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  The Compromise Myth

  Posted Wednesday, April 02, 2008 5:01 PM | By Christopher Beam

  When it comes to seating Florida’s delegation, the DNC keeps saying it’s going to come to a compromise that’s acceptable to both campaigns. “We all agree that whatever the solution, it must have the support of both campaigns,” said Howard Dean and Florida Democratic Chairwoman Karen Thurman in a joint statement today. But is there really a scenario on which both campaigns are going to agree?

  I doubt it. The campaigns’ stances are simple. Everyone says they want the delegations to be seated. But no one agrees on what that means—how many delegates each candidate will get, whether to seat superdelegates but not pledged delegates, or whether to treat Florida and Michigan equally. (Obama's absence from the Michigan ballot complicates things.) From Obama’s perspective, he won’t accept any scenario in which the Florida and Michigan delegations affect the race. Likewise, the Clinton campaign won’t accept any scenario in which they don’t. That means the only way they’ll come to a mutually acceptable compromise is if Obama’s delegate lead is wide enough that seating the Florida and Michigan delegations won’t help Hillary catch up. In other words, if Obama has his way, the delegations will only get seated as long as they don’t matter. But then that would tick Hillary off, taking the negotiations back to square one.

  The DNC seems to think it can find a solution without taking sides. I’m still not sure that’s possible. No one said Howard Dean’s job was easy.

  Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, DNC

About Christopher Beam

• Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter.

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