalty still should be applied as the two states violated the rules while 48 others didn’t. The situation in Florida is harder to resolve, however, simply because initial Democratic support for moving up the primary had faded and the ultimate decision to move it was completed by Florida Republicans aware that it would cause problems for Florida Democrats.
Update: Senator Nelson’s 50% proposal for Florida is too severe a penaltyand is unlikely to be supported. As I said before, states that moved their primaries till later on the schedule could earn as many as 30% more delegates, so the reverse should also be true. A 30% reduction should be the largest possible penalty. I think it should be significantly less because of the way the elected GOP members in Florida gamed the system. A 5% penalty might be more apropos.
March 14th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
It. Is. All. About. The. Superdelegates!
Clinton gets the lion’s share of them in both states, especially if they are beholden to her for getting them to the convention. There are 53 of them between Fla and Mich.
At least in Michigan, the Limbaugh effect will be limited since only people that didn’t vote in the GOP primary there are eligible, and it was a pretty hotly contested race for them at the time.