Candidates knew all along the MI and FL delegates might be seated. Obama, supposedly anti DNC,

[kikiek]

went beyond obeying the DNC. They didn't pledge to take their names off the ballot. Only to not campaign just like in FL. And from the get go they were told there was a good chance the delegates would be seated.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/01/AR2007120100722.html
All of the Democratic presidential candidates already promised the national party that they will not campaign in either Michigan or Florida, even though both states are particularly valuable prizes in the general election.

Party leaders in both states remain defiant, saying they will hold the primaries on their chosen dates and predicting that the media will treat the outcomes as significant even if there are no delegates at stake.

And some party leaders say the delegates from Michigan and Florida could end up attending the convention in the end. The rules of the convention allow the party's nominee to petition for reinstatement of the delegates, but whether the eventual nominee would want to wage a fight on behalf of Michigan and Florida against states that played by the rules, such as California and New York, is unclear.

[anamandujano]

1. Nice find--question about this sentence

The rules of the convention allow the party's nominee to petition for reinstatement of the delegates, but whether the eventual nominee would want to wage a fight on behalf of Michigan and Florida against states that played by the rules, such as California and New York, is unclear.

California and New York played by the rules, as did most or many of the big states that chose Hillary.

With that simple fact in mind, got to wonder how much of a "fight" it would actually be.

No state ever manages to upstage California or New York in any primary or election. Wouldn't it be a matter of "we all agree on who's best, let's talk about this rule thing some other time," like, for instance, when it doesn't put the future of the country and world at stake.

Basically, I'm saying, how bent out of shape are those other states who played by the rules. It just seems to be Dean and his friends and a FU to their power.