Do-Over Doubts

Do-Over Doubts

You know, I really thought I was done with these Michigan/Florida leapfrog updates back in about November. Here's the latest:

Michigan appears to be closer to a compromise, though the exact nature is unclear. Time's Mark Halperin reports that a 50-50 split of the elected delegates between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is in the mix; Clinton would gain some margin out of the state with superdelegates.

But the AP reports that Michigan is close to a full-fledged, state run second primary, with the Democratic National Committee possibly reimbursing the state.

In Florida, Halperin says one proposal is seating the delegation elected on Jan. 29, but giving each delegate a half vote. That would resemble the Republican Party's punishment for calendar breakers; the GOP stripped Michigan and Florida of half their delegates.

Florida Democratic Chair Karen Thurman says the previously floated idea of a mail-in second primary is fizzling. The Obama campaign has concerns about ballot security and signature verification in a privately-run election.

And back to square one in this whole fight: Clinton is under attack for parsing the wording of the early state pledge she and the other candidates signed last August. On NPR, Clinton said, "... we all had a choice as to whether or not to participate in what was going to be a primary. And most people took their names off the ballot, but I didn't." This contradicts the exact wording of the pladge she signed, which states (pdf), "I pledge I shall not campaign or participate in any election contest occurring in any state not already authorized by the DNC to take place in the DNC approved pre-window."