Right On The Right

The Democrats are in a lose/lose/lose situation. If Michigan is seated because of some sort of re-vote or split decision, the party loses it's credibility, Hillary loses a potential coup in getting the results seated as is, Obama loses because Hillary picks up a few more delegates, and Michigan loses because they don't have a real primary. If they refuse to seat them, the party loses lots of good will in the Oven Mitt State. If Florida is seated by re-vote, it costs a bunch of money, Obama gets incredibly angry, and we have similar problems. Failure to seat both gives the GOP a beautiful line of attack come November. Ed Morrissey says the Democrats are knee-capping themselves and quotes the Wall Street Journal:

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidential nomination were deeply wounded by the apparent collapse of do-over primaries in Florida and Michigan this week. The other big loser may be the Democratic Party.

With five months to go before the national convention, party leaders still hope voters will settle the nomination by leaning decisively toward one candidate or the other in the remaining 10 primaries. The party’s superdelegates, the elected officials and party leaders who aren’t bound by vote results, could then follow the popular lead. With the nomination wrapped up, the party could seat the Florida and Michigan delegates and avoid angering voters in two states that are important to a Democratic win in November.

A muddled outcome in the remaining primaries could force any decision about the nomination onto the party’s nearly 800 superdelegates or the 186-member committee charged with settling delegate disputes, and then onto the convention floor.

My first thought is that 186 people is way too many for a committee. You'd need committees to determine what the committee will do, and committees to govern the committees within the committee. In all seriousness, the Democrats will face even more internal fighting if either state is seated, and will risk alienating voters a huge chunk of population. The donkeys are in trouble.