Howard Dean says the Democratic Party is committed to seating Florida delegates as long as both candidates agree to the conditions.

Dean met with Florida lawmakers to discuss ways of allocating delegates among Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and prepare for the fall campaign in the battleground state.

The party stripped Florida and Michigan of their delegates to the national convention in Denver because they ignored party rules and moved their primaries to January.

“We are committed to making sure that we do everything in our power to seat a delegation from Florida,” Dean said. “We believe we will seat a delegation from Florida.”

But the party chairman said it was critical that Obama and Clinton were “comfortable with the compromises that have to be worked out.” The two campaigns did not have representatives at the hourlong meeting.

“It’s our hope that the candidates will join us in this effort and without them an agreement is not possible,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.

Dean said discussions were continuing over Michigan and he was “optimistic” that the state’s delegates would also be seated.