Michigan Democrats One Step Closer To June 3 Re-Vote

by Todd Beeton [courtesy of MyDD]

Looking good for a Michigan "mulligan" primary:

Michigan Democrats agreed Friday to push a do-over primary in early June to give them a say in the close presidential race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Amid talks with the two campaigns, the four Michigan Democrats said in a statement they were "focusing on the possibility of a state-run primary in early June which would not use any state funding." Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, one of the Democratic participants, said a likely date is June 3.

"This option would require the passage of legislation by the state legislature, and we look forward to working with the members of the legislature in the coming days to see if this option can be made a reality," the Democrats said.

The legislation, currently being written, has some serious hoops to jump through including approval by the Michigan Democratic Party, both the Clinton and Obama campaigns, the Democratic National Committee, state party leaders and Gov. Jennifer Granholm, but the momentum certainly seems to be on the side of its coming together.

And remember that whole Florida compromise where the delegates would be seated according to January's vote, only cut in half (the number of delegates, that is, not the delegates themselves...)? Looks like it's FL Sen. Bill Nelson's idea. (Nelson, you'll recall, is a Clinton supporter.)

With the Florida Democratic Party's proposed mail-in do-over of its Jan. 29 presidential primary drawing more heat than support, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson began floating the idea Friday of seating half the state's 186 pledged delegates at the party's national convention.

Nelson said he spoke Friday with both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the Senate floor about the plight of Florida and Michigan, the two states stripped of delegates because their early primaries violated national rules.

"Both of them said, `You have to seat Florida and Michigan.' Now, of course, the devil is in the details,'" Nelson said.

The Nelson plan still gives Clinton the edge, based on her 17 percentage-point win in January. But instead of gaining 38 delegates, Clinton's victory margin in Florida would be reduced to 19.

I'm still not sold on it and it sounds like a damn hard sell to the campaigns, but I suppose it would be better than nothing.