Why would Hillary go to Florida and not Minnesota?

Now that Minnesota's Democratic caucuses are attracting some attention - they're being held on Feb. 5, Super Tuesday, and 72 of our 88 delegates will be assigned that night - you might wonder why Hillary Clinton is the only candidate not planning a trip here (as of Tuesday afternoon, John Edwards will stop in Saint Paul tonight and Barack Obama is planning a rally for Saturday).

You might also be curious about Clinton's plan to travel to Florida tonight, a state where the Democratic primary is just a beauty contest and not a single delegate will be won.

She provided some answers this afternoon in a satellite interview - a small portion of which aired during the "Political Minute" on KARE11 News at 5.

First, Florida. The state that infamously decided the 2000 election (and played a pivotal role in 2004) was stripped of its delegates to this year's Democratic National Convention in Denver. Like Michigan, Florida was punished by the party for scheduling a primary earlier than Super Tuesday.

Why, then, would Clinton visit a state that can't help her get closer to the nomination? She's looking toward the general election, she said. But there may be more to it (keep reading).

"Very often the election comes down to Florida," Clinton told me. "And I want the people of Florida, who have already voted -- hundreds of thousands of them -- and those who are still voting, to know I take them seriously. I intend to campaign there in the general election, and I don't want to leave Florida to the Republicans who have been there pretty much unanswered for months now."

Then she added this: "I also have said that, if I am the nominee, I will work to try to seat the delegates."

Pay very close attention to those words: "If I am the nominee." That makes it sound like, if Clinton wins the 2,025 delegates needed for the Democratic nomination, she'll then - and only then - make the argument that Florida delegates should be counted, because to exclude them would offend voters in a crucial state in the general election.

But what if Clinton is not the nominee, or if she is in a very tight battle with Barack Obama? That's where this gets very, very interesting.

Clinton will win Florida's beauty contest tonight (she was ahead in early polls, and the Democratic candidates have not campaigned there, so the polls haven't changed), just like she won Michigan.

If the race for the nomination is too close to call as the national convention approaches, it is possible Clinton could make the case that Michigan and Florida delegates should be counted. That would mean hundreds of delegates that didn't matter - Michigan has 156 and Florida has 210 - suddenly would be counted in the race for the nomination.

That would give Clinton a huge advantage (Obama didn't even keep his name on the ballot in Michigan) and, in a very tight race, the victory.

But for now, Clinton is not making the case that Florida and Michigan delegates should be assigned to her in this early stage of the campaign. The DNC ruled those two states forfeited their right to be counted. And a Clinton effort to make an end run around the DNC surely would bring charges of trying to "steal" the nomination.

For now, Clinton is just saying the delegates should be seated at the convention "if I am the nominee."

But stay tuned. Florida could have another headline making year. Conspiracy theories are out there.

In the meantime, why dis Minnesota?

"I'm sure trying to get there," Clinton said. "I'm going to do my very best to be there in person."

Before Feb. 5? "I'm going to try."

Maybe Minnesota's value isn't so great after all. Our 72 delegates up for grabs will be split proportionally among Clinton, Obama and Edwards, assuming all three get the 15 percent of the vote needed to be considered viable.

With 22 other contests and about 2,000 other delegates up for grabs that day, we're still kind of small in the big picture.

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