As I pointed out in my story, linked below, one idea in Florida is to hold the primary by mail, which is a system similar to what they use in Oregon. That would cost somewhere between $5 million and $10 million, which only a fraction of what it would take to mount a traditional primary. It would also allow the party to deal with some issues like making sure that overseas military personnel can vote (there are more than 30,000 in the Democratic voter files in Florida) and allow the party to deal with voting rights issues, including the need for bilingual ballots.
As to the question of who will pay for it? Well, here’s the interesting twist. While McCain-Feingold outlawed soft money for federal elections, the state parties still are allowed to raise it. With both Michigan and Florida saying they won’t use taxpayer money for a second election, and Howard Dean saying the DNC doesn’t have it, it now looks that the only way to pay for all of this is to find some rich guys to write some very big checks. Paging George Soros?
As for Ana’s concern about a firehouse primary: It is a system that has been used a lot, and generally has worked. In Michigan, there are lots of places like union halls in which to hold them, and which presumably labor would donate for free. They offer an advantage over caucuses, in that they are held over the course of many hours, so you don’t disenfranchise people who can’t vote because they are, for instance, working during the hour or two that a caucus occurs.
