Democrats weigh do-over in Michigan and Florida

WASHINGTON – Officials in Michigan and Florida are showing renewed interest in holding repeat presidential nominating contests so that their votes will count in the epic Democratic campaign.

The governors of both states, along with top officials in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign, are now saying they would consider holding a sort of do-over contest by June. That’s a change from their previous insistence that the primaries their states held in January should determine how the states’ delegates are allocated.Clinton won the popular vote in both contests, but the results have so far not been counted because the elections violated national party rules.Neither Clinton nor Barack Obama campaigned in either state – although Obama controversially ran advertisements in Florida.The Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all their delegates for holding the primaries too early, and Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state.Florida and Michigan moved up their dates to protest the party’s decision to allow Iowa and New Hampshire to go first, followed by South Carolina and Nevada, giving them a disproportionate influence on the presidential selection process.But no one predicted the race would still be very close this late in the year.Ironically Michigan and Florida could have held crucial primaries if they had stayed with their traditional later dates.They may yet do so if they decide to hold news contests as Clinton and Obama compete to the wire.Clinton has been insisting since the start of the year already that the desires of more than two million people who cast Democratic ballots in the two states should be reflected at the convention.Obama has said he wants to see the delegates from the two critical swing states participate, too, but not if Clinton is rewarded for victories in the primaries.Now the Clinton campaign has begun expressing openness to a do-over.”Let’s let all of the voters go again if they are willing to do it,” said Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday night on MSNBC.”Whatever we have to do to get people in the system, let’s do it.”Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, and Florida Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican, issued a joint statement on Wednesday demanding that their states’ delegates be seated.”We each will call upon our respective state and national party chairs to resolve this matter and to ensure that the voters of Michigan and Florida are full participants in the formal selection of their parties’ nominees,” the statement said.Crist told reporters at a news conference that he would be open to another primary, but not if Florida has to foot the bill, estimated by the Florida Democratic Party to be US$25 million.He said he discussed the option with Senator Bill Nelson, the state’s senior Democrat.”He said the only way to consider the possibility of that is to have the Democratic National Committee pay for it,” Crist said.Getting funding from the national committee might be difficult when the party has a general election to wage.Michigan Democrats are discussing holding a ‘firehouse’ contest in May or June that would be an alternative to a traditional primary or caucus, said a Democratic Party official who has been part of the discussions.’Firehouse’ contests usually have fewer polling places and shorter voting hours than traditional state-run primary elections.The party official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private, said there was general consensus that it could not be held at taxpayers’ expense and would attempt to generate participation from about one million state Democrats.House and Senate Democrats from Florida and Michigan met on Wednesday night to discuss ways of getting their state’s delegates seated at the Democratic National Convention.Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said the party is open to another vote, as long as it meets three criteria.Both candidates would have to fully participate, a source of funding would have to be provided and it would have to allow all the state’s Democrats to participate.The Obama campaign says whether to have a repeat contest is up to the national committee, but has signalled a willingness to participate.Sourced from Nampa-APThat’s a change from their previous insistence that the primaries their states held in January should determine how the states’ delegates are allocated.Clinton won the popular vote in both contests, but the results have so far not been counted because the elections violated national party rules.Neither Clinton nor Barack Obama campaigned in either state – although Obama controversially ran advertisements in Florida.The Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all their delegates for holding the primaries too early, and Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state.Florida and Michigan moved up their dates to protest the party’s decision to allow Iowa and New Hampshire to go first, followed by South Carolina and Nevada, giving them a disproportionate influence on the presidential selection process.But no one predicted the race would still be very close this late in the year.Ironically Michigan and Florida could have held crucial primaries if they had stayed with their traditional later dates.They may yet do so if they decide to hold news contests as Clinton and Obama compete to the wire.Clinton has been insisting since the start of the year already that the desires of more than two million people who cast Democratic ballots in the two states should be reflected at the convention.Obama has said he wants to see the delegates from the two critical swing states participate, too, but not if Clinton is rewarded for victories in the primaries.Now the Clinton campaign has begun expressing openness to a do-over.”Let’s let all of the voters go again if they are willing to do it,” said Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday night on MSNBC.”Whatever we have to do to get people in the system, let’s do it.”Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, and Florida Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican, issued a joint statement on Wednesday demanding that their states’ delegates be seated.”We each will call upon our respective state and national party chairs to resolve this matter and to ensure that the voters of Michigan and Florida are full participants in the formal selection of their parties’ nominees,” the statement said.Crist told reporters at a news conference that he would be open to another primary, but not if Florida has to foot the bill, estimated by the Florida Democratic Party to be US$25 million.He said he discussed the option with Senator Bill Nelson, the state’s senior Democrat.”He said the only way to consider the possibility of that is to have the Democratic National Committee pay for it,” Crist said.Getting funding from the national committee might be difficult when the party has a general election to wage.Michigan Democrats are discussing holding a ‘firehouse’ contest in May or June that would be an alternative to a traditional primary or caucus, said a Democratic Party official who has been part of the discussions.’Firehouse’ contests usually have fewer polling places and shorter voting hours than traditional state-run primary elections.The party official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private, said there was general consensus that it could not be held at taxpayers’ expense and would attempt to generate participation from about one million state Democrats.House and Senate Democrats from Florida and Michigan met on Wednesday night to discuss ways of getting their state’s delegates seated at the Democratic National Convention.Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said the party is open to another vote, as long as it meets three criteria.Both candidates would have to fully participate, a source of funding would have to be provided and it would have to allow all the state’s Democrats to participate.The Obama campaign says whether to have a repeat contest is up to the national committee, but has signalled a willingness to participat
e.Sourced from Nampa-AP