March 06, 2008
Revote=Major Coin
Some money numbers to keep in mind as party officials and the campaigns hash out a solution to the MI and FL primary mess:
The Jan. 15 MI primary cost $12M, according to Liz Kerr, communications director of the MI Dem Party. Kerr said it wouldn't cost as much to revote, should all interested parties agree to it, but that she expects the bill to reach in excess of $5M.
When pressed to assess if, given Barack Obama's absence from the ballot, the only fair way to resolve this would be a revote rather than an automatic seating of the state's delegates, Kerr said: "Those candidates took their own names off the ballot."
Still, she said the goal is to find a way "that both campaigns agree to" to seat MI's delegates.
"A Democrat cannot win the presidency without Michigan," Kerr said. "It's in everyone's longterm interest to seat Michigan's delegates."
In FL, some officials are saying that a vote-by-mail primary is the only feasible option. It would cost between $5M and $10M. FL, one source noted, is too large and too diverse for a caucus.
On Call Aside -- Sources say the DNC last summer offered FL Dems $800K to fund a primary run out of 150 caucus sites and to accomodate an estimated 150k people. There are more than 4M registered Democrats in the Sunshine State.
One other note -- 1.75M people voted in the Jan. 29 FL primary; more Dems voted there than in NY.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Posted at 02:42 PM
Comments
FL, one source noted, is too large and too diverse for a caucus.
Unlike the tiny, homogenous state of Texas.
Marla Erwin | 03.07.08 01:10 AM
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