Florida, Michigan Re-Do Troubles

Since the governors of Florida and Michigan came to the Democratic national Committee last week, telling them to seat their delegates, controversy has raged about what to do about the two states.

Many want to just hold a new election, but that costs money, approximately $20 million in Florida and $10 million in Michigan. Both the states and the DNC has said they refuse to pay for that.

Another issue is starting to rear it's head. By DNC rules, all contests must be finished by June 10th. The Florida Secretary of State has said it would take 90 days since the governor signed off to hold a primary.

June 10th is 92 days away.

Michigan also has a state law that forbids holding a second primary.

Another option that was showing promise was a mail-in vote. Oregon is the only state to do all voting by mail-in ballot. That option would only cost about $6 million in each state. And Michigan was talking to the DNC about splitting that cost.

The Florida House refused to allow a mail-in vote. Saying:

"Our House delegation is opposed to a mail-in campaign or any redo of any kind"

Which leaves only one option in Florida, award the 210 delegates as they were on January 29th. No candidate campaigned in Florida, but Sen. Clinton held a few last-minute fund-raisers.

She won the state with 50% of the vote to Obama's 40%. She also won Michigan with 50% of the vote. 33% chose "Uncommitted" as all major candidates, except Clinton, removed their names from the Michigan ballot in protest to the early primary.

It's hard to say whether Obama would have done any better in Florida, the state having such a large Latino population. Factored in with Obama's loose Cuba policy, and he probably would end up doing worse.

Michigan is a different story, however. Clinton was the only name on the ballot, and they cannot fairly award those delegates to her. With state law prohibiting a new primary of any kind, the only option is a caucus.

Sen. Obama has said that he is worried about a mail-in caucus, saying:

"I think there are some concerns in terms of making sure that whatever we do is fair and that votes are properly counted and the logistics make sense"

A normal caucus would be much cheaper than the $10 million primary, but it would still take time to set-up.

And with the next contest, Pennsylvania, still 6 weeks away; this will be the only major story in the headlines for a long time.