Deal clsoe for second Florida primary.

[joeybee12]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/119901

A solution to the growing controversy over Florida's disputed Democratic primary may now be in the works. Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson tells NEWSWEEK he has spoken to the Florida Democratic Party about launching a soft-money fund-raising campaign for the benefit of a new mail-in primary, which would supercede the controversial Jan. 29 vote.

Nelson, who spoke on the phone Friday afternoon as he was boarding a plane from Washington, D.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., for the weekend, was not forthcoming with specifics in terms of who will be approached for donations (as a senator, he is specifically forbidden from raising soft-money donations), or the timing of the new primary. The senator was, however, clearly frustrated over waiting for other people to fix the problem. "My job is clear," Nelson says. "It's to stand up for the right of Floridians to vote as intended."

The disputed Democratic primaries in both Florida and Michigan have taken on increased importance as the close contest between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama drags on. Both states held their votes in January against the wishes of the national Democratic Party, which decided to strip their delegates as punishment for breaking party rules and voting prior to Super Tuesday. Nonetheless, 1.75 million Florida Democrats went to the polls--delivering victory to Clinton. As Obama took the lead in the delegate count, Clinton supporters put on pressure for Florida's and Michigan's primaries to count, while Obama's campaign decried the prospect of changing the rules "in the middle of the game." A third option has always been to revote, but there's been a dispute over who would pay for the multi-million-dollar do-over. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has said there's no room in the state budget for a revote, and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean also pleads poverty, saying he needs to stow away party funds for the general election.

[LeftCoast]

1. Huh...never thought of a mail-in primary. That might work!

Not a bad idea.

[movonne]

4. Do you trust voting on the internet???I sure don't ...be careful of

ben nelson(blue dog)...

[LeftCoast]

13. No...not via the net, but by mail should be ok.

At least they're paper ballots!

[Kittycat]

6. I have no beef with it, but...

it costs twice as much as a caucus.

[LSparkle]

7. But you've no doubt heard that Hillary WON'T accept a caucus ...

Already issuing vetos and she hasn't even won the nomination yet ...

[Kittycat]

14. Of course. Heard it on KO last night.

She's a sore loser. Lose at any cost.

[LeftCoast]

12. It seems like a good compromise though

I'm sure there are some hard-ball negotiations going on about this behind the scenes.

[Kittycat]

15. I'd take any option within the rules.

[movonne]

2. Bill Nelson (blue dog)

[powergirl]

3. Sounds good to me

Everyone gets to vote and Obama will still be ahead in the delegates. Works for me.

[gabeana]

8. Not only that but he will make it a lot closer

than the jan 29th numbers
that is good news, they will basically split the delegates 50 - 50

[Hawkeye-X]

5. There's only one problem with it - he needs to ask the DNC rules committee if it'll work..

As long as the state pays for it, and it's not another ballot-stuffing scheme of DLC, then I'm all for it, as long as both campaigns are allowed to campaign and observe each counting of the mail-in ballot. It'll cost a lot of money, which I'm sure Florida will raise.

I'm interested to hear madfloridan's take on this, as usual.

Hawkeye-X

[movonne]

9. I just don't trust florida .... their elections are what stated this whole

thing..bush presidency

[Zachstar]

10. I think it is a bad idea.. However it is their state.

I really hope they decide to not do a mail-in however... It is simply TOO easy to influence on both sides.

However. It is THEIR money and if this is what they choose then I look forward to the results!

[VolcanoJen]

11. Florida ought to hit up Harold Ickes for a donation.

Make him throw in for the mulligan.

Harold Ickes: "With respect to the stripping, I voted as a member of the Democratic National Committee. Those were our rules and I felt I had an obligation to enforce them.”

[madfloridian]

16. They are going to pressure Thurman.

Don't worry, what Bill wants, Bill gets. Karen can not stand up to him.