Bill Clinton: Florida, Michigan Penalty "Appropriate"

ABC NEWS

ABC News' Rick Klein and Sarah Amos Report: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday flatly rejected a proposal by Sen. Barack Obama to penalize Florida by seating only half of its convention delegates -- despite the fact that former President Bill Clinton and other top Clinton campaign officials have floated that idea as a possible compromise.

In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Obama, D-Ill., called the idea of cutting Florida's delegation in half "a very reasonable solution" to the party's stand-off over how to treat a primary contest that was not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee.

Sen. Clinton dismissed the suggestion, saying she would insist on 100 percent representation for Florida.

"I think that is disingenuous but it's also insulting to the 1.7-million Floridians who actually turned out to vote," Clinton, D-N.Y., said of Obama's proposal, according to the newspaper.

But just last week, Bill Clinton called giving Florida half its delegates -- similar to how the Republican National Committee penalized the state for holding an earlier-than-allowed contest -- an "appropriate penalty."