Half To Full

Lost in the shuffle of this weekend came this story that the Democrats have restored full voting rights to Florida and Michigan ahead of the convention today, at Obama's request.

After all the party threats of punishment for Florida and Michigan for holding primary elections before the rules permitted them, the Democratic convention credentials committee today voted unanimously to restore full voting rights to the Florida and Michigan delegations.

The party's rules committee already had gone half-way, agreeing to give the delegates from the unruly states half-votes at the convention. But with this vote today, all the delegates will get full votes.

"The only way we will be successful is if we are unified as a party and all Democrats know we are full partners," said Chris Edley Jr., a credentials committee member from California.

The move does, however, raise the question of how the party might enforce its primary calendar going forward. Michigan, with its Jan. 15 primary, and Florida, with its Jan. 29 primary, violated a ban against pre-Feb. 5 primaries for most states.

Sen. Barack Obama, who will accept the party's presidential nomination here this week, has called on the party to reexamine how its primaries are conducted.

This is a good thing, because Obama's going to need all the help he can get having fallen into a dead heat with McSame.