Some Florida Delegates Could Be Seated

Here's what's happening.

Remember the Ausman challenge? Well, there are actually two Ausman challenges -- one regarding Florida's superdelegates, and one regarding the ability of the party's rules and bylaws committee to penalize an entire delegation.

Sources close to the DNC's rules and bylaws committee say that the Ausman challenges WILL be heard -- and that if the votes are there, some Florida delegates could be seated -- temporarily -- by the end of April. (The seating would likely be appealed to the credentials committee, but we'll cross that suspension bridge when we pay the toll for it.)

"Democrats in Florida should rest assured that we are all working .... to find a solution that will result in a delegation at the DNC and there will be no empty chairs on the floor in Denver," DNC chairman Howard Dean said today.

The Ausman challenge does not apply to Michigan, a state where Barack Obama removed himself from the ballot.

In a statement, the Clinton campaign had kind words for DNC chairman:

"We have long maintained that pretending the voters of Florida and Michigan don’t exist is not fair in principle and unwise in practice. This morning’s Quinnipiac poll out of Florida reflects the urgent need for Democrats to get behind our effort to count Florida’s voters and seat its delegation at the convention. Chairman Dean is clearly committed to seating the Florida delegation and we urge Senator Obama to join us in calling on the rules and bylaws committee to make this a reality."