Primary battle: compromise in the offing?

There's a big meeting Friday in Tampa that could break the impasse between Florida Democrats and the national party regarding the January 29 primary date.

I still don't understand the reason for all the furor ... as I've pointed out before, a Florida primary on January 29 still will fall after Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, and it's the same day as South Carolina. Where's the harm? Why is the DNC being so intransigent on this point ... especially now that Michigan has gone one step farther and set their primary on January 15.

Not only that, but the party's rule seems a little, um, misguided, since the candidates still are allowed to raise money here in America's Wang™:

"I'm pretty sure we're going to work something out," said DNC member and former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez. "We don't want to lose delegates to the convention, and we don't want to hurt Florida voters."

Another DNC member, Tallahassee attorney Allan Katz, said, "Our job is to elect a Democratic president, and these distractions are the kind of things that make it much more difficult."

But some Florida Democrats still sound defiant, flexing the clout of the nation's largest battleground state.

"I think we should get our own hotel and our own bus to the convention," said DNC member Diane Glasser of Tamarac. "I don't know a candidate that wouldn't want Florida seated."

State Sen. Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach said he has postponed plans to endorse John Edwards. He added that he is discouraging donors from giving to candidates who boycott Florida and to the national party.

"I am going to continue to try and urge people to contribute to the Democratic Party. I am just going to ask them to keep it in Florida," Geller said. "I don't want them to think of Florida as just an ATM."

It's also important to remember that the decision as to whether or not a delegation is seated is up to the eventual nominee ... so all of this is likely to be moot anyway, since no candidate worth his or her salt would reject delegates from swing states as large and as crucial as Florida and Michigan.

So, the game of Political Chicken goes on for at least another couple of days. Stay tuned to see what happens Friday ...

P.S. Where's the outrage about the Republicans doing the same thing? Oh, yeah, IOKIYAR.