“They were sanctioned. They were told not to do that,” Harkin told a press conference call. Party rules said only four approved early states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — could hold primaries or caucuses before Feb. 5, but Michigan and Florida went early anyway. As a result, the rules committee of the Democratic National Committee stripped the two states of all their delegates.

Now, the DNC is stuck having to either stick by its ruling and alienate those two key swing states, or seat the two delegations and alienate the four early states. One option that’s emerging is a caucus, near the end of primary season. But Monday, Michigan Democratic chair Mark Brewer rejected that idea. “The Obama and Clinton campaigns have to agree. It takes one year to prepare for a caucus. It takes money,” Brewer said. “It is not a viable option.”In addition to the questions of rules, fairness, and disenfranchisement, the issue is also deeply caught up in nomination politics. Most observers expected the Florida and Michigan delegates to be seated by a winner who had decisively clinched the nomination in the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primaries. Instead, the nomination fight is dragging on, and seating the Florida and Michigan delegations would give Hillary Clinton a boost.

Thursday, the Michigan Democratic Party announced its “delegate allocation,” even though its official delegate allocation is still zero. Based on results from its renegade Jan. 15 primary, Clinton would have 73 delegates and 55 would be uncommitted.

Barack Obama and most other candidates took their names off the Michigan ballot on Oct. 9 because of the calendar violation, but Clinton stayed on the ballot. At the time, she said Michigan’s delegates wouldn’t count, but on Jan. 25, after winning Michigan easily, she called for seating the Michigan and Florida delegates.

Candidates did not have the option of taking themselves off the Florida ballot. Clinton won with 50 percent to 33 percent for Obama and 14 percent for John Edwards, who dropped out immediately after Florida. All the leading candidates signed a pledge not to campaign in Michigan or Florida. That pledge was largely honored, though Clinton pointed a finger at Obama for running national cable TV spots in Florida, while Obama drew attention to two Clinton fundraisers in Florida, technically allowed under the pledge, two days before voting. As soon as the polls closed, Clinton flew to Florida for a victory rally.

Some observers are calling for treating Florida and Michigan differently. Chris Bowers at Open Left calls for seating Florida. “The DNC’s punishment has achieved its goal, as Florida has been denied a major role in the horse race to date,” he writes. “The sentence for changing the primary date has been served.” But he argues Michigan is a different matter, since Obama and others weren’t on the ballot.

But that was not all that Huckabee was delivering Monday. Huckabee, who has lost 100 pounds and made obesity and preventive care one of the cornerstones of his health-care plan, proclaimed Pizza Ranch as his de facto headquarters in Iowa. “There are Pizza Ranchers all over the state of Iowa, and I think we’ve been to just about every one. Realizing the irony of this situation, Huckabee defended the proclamation as he delivered pizzas to the crowd: “Besides, I don’t have time to eat.”

Asked how he managed to lose all that weight so quickly, the Republican candidate quipped, “It’s not hard when the Democrats in the legislature eat your lunch every day.” Huckabee was alluding to his 10-year tenure as governor of Arkansas, when 90 percent of the legislature was Democratic.Gearing up for the Ames Straw Poll in Ames on Aug. 11, Huckabee used Monday’s stop to tout his experiences as Arkansas’ chief executive and the legitimacy of his campaign. “Some people out there say that Huckabee doesn’t have the name recognition as some of these other candidates,” said Brad Sherman (left), a Johnson County supporter who introduced Huckabee. “Maybe they haven’t placed a high enough value on their individual merit in the caucus process. If you don’t believe a no-name politician from Hope, Ark., can win the presidency, I have two words for you: Bill Clinton.”

Minus the `R” placed behind his name, Huckabee’s background, political experiences and presidential campaign bare a striking resemblance to former President Bill Clinton. Both men were born in Hope, both served as governor of Arkansas and both entered the presidential race as virtual unknowns at the national level.

While Huckabee and his supporters are familiar with how the Clinton narrative played out, they know they have their work cut out for them if Huckabee’s going to win the Republican nomination. Nobody knows this better than Huckabee’s Iowa chairman, Bob Vander Plaats. “In Iowa, we hold the unique position of interviewing all the candidates for the position of president, and sometimes I wonder whether or not we really know what we’re looking for,” said Vander Plaats. “I’m looking for somebody with capability, somebody who fears God, somebody who is trustworthy, and I’m looking for somebody who hates dishonest gaming in politics. We have the opportunity to put this man on the national stage. He’ll be the guy from Arkansas who doesn’t marry Hillary Clinton but beats Hillary Clinton.”

Huckabee also draws on his experiences as an ordained minister for guidance, hope and painting an optimistic future. Realizing that his ministerial past makes some people nervous, Huckabee attempted to assuage fears with an anecdote. “I had a woman come up to me when I first ran for office and ask, `Are you not one of those narrow-minded Baptists who think that only Baptists are going to heaven?’ said Huckabee, who responded to the woman, “No ma’am, actually I’m more narrow-minded than that. Because I don’t think all Baptists are going to make it to heaven.”

On the campaign trial, when Huckabee asked people if they’ve lived better than they ever imagined while growing up, an overwhelming majority of people raise their hands. But when he asked people whether or not their kids and grandkids will grow up and have better lives than they did, not a single hand went up. “We’ve got to change that. I don’t want to be the last generation who thinks that the greatest generation is ahead of us — not behind us,” said Huckabee. “I want us to believe that the greatest generation is not even born yet.”

Vander Plaats echoed Huckabee’s optimistic outlook as he made a final pitch of support for next month’s Straw Poll: “Iowans need to have a voice here. If `none of the above’ is truly the pulse of the country, let’s give this country and us Republicans something to vote for versus something to vote against.”