Howard Dean sure knows how to crash a good party. Since this election cycle began about a year ago, the consensus has been that this November's upcoming presidential election is securely in Democratic hands. This sentiment, however, hasn't stopped the party from taking every opportunity to sabotage itself, whether through vitriolic infighting, campaign scandals or draconian party regulations. Last May, Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, signed a bill moving Florida's presidential primaries up to January 29 in violation of both Democratic and Republican party rules, which prohibit most states from moving up their primary date to before February 5th. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a similar bill last year, moving her state's primaries up to January 15. The two states-which together would have yielded an additional 313 delegates in the Democratic primary race and 174 delegates in the Republican race-have since been penalized by both parties for their transgressions.
But again, the great furor thus far has been solely on the Democratic side, and with good reason. While the Republican National Committee stripped each state of half its delegates, the Democratic National Committee simply dropped Florida and Michigan's delegates in full. Unwilling to foresee the firestorm of discontent that would erupt the moment it did so, Howard Dean and the DNC declared that neither state would be allowed to seat its delegates at the convention in Denver this August.
Since January, it has become clear that any attempts to rectify the problem are either politically disadvantageous to a particular candidate or too expensive to be feasible. Thankfully, at least one thing is clear: It is impossible for the DNC to renege on its own rules and seat Florida and Michigan's delegates as is. To do so would be patently absurd, tantamount to changing the rules of a baseball game midway through an inning. But beyond what is not on the table, such as seating the current delegation, lies a myriad of other options over which no one can seem to reach an agreement. In a race as hotly contested and emotionally powerful as this one, the Democratic Party can hardly afford to suggest to voters in two states that their votes will not be counted, but that is precisely what it is doing.
The blame for this debacle does not fall squarely on the shoulders of the DNC. For example, Governor Crist, a Republican, was surely more than happy to sign off on a primary rescheduling that discounted Democratic delegates far more than it did Republican delegates. And, knowing full well what the consequences would be, the state parties should have had the good sense not to break the rules in the first place. Senator Obama has been ambivalent at best to the possibility of re-votes in the offending states, and Senator Clinton only began calling for their reinstatement when it became clear she was falling behind in the delegate count.
But in the months since Florida and Michigan's delegates were stripped and in the months since their primaries were held, DNC Chairman Howard Dean has done a fantastic job of resting on his laurels. The possibility of a re-vote has been raised, as has the possibility of some sort of compromise between the candidates, but Dean has thus far been unwilling or unable to command his party and surmount this obstacle.
The longer Dean waits, the more damage will be done to Democratic chances at carrying Florida or Michigan in November. The one innocent group involved is the voter population, who had no say in the rescheduling of the primaries and no say then or now. But if no solution presents itself there is little the party can do to keep them from staying home in November or worse, voting for Senator McCain. If the Democrats can't find some way to reconcile with the states in question, it is likely that these alienated voters will be unattainable for a generation. The Democratic Party thought this election was its to lose; it seems well on its way to accomplishing just that.