The Republican National Committee yesterday notified several states planning to hold early nominating contests that it would strip them of at least 50% of their delegates for non-compliance. Blake posted the story yesterday. One important factor to keep in mind: While some states may be sanctioned now, it is likely that most, if not every state, will enjoy its full compliment of delegates once convention time comes.

Here's a quick explanation of how Democrats and Republicans are approaching delegate nominating rules:

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee sets rules by which the party selects delegates. The RBC, as it's called, meets occasionally, as it did last month, to approve every state's nominating plans. If a state is granted a waiver, it may hold its contests before February 5th. This year, New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada were granted waivers to hold early primaries.

Michigan and Florida, which will also hold January primaries, were not granted waivers. The Rules and Bylaws Committee punished Florida at its most recent meeting. Michigan's early primary plan was submitted after that meeting, and the committee is expected to punish Michigan with the same severity as it did Florida, by taking away all of Michigan's delegates. While the committee can vote to reinstate delegates from any punished state, the vote to punish Florida attracted just one "no" vote -- from Florida's representative on the committee.

The Republican National Committee has no standing committee to deal with the selection of delegates. Their rules are clear, having been set at the 2004 Republican National Convention: States either hold their delegate-allocating nominating contests after February 5th, or they lose delegates. Unlike Democrats, no early states are granted waivers by the GOP. That means New Hampshire, South Carolina, Wyoming, Michigan and Florida would lose 50% of their delegates for holding early primaries.

Iowa and Nevada, which hold caucuses, technically do not allocate their delegates until later conventions, and are therefore unaffected by the ruling. Any state that changes its rules after the call to the convention goes out, a call required by the end of the calendar year, is subject to losing 90% of its delegates.

Democrats, in short, have the ability to punish states as their Rules and Bylaws Committee sees fit. Republicans have no such power and are confined to punishing any state that breaks a rule.

At the end of the day, though, it will be up to each convention's Credentials Committee to decide whether to seat full slates of delegates for each state punished. Practically speaking, no presidential candidate is going to want to irritate any swing state (and of the seven early states, only South Carolina and Wyoming can be considered safe for one party) by neglecting to seat their entire delegate slates.

Interestingly, it is Democrats who are catching the most flack for their move to strip Florida's delegates, thanks in large part to the ruckus raised by Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings, who have sued the DNC and the State of Florida. But Democrats' Credentials Committee is much more likely to allow Florida to seat their delegates despite breaking the rules. For the GOP, on the other hand, it only takes a few members of the committee to object to prevent a state's full delegate slate.