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Key West, Florida...waiting for warm weather in Oregon.

Florida, Michigan 'do-over' primaries too costly

Florida and Michigan Democratic lawmakers met last night, but the brainstorming session didn't net any final solution to the mess over their states' delegates being excluded from the presidential nominating convention.

David Goldenberg, chief of staff to Rep. Alcee Hastings of Miramar, said the lawmakers can toss around ideas, but candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama must agree to any plan. The national parties penalized the states all their delegates because their primaries were held too early in the year.

And Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean was showing no signs of compromising about counting the results of those early primaries when he spoke on the morning news shows today.

Although talk has increased in Florida about holding a "do over" vote of some sort, Dean said he's not interested in paying for it.

"Of course not. We can't afford to do that. That's not our problem. You know, we need our money to win the presidential race," Dean said on the CBS Early Show.

Florida lawmakers have been resistant to holding another contest because they want the vote from Jan. 29 to count, which Dean has staunchly opposed.

"The do-over is the least favorable option, the most costly and probably the most difficult politically and administratively," Goldenberg said. Courtesy Swamp Politics

McCain Behind Democrats

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows both Democratic presidential candidates ahead of Sen. John McCain in general election match ups.

Sen. Barack Obama leads McCain, 52% to 40%, while Sen. Hillary Clinton is ahead, 50% to 44%.

Key finding: "Another obstacle for McCain may be his age. More than a quarter of those polled said they are less inclined to support McCain because he would be the oldest person ever to become president. The percentage discouraged by McCain's age is more than double that of people who would be less enthusiastic about supporting Obama because he is African American or Clinton because she is a woman."