Since the Democratic parties in Florida and Michigan didn’t follow national party rules in the selection of delegates to the national convention, their delegations so far are not eligible to attend. Could Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s suggestion to repeat the state’s Democratic primary according to party rules affect the outcome of the Democratic presidential race?
The debate over seating both Michigan and Florida delegations could come into major importance depending on what happens in the Democratic presidential primaries in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday.
Currently, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are less than 200 delegates apart in the presidential race, not counting Florida or Michigan.
Originally, Florida’s 121-member district-level delegation from the now-illicit January primary was divided between three candidates: 67 for Clinton, 41 for Obama and 13 for former Sen. John Edwards. Edwards has since dropped out of the race. There is a total of 210 delegates from Florida.
It is possible Clinton and Obama could remain in the tight race for delegates after Tuesday’s Ohio and Texas presidential primary. If Crist, a Republican, is successful in setting up a new primary date for the state Democrats, Florida could again impact the results of a Democratic presidential campaign, this time without any hanging chads.
