So it has become painfully apparent that Michigan and Florida are going to come into play in the Democratic nomination contest. I have stated in previous hubs that the Democratic Party cannot refuse to seat delegates from two key battleground states at the Democratic National Convention in August. However, there is the problem that the candidates did not campaign in those states, thereby making any electoral result suspect in terms of reflecting the will of the voters. And that's to say nothing of the voters who stayed home because they were told that their votes would not count. No one can realistically make the case that those results can be counted as reflecting of the public will. So what is a party to do.

Well, here's my solution. I think Obama should offer the following compromise. Allow the Florida result to stand. Here's my reasoning. First, both Clinton and Obama were on the ballot in Florida. Neither campaigned. Now we all no that a non-campaign favors the candidate with the highest name recognition (Clinton), but at least the playing field was technically level, even if Clinton did have an advantage.

I don't believe that this gives Clinton and unfair advantage. The result in Florida was 50% for Clinton, 33% for Obama and 14% for Edwards. The proportional breakdown of the delegates does favor Clinton, but not nearly enough.

I think this is feasible in Florida for a couple of reasons. First, as I stated before, the playing field was basically level. Voters had the opportunity to choose Obama. Second, this was a product of legislation passed by a Republican legislature and signed by a Republican governor. The Democratic voters in Florida are blameless. The DNC gets some blame for falling into this sanctions trap in the first place, but not Florida's voters.

Blamelessness does not travel north to Michigan where the primary was moved by a split legislature and signed by a Democratic Governor. Likewise, the playing field was not level. Clinton stayed on the ballot while Obama, Edwards (who probably could have relied heavily on the labor vote) and company removed their names. The result in Michigan was as follows: Clinton 55%, Obama 40% with Dodd and Kucinich dividing the remaining 5%.

This is the contest that needs to be redone, either by another primary or by a caucus.The cost can be split four ways between the Clinton and Obama campaigns, the DNC and the Michigan Democratic party. Again, if Clinton still wins 55 - 40, she benefits, but not enough to overtake Obama in the pledged delegate count.

Having solved Michigan and Florida, we just move over to the question of superdelegates. And if Clinton still trails after including Florida and Michigan, the superdelegates will do the right thing for the party.