ELECTION 2008: Dean's response to Michigan and Florida

(thanks to Election Geek for this)

In response to this morning's question about re-running the MI/FL (we'll call them the MILF primaries), Howard Dean, hugely pressured today to say something, has finally said something substantive about the possibility (other than "that's against the rules, guys"):

"We’re glad to hear that the Governors of Michigan and Florida are willing to lend their weight to help resolve this issue. As we’ve said all along, we strongly encourage the Michigan and Florida state parties to follow the rules, so today’s public overtures are good news. The rules, which were agreed to by the full DNC including representatives from Florida and Michigan over 18 months ago, allow for two options. First, either state can choose to resubmit a plan and run a party process to select delegates to the convention; second, they can wait until this summer and appeal to the Convention Credentials Committee, which determines and resolves any outstanding questions about the seating of delegates. We look forward to receiving their proposals should they decide to submit new delegate selection plans and will review those plans at that time. The Democratic Nominee will be determined in accordance with party rules, and out of respect for the presidential campaigns and the states that did not violate party rules, we are not going to change the rules in the middle of the game.

“Through all the speculation, we should also remember the overwhelming enthusiasm and turnout that we have already seen, and respect the voters of the ten states who have yet to have their say.

“As we head towards November, our nominee must have the united support of a strong Democratic Party that’s ready to fight and ready to beat John McCain. After seven years of Republican rule, I am confident that we will elect a Democratic president who will fight for America’s families in the White House. Now we must hear from the voters in twelve states and territories who have yet to make their voices heard.”

IE: The states have to come up with a way to do this, resubmit their idea (including a plan to pay for it), and do it by June 10. Per ElectionGeek (who, btw, I discovered was a McCain supporter, which is funny as it's the first true McCain-support blog I've read... tells you what I'm reading), both governors of MILF have expressed a desire to re-run the primaries.