The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida and Michigan of all their convention delegates -- a total of 313 -- for holding their primaries too early, making both contests meaningless. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won both states, but no delegates. Her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, did not appear on Michigan's ballot.
But the disqualification of Florida and Michigan has created a headache for the Democratic party due to the unexpected closeness of the race between Obama and Clinton. Officials from both states are trying to figure out how best to resolve the issue before the national convention in August.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean said a mail-in primary is "actually a very good process."
"Every voter gets a ballot in the mail," the former Vermont governor said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It's comprehensive, you get to vote if you're in Iraq or in a nursing home. It's not a bad way to do this."
As for who pays, Dean said, "That is a problem," reiterating that the party needs its money for the general election campaign against Republican John McCain.
Ah, money. There's the rub, eh? A mail-in ballot seems to cut some of the overhead and perhaps make access a bit easier - especially for Floridians abroad. The price tag looks to be around $6m. That's not so expensive, right? But the DNC doesn't want to foot the bill because it needs that money later.
Would it be a total conflict of Clinton and Obama split the costs? After all, they are the ones who want the election really. It's a $3m gamble if you don't make the cut (or does Florida apportion? I don't know.) Could that work?
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