My PDA kept buzzing with new e-mail while I was trying to get some lunch in New York Sunday, and it was Samuel Tenenbaum letting me know that a certain other editorial page editor had bought into his idea on what to do about Florida. An excerpt:
If the key concern is really about being fair to Florida and Michigan Democrats, there is a simple solution proposed by my friend Samuel Tenanbaum, a major Democratic fundraiser in South Carolina, that the Barack Obama campaign has indicated it could support.
Let’s call it the Solomon Solution: Seat the Florida and Michigan delegations at the convention and divide their votes equally between Clinton and Obama. That would be a fair deal for Clinton, who won 50 percent of the vote in Florida and 55 percent in Michigan, where Obama’s name was not even on the ballot. An even split would not change the delegate math in either candidate’s favor, but it would accomplish what everyone says they want – the seating of these two "rogue" delegations at the convention.
It may not be an ideal solution, but it’s better than any of the other ideas on the table. And best of all, it wouldn’t cost a dime.
Philip Gailey misspelled Samuel’s name, but Samuel doesn’t care about that — the idea’s the thing. Personally, I’m not sold on it, but it has a certain elegance to it, I’ll admit.
I’m not sure how we’d deal with this in the UnParty, if we were ever to have such a problem.
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Solomon’s solution to the quarreling mothers was a bluff.
Florida and Michigan should only have another primary if both of them have a primary (or caucus), and if both these quarreling mothers agree to pay the full costs, 50/50, out of their donation warchests.
With apologies to Leslie Gore, it’s their party and they can cry if they want to…
I hasten to point out that last year when the parties established rules, some state parties — including our state’s — broke them. So why is the answer new rules? No, the Democrats already have a fix, the super-dooper delegates.
Besides, the proposed “Solomon Solution” — Seat the Florida and Michigan delegations at the convention and divide their votes equally between Clinton and Obama — seems too much like dividing the baby. That Senator Obama seems to favor that tells me that Senator Clinton is the real mother, something that I’ve believed for some time…
Let’s see. If each candidate gets half the delegates, then Michigan and Florida have exactly zero effect. So they wind up just as disenfranchised as they are now.
Surely no one seriously thinks that solves anything.
Besides, why would Obama get half the delegates in a state where Clinton got 55 percent of the vote and Obama wasn’t even on the ballot? What did he do to deserve such a gift?
This approach has one serious flaw – that being that it makes sense.
In baseball when you bat out of turn you are out. Neither delegation should be seated and let the chips fall where they may. The only reason this is being discussed is because Hillary needs them. In baseball not counting that batter out is cheating. Considering who needs them seated it all makes sense.
Does anyone besides The State really give a damn what Sam Tenenbaum thinks? Maybe Sam should stick to what he knows best, handing out $2000 government supplied debit cards to people who have never held or ever plan to hold a job.
Florida and Michigan broke the rules, so they should have no delegates. Punish the local parties, or it will get worse next election.