With Florida and Michigan delegates in limbo and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama still fighting, worried Dems are looking to Howard Dean.

They’d better not hold their breath.

The former Vermont governor has tried to carve a neutral path so far, and while his efforts are admirable, something’s gotta give eventually. His take on it:

“I have to chuckle a little bit - the people who are complaining that I’m not taking a stronger role - when you drill down on that a little, I see what you mean. You’d like me to be a strong leader and adopt your point of view and ram it through the DNC. I’m not going to do that - for either side. There are going to be supporters on both sides that are mad at me. I’m going to play this one by the rules.”

Which… pretty much leaves us where we were all along. Man. What happened to the hard-charging Howard Dean? While it would be great theater, there can’t be a second ballot scenario? The longer this drags on, the worse it gets.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean may be treading too carefully.

Meanwhile, Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan proposed a plan earlier that would take into account the January primary and the total popular vote nationwide.

Under the proposal, Clinton would receive 47 delegates, while Obama would be awarded 36 delegates based on votes awarded to “Uncommitted.”

The rest of the Michigan delegates would then be divided according to nationwide popular vote after all primaries are completed. Right now, that would give Obama a slight edge, as he’s won 2.6 percent more total votes nationally.

Obama leads Clinton in delegates, 1,626 to 1,486, but neither will win the 2,025 needed to capture the nomination via primaries. Superdelegates will therefore determine the Democratic nominee, be it later or … much later.

Dean proposed having superdelegates weigh in by July 1 so the party can rally behind a candidate before the convention, beginning August 25 in Denver.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a neutral superdelegate himself, said Tuesday that he would support such a proposal. We’ll see.

The next battleground is the Pennsylvania primary, which is scheduled for April 22. Clinton is expected to win, although Obama is closing hard.

Indiana and North Carolina, termed the new Pennsylvanias because they may ultimately tip the balance of superdelegate support, follow on May 6.