What were they thinking?

Rico is still unclear on why Florida and Michigan decided, in defiance of Democratic Party policy, to hold their primaries early. (He's equally unclear on why the Party insisted on not having primaries early, but it was something about momentum...) This stupidity has, of course, thrown the whole nomination process into a cocked hat, and may make the final selection of the candidate difficult if not impossible without the intervention (which will be political poison) of the superdelegates.
"It is in the interest of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign to portray the contest as being highly competitive. Her campaign is intent on combating Mr. Obama’s efforts to pick off superdelegates. And it is increasingly concerned that any sign that the window is closing could lead a Democrat like Al Gore or Speaker Nancy Pelosi to step in and urge Democrats to back Mr. Obama in the interest of unity... In truth, in interviews, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers said that task was tough and growing tougher and that the critical questions were what would happen with Florida and Michigan and the possibility of developments involving Mr. Obama’s relationship with his spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. The fight over Florida and Michigan is just partly about delegates. Victories in new primaries in those states are among the only realistic ways for Mrs. Clinton to erase Mr. Obama’s advantage in the total popular vote. Mr. Obama’s edge over Mrs. Clinton is 700,000 votes out of 26 million cast, excluding caucuses and the disputed Florida and Michigan results. About 12 million people are eligible to vote in the remaining contests. Aides to the two candidates said even with the best possible showing for Mrs. Clinton in the states ahead, it was hard to see how she could pass Mr. Obama without Michigan and Florida."

Rico says that, between Vader and Clinton, he'll take Vader; at least he acts like he really is, and ultimately proves to have a heart...