The problem of the Florida and Michigan Democratic delegations stems from the fact that Michigan and Florida ended up holding a non-primary instead of a primary in 2008. Most of the general public does not know how much of the Florida effort was generated by the Republican Party, with full support from the local GOP including Jeb Bush, former governor and first brother. The public also does not know how much of the Michigan effort was generated by entrenched Clinton supporters. Sen. Hillary Clinton is claiming ‘victory’ in both Florida and Michigan. The situation may be easier for the Democratic Party to address in Florida, where it was created by the GOP, than in Michigan, where it was largely created by local Dems.

 
In Florida, the problem arose in May 2007. Republican Gov. Charlie Crist—who John McCain is now heavily hinting may be his vice-presidential choice—and the GOP state legislature moved the Florida primary up to Jan. 29, near the beginning of the 2008 election calendar, flouting Republican Party rules as well as Democratic Party rules.

 
As St. Petersburg Times columnist Howard Troxler pointed out in “This bill does a lot more than advertised,” the same law also allows officeholders to run for new office without resigning their current positions, restricts citizen petitions, and gives state party bosses “absolute power to remove local party officers.” It also derailed internal Democratic Party processes in a key Sunbelt state.

 
Gov. Crist, a prominent McCain supporter, now appears frequently on television, arguing that Floridians’ “precious right” to vote means that results of the partial primary should stand as is. On March 9, Crist called seating the delegation “a beautiful thing.” Crist did not mention that the as-is delegation would benefit Clinton against Obama, and that national polls show Clinton the weakest Democrat against Sen. McCain in a general election.

 
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of FL’s 20^th district, a Clinton ‘Hillraiser’—one of the prominent figures raising over $100,000 in campaign donations for Clinton—is largely siding with Crist against the Obama campaign.

 
Setting aside the obvious campaign to benefit Clinton’s candidacy at all costs, sincere proposals on how best to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations at the August Democratic National Convention in Denver include a menu of options.

 
The most feasible proposal is for a mail-in vote--cost estimated at $6 million, presumably to be raised by the Florida Democratic Party. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean have been receptive to voting by mail, which along with being less expensive than a primary election also has the advantage of including military personnel stationed overseas.

 
Other options are to divide Florida and Michigan delegates equally between Obama and Clinton, or to apportion them according to pledged delegates already won. Both options hypothetically benefit Obama, who might also benefit from a mail-in vote.

 
If the Democrats want to avoid a deadly split at the convention, it is self-evident that they have to move toward one of or some combination of these options in Florida, expeditiously. Someone who balks is self-evidently less concerned about party losses, and it might be a good exercise in tea-leaf reading to inquire why.

 
Meanwhile, public information is key. What happened in 2007 is that state political managers in Michigan and Florida decided to up-end the traditional lead-off of Iowa and New Hampshire, without being able to carry their national party or public opinion along with them. There was no national groundswell in favor of removing Iowa and New Hampshire from their customary place at the beginning of the election cycle.

 
So the party figures tried an end run, moving their primary date up in a plucky fight that voters largely did not know they wanted. Admittedly the fight looks a little different in Florida than in the cold and frozen north, where moving up the primary would increase the factor of harsh winter weather—depressing turnout, which might also benefit Clinton against Obama. In Florida, the fight was led by Republicans; in Michigan, by Democrats. The common denominator is that the move was instigated and supported in both states by individuals with a vested interest in seeing Sen. Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee.

 
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who championed the Michigan calendar revolt, are Clinton ‘superdelegates’. So is Rep. John Dingell, whose wife, National Democratic Committeewoman Debbie Dingell, also championed the move.

 
Links between Clinton, Granholm and Stabenow include controversial Clinton donor Norman Hsu, who has given generously to Stabenow and Granholm--$42,100 to Granholm by one tally, and $33,813 to Stabenow. The Boston Globe reported that “at least some of the $17,000 that Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan collected from Hsu and his associates in 2005 and 2006 stems from a Nov. 29, 2005, fund-raising reception for her hosted by Steven Rattner, a New York investment firm executive and major Clinton donor seen as a candidate for US Treasury secretary if Clinton wins.” The Globe also reported that Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan collected more than $20,000 from Hsu and his associates.

 
A few days after the Michigan legislature sent the primary bill to Gov. Granholm, Mr. Hsu donated a further $43,700 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The DSCC later returned the donation.

 
In October 2007, all the major Democrats except Clinton—Biden, Edwards, Obama and Richardson—withdrew their names from the Michigan primary ballot. Clinton pledged not to campaign in Michigan, but the Clinton campaign obviously calculated that a few extra percentage points there would help her run the table, in a campaign strategy to get contests over with as early as possible. As Clinton said in a January television appearance, “It’ll all be over by February 5.”

 
Michigan Democratic party figures now seem to oppose corrective action more vehemently than do their party counterparts in Florida. An alliance between Gov. Crist of Florida and some of the chief Democrats around Detroit should be starting to look a little unnatural.