What Obama Needs To Do

Here's what Obama needs to do to sew up the Democratic nomination before the August convention.

FIRST, he needs to put forward a plan to enfranchise Florida and Michigan voters. Obama needs to take the high road, once again demonstrating an ability to rise above petty politics. He can afford to let Hillary come out ahead in delegates from both of those states, especially if he gets credit for breaking the logjam.

In Florida, Obama should signal a willingness to live with the results, as is. It's not likely that the result would have been significantly different if the primary had been held later, or if there were to be a re-vote. Both names were on the ballot, the turnout approximated what it would've been, and neither candidate had an unfair advantage. So accept the result, but get credit for resolving the problem.

Michigan is tougher. It's clear from turnout figures that a lot of people stayed home. And Obama's name wasn't on the ballot. Obama shouldn't just accept a solution that locks in the results of that primary, BUT he should push for a solution that recognizes Hillary would probably come out with more delegates. It's frankly more important to get the issue resolved than to fight it out over every delegate.

So far, the candidates themselves have been mum on Florida and Michigan, leaving it to their campaigns and surrogates to address the issues. Obama can change that by speaking out himself, declaring, first and foremost, that the Florida and Michigan voters' voices must be heard, and advocating for a fair and quick resolution.

SECOND, Obama must start putting pressure on the undeclared Superdelegates to declare. In this, he can--and should--be aided by Democratic activists and party officials, including us bloggers. Of course, the Obama campaign is wooing those Superdelegates in private. But if he can get Florida and Michigan solved--or at least pulbicly declare his support for seating those states' delegates, then he can turn to the Superdelegates.

The key, and this should come from bloggers and others, is to publicly name all undecided Superdelegates and start shaming them into making decisions. We would focus especially on those Superdelegates from states that have already voted. A Superdelegate is not required to support whoever won his/her state or congressional district; but, we think once they have that piece of information they ought to make their decisions.

In any event, all Superdelegates should be forced to declare their choice by early June, when the last nominating contests will be done. We don't think the Democratic Party needs to--or can--force that issue; but the Democratic Party's activists can do it. (There are 795 Superdelegates; according to Realclearpolitics.com, 469 of them have declared a preference so far, leaving 326 who need to be pressured into making a decision.)

If this all happens, Obama is likely to have the nomination in the bag by June, which gives him some time to mend fences and start after McCain before the August convention.

Otherwise, Obama is in for a long, hot summer with things hanging in the air. He's especially vulnerable if Michigan and Florida aren't decided and it's going to go down to a nasty floor fight at the convention.