Pleading with the presidential candidates to take a serious look at their plan to salvage Florida’s Democratic primary, the state party leaders proposed a new vote-by-mail primary overseen by an independent commission. But with Hillary Clinton on Wednesday insisting that only a full-scale statewide primary could make up up for not counting the Jan. 29 vote, and Barack Obama hostile to any mail plan, their proposal appeared to be on life support.

The stakes? Nothing less than Democrats winning or losing Florida in November, said state Democratic chairwoman Karen Thurman "Fingers have been pointed in every direction, but how we arrived at this breaking point is irrelevant,’’ she wrote Obama, Clinton, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and top Democratic leaders in Florida. "The stark reality is that all Democrats lose if this is not resolved immediately...Because of the unprecedented nature of the national race, a situation that previously was a relatively minor, party-insider issue now has the potential to result in irreparable damage for years to come"

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