WASHINGTON — Do-over Democratic primaries in Florida and Michigan drew new interest Sunday as party officials struggled to find a solution to a crisis that has taken on greater significance in the tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
"This is a big -- bigger issue than Florida and Michigan," Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said on ABC's "This Week," warning that a solution is needed to unite the party behind the Democratic presidential nominee -- whether it's Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York or Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois -- against the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. "The only thing that can beat us is that we're divided."
To punish Florida and Michigan for violating party rules by moving their primary dates to January, ahead of the party's set schedule, the Democratic National Committee stripped the two states of their delegates to the party's nominating convention in August. But as the race between Clinton and Obama has tightened, Democrats from both states have stepped up efforts to ensure that the voters of Florida and Michigan -- key states if Democrats hope to win the White House -- get a role in choosing the Democratic nominee.
As of Sunday night, the Associated Press' count had Obama with 1,578 delegates and Clinton with 1,468. The nominee needs at least 2,025 delegates. Before the party punished the two states, Florida was to have 210 convention delegates and Michigan 156.
On Sunday, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) advanced the idea of another election, this time by mail. If party officials refuse to seat his state's delegates, he told CBS' "Face the Nation," "the only thing I know to do is to do it over."
But Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said that the state had never conducted a mail-in vote -- and that an election as important as this one was not the time to experiment.
"We had 1.75 million Democratic voters cast ballots on Jan. 29," she said on "Fox News Sunday." "It was a record turnout. And the likelihood of getting that many people to mail a ballot back in is very small."
The difference of opinion over the vote-by-mail idea underscores the dilemma facing Democrats.
Party leaders must find a solution that satisfies both the Clinton and Obama camps. Clinton got the most votes in the Florida and Michigan primaries, but Obama's name was not on the Michigan ballot, and both candidates agreed not to campaign in either state.
