Bredesen: Florida, Michigan delegate decision overdue

By: AP

By ERIK SCHELZIG Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Monday that the national Democratic Party took too long to figure out what to do about a dispute over delegates from Michigan and Florida. Bredesen is a Democratic superdelegate who plans to publicly announce whom he supports for president after the last primary today. The national party’s rules committee over the weekend agreed on a formula for giving each Michigan and Florida delegate a half vote at this summer’s convention. “That should have absolutely been handled a long time ago,” Bredesen told reports after an event at the Nashville airport. “But I think it ended up as a reasonably fair decision.” The party had initially refused to seat the delegates because the states had scheduled their contests in violation of party rules. Asked whether he blames Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean for letting the issue drag on, Bredesen said “no comment.” Bredesen, who did not support Dean’s candidacy to become DNC chairman, has long had frosty relations with the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate. An Associated Press analysis indicates that Sen. Barack Obama is 45 delegates shy of the number needed to clinch the nomination. Sen. Hillary Clinton would have to win most of the remaining delegates to catch up with Obama. Bredesen said the national party made the right decision on the Florida and Michigan delegates. “I know it’s not what Mrs. Clinton wanted, but the sense I got talking to people … that it was probably the best that could have been done under the circumstances,” he said. Published in The Messenger 6.3.08