Revote unlikely to seal either's fate

BY TODD SPANGLER and KATHLEEN GRAY
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • March 13, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Even if Michigan and Florida get to hold their primaries again, the chances they will produce a Democratic presidential nominee on their own are slim to none.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton could win by margins similar to her victories in both states' disallowed January primaries and still lack the delegates needed to take the nomination outright from Sen. Barack Obama.

The Illinois senator could take both and be in the same boat.

So why do them over?

The answers to that question are myriad, but they really come down to a handful of issues:

• Clinton's desire to gain an edge going into what has the potential to be a fractious, brokered convention.
• Many voters' beliefs that their ballots should count for something (though just as many who bolted for the Republican primary seem to believe a do-over would cut them out unfairly).
• The Democrats' worry that leaving Florida and Michigan on the table could put them in the hands of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain come November's general election.

Michigan has voted for the Democratic candidate in every election since backing the first President George Bush in 1988. But the Democrats' margin has been shrinking since 1996. On Wednesday, a poll by Rasmussen Reports said McCain held a slight lead on either Democrat in a Michigan head-to-head matchup.

As for Florida, it has voted Republican in the last two elections, and most polls show McCain leading either Democrat this time as well. Still, a poll released Wednesday showed 5% of Florida Democrats say they might not vote in the presidential election and another 15% said they might vote for McCain if the Florida delegates aren't seated. State Democrats commissioned the poll.

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