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Bid for Mich. revote collapses

The Obama and Clinton campaigns continued to joust over the fate of the state's 156 delegates.

WASHINGTON - The drive for a second Michigan presidential primary collapsed yesterday, and a fresh dispute broke out between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton over the fate of the state's 156 national convention delegates.

Obama's campaign said a fair resolution would be to split them evenly with Clinton. Aides to the former first lady instantly rejected the idea and said they would consider a mail-in primary - though Obama has raised concerns about the security of a vote by mail organized so quickly.

Obama leads the overall competition for convention delegates, and Clinton has been leading the effort to hold a revote in Michigan, eager for a chance to close the gap on her rival.

The state held a primary Jan. 15, a date so early in the year that it violated Democratic Party rules. As punishment, the party stripped Michigan of its delegates. Obama and several other Democratic presidential candidates removed their name from the Michigan ballot, and all the Democrats agreed not to campaign there.

Michigan Democratic leaders had proposed a do-over primary, to be conducted by the state June 3 with funding by private donors. But lawmakers showed a lack of enthusiasm for a bill authorizing the vote, and the state Senate adjourned yesterday without taking it up.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has endorsed Clinton, said in a statement that she was deeply disappointed the June 3 do-over was no longer a possibility.

"We will turn our attention to other options," she said. "There is no road to the White House that does not go through Michigan."

In a statement before adjourning for two weeks, Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon and House floor leader Steve Tobocman said: "Regardless of candidate preference, members had concerns over the estimated 100,000 Michigan Democrats who would have been unable to participate in a do-over election, as well as logistical and legal difficulties faced by local clerks."

They said they would help try to find a solution that would seat Michigan delegates.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D., Conn.), an Obama supporter and former presidential candidate, promoted the idea of evenly splitting the delegates between Obama and Clinton.

"The best outcome is to come to an arrangement where the delegates are apportioned fairly between Senators Obama and Clinton, so the Michigan delegation can participate fully in the Denver convention," he said in a statement.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Dodd spoke to Obama campaign leaders about the idea, and they agreed it would be an equitable way of handling Michigan.

But Clinton said while campaigning in Terre Haute, Ind., that Obama's nomination could be tainted if he achieved it without a second Michigan contest.

"I do not see how two of our largest and most significant states can be disenfranchised and left out of the process of picking our nominee without raising serious questions about the legitimacy of that nominee," the New York senator said, referring to Michigan and Florida.

Florida saw its 210 delegates stripped by the national party as punishment for the state's moving its primary up to Jan. 29. A proposal for a mail-in vote in the state collapsed earlier this month without support from the party's congressional delegation.

Harold Ickes, who leads the Clinton campaign's efforts to secure delegates, said the campaign would "seriously entertain the possibility of a party-run, mail-in ballot" in Michigan. He said the Obama and Clinton campaigns had not communicated about how to settle the matter.

As the Michigan plan died, Obama met Michigan resident Jeff Lynch yesterday during a campaign stop at a Charleston, W. Va., sports bar.

"When am I going to get to vote for you in Michigan?" Lynch asked.

"Probably in the general election," the Illinois senator replied. "A redo vote is very complicated."