Speaking of establishment candidates, it's worth noting that here in OH the governor, lt. gov., John Glenn, and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones stumped night and day for Hillary. Not to put any of them down or denigrate their choice, but it reiterates that Clinton has always been the establishment candidate. It's not only the work they did in the last few weeks, it's all the entrenched political roots and networks they brought to the table for Hillary. My husband and I voted for Obama, and this angle of it stuck particularly in my husband's craw. He just kept saying over and over last night when they mentioned Hillary's lead in OH, "It didn't hurt that she had the governor running all around giving speeches for her." Strickland is extremely popular here b/c he threw out the ineffectual Taft and his cronies.

Both candidates should publicly agree to these rules right now to avoid further accusations of "moving the goal posts:"

1. Seat the Florida delegates from the contested primary.

2. Do-over Michigan with a caucus.

3. Agree that superdelegates are not tied to state or district popular vote, given that they are party experts who should keep electability in mind.

Anyone who's been following this mess for months recognizes that there are advantages and disadvantages for each candidate in the above scenario. Money is saved by not doing FL over and by doing caucuses in MI (better for both economical and fairness reasons, since Obama does better in them and she gets FL). The last point is going to happen anyway in my opinion and gives the DNC some leeway into looking at the big picture. Forcing an allegience to state or district vote for superdelegates would also mean going back to the ones who've pledged already and making them align (In my district, Stephanie Tubbs Jones has pledged and worked for Clinton even though her district--and I--are firmly for Obama). It would be a mess to undo all those alliances.

Both candidates should agree to the following right now:

1. Seat the FL delegates from the contested primary.

Advantage Clinton. Costs no money. The primary wasn't open, so there can't have been crossover from Repubs taking advantage of the special "doesn't count" situation. That Dems don't operate under "winner take all" helps: Each candidate gets the delegates they won that day; there's no reason to suspect that whatever might have kept people from the polls (regarding its known illegitimate status) was limited to Obama voters.

2. Do-over in Michigan, caucus-style.

Advantage Obama. He does better in this forum. Also, less costly than primary. (Since BO's name wasn't even on the ballot, this one absolutely has to be redone in some fashion. It might as well be in a fashion that helps BO, if they want him to agree to seating the FL delegates).

3. Agree that superdelegates should "vote their conscience."

They should not be tied to a district or state b/c then what on earth was their point of existence to begin with? They should hold out and look at the big picture--electability--regarding purple states, etc. If superdelegates are tied to their own state or district, then the ones who've pledged already and worked for their candidate will also have to realign, which could be a mess. (I'm thinking of Stephanie Tubbs Jones here in Cleveland, who's pledged undying support for C even though her district went to Obama.)

I'm confident my candidate Barack Obama could win in these circumstances. I know Clinton supporters could get behind it as well. (I think it favors her, actually, but I think Obama would be seen as heroic if he proffered it and stood behind it. Principle over politics, etc.)

Anyway, the key is that they come up with something like this NOW before they have to keep changing the rules to favor each of their games. I know there are many--probably mostly Obama supporters--who say we shouldn't change the rules at all b/c it would be Clinton's way of grabbing at whatever situation gave her gain and winning by cheating. I say that it just doesn't sit well with me that people's votes didn't count. We're the Democratic party, for goddsakes. Let's not put technicality over the people's voice. That some jerk Republicans moved the date up in FL really has no bearing on the people who went out to the polls that day. I know there are some who didn't b/c they knew their vote wouldn't count, but there's no reason to suspect that more of those were Obama supporters than Clinton supporters. The main thing is that THERE IS NO SCENARIO in which everybody will be happy. Each of the candidates, and by corollary each of their supporters, must make concessions.