Rinse, Repeat

Florida Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida legislature are intervening to have the delegates of both Florida and Michigan seated at their respective national conventions.  At a hastily called press conference less than an hour ago, Governor Crist (R) and his Michigan counterpart, Governor Jennifer Granholm (D), issued a joint statement expressing their wish that the voices of 5.1 million voters not be disenfranchised.

This is a tangled mess, unlikely to smooth out easily.  There are no simple solutions.

As Florida residents, we have a vested interest in the outcome.  

Those of us who voted in the Florida primary did so in good faith, with the expectation that our vote would eventually count for something.  While all of the Republican candidates campaigned in this state (the Republican National Committee penalized Florida by allowing only half of Republican delegates to be assigned, unlike their Democratic counterparts, who removed all Florida delegates) , none of the Democratic candidates did, so it cannot be alleged that the playing field was uneven.  Voter turnout in the Democratic party in Florida was high, and we had good exposure to the national campaigns of all candidates who were running at the time.  Both Democratic frontrunners, Obama and Clinton, received commanding votes in the state.

There cannot be a caucus as a substitute for the primary; that is a completely unsatisfactory resolution.  There cannot even be a redo on the primary and have it be fair; a large portion of the state's residents, ourselves included, are snowbirds, seasonal residents from other, generally northern and midwestern states, many of whom will be leaving soon, some who have left already, to return to their northern homes.

Florida residents, seasonal or permanent, will not likely stand for being disenfranchised, particularly after the mess of 2000, but appreciate well the problems of trying to redo the vote.  

When we voted initially, there was a full slate of candidates, both Democratic and Republican, on the ballots.  It was not an open primary; that is, only those registered as Democrats and Republicans could vote in their respective primaries, and no independent or cross-over voting was allowed.

There is really no way to do it over.  But it's unlikely it will ever be acceptable to all parties concerned regardless.

Crist, who gave a surprise last-minute endorsement to John McCain on the eve of the Florida primary, is touted as a possible running mate to McCain in the upcoming election.