Democrats to Florida: Drama is not over yet.

[madfloridian]

Democrats to Florida: Drama is not over yet

Drama is not over yet

Might the Democratic National Committee foist on Democrats in America's biggest battleground state some kind of unwanted delegate selection plan for picking the presidential nominee? Party rules allow that scenario, which sounds possible from national party chairman Howard Dean's comments the other day to a South Carolina TV reporter:

"Well, the Florida drama is not over yet. So I think South Carolina will be well represented," he told WPED-Ch. 15 in Myrtle Beach. "My understanding is that South Carolina is not likely to move and that Florida is going to have a different electoral procedure than they think they're going to have."

Adam C. Smith is one of the only reporters here to be somewhat fair toward Dean's difficult position in this conflict.

DNC chairman Howard Dean is in a tough spot.

DNC chairman Howard Dean is in a tough spot. Unless he ignores the national party's clear rules, there appears to be no leeway for him to waive penalties against Florida. Even if he could make an exception for Florida, he risks provoking Michigan - which has long chafed at giving Iowa and New Hampshire such influence on the nomination - to join Florida in jumping earlier.

And in other article Adam Smith pointed out what we all know...that the Democrats are pretending it was not them when in reality they were complicit from the beginning.

Dems say 'not us', but Dean knows better

How can the mean ol' Democratic National Committee punish beleaguered Florida Democrats for the Republican-controlled legislature and governor deciding to move the presidential primary so early in violation of committee rules?

Puh-lease.

Party chairman Howard Dean might swallow that if a Democratic state senator, Jeremy Ring, hadn't sponsored the original bill moving the primary to Jan. 29. Besides, Dean knows he lobbied early on to get Democrats to back off the bill and folks like House Democratic leader Dan Gelber blew him off publicly.

Smith gets one more little dig in about this, mainly at the Democrats who are pretending they don't know what is going on.

Dems trying to keep a straight face

This is from a blog that preceded the article in the OP. Adam has their number.

Florida Democrats are trying to keep a straight face as they blame it all on Florida Republicans.

Should become interesting.

[madfloridian]

1. Martinez's RNC withholding delegates as well...but nobody notices.

They have been centered on Dean. Martinez is enforcing party rules as well, but not a word about that. Curiouser and curiouser about all the fuss from our Dems here.

"Q: Florida has received a lot of attention for moving its primary to Jan. 29. Ohio is the latest state hoping to hold one of the first-in-the nation primaries. What's going on with all this leapfrogging?

Martinez: A: My personal opinion is that we would be better off with a system that was a little more deliberative and that allows a campaign to begin maybe in January, with the primaries then coming in the spring and early summer.

In Florida, there's going to be a heated campaign in Christmas. That's unusual. We're going to have presidential candidates all over the state between Thanksgiving and Christmas because voting will begin in the middle of January. Crazy."

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070729/NATIONWORLD/707290409/-1/LOCAL17

[penguin7]

2. I like the idea of making florida primary non binding,

Moving up all these primaries really sucks big time.

[madfloridian]

3. Here's a pretty thorough article about it.

It is pretty fair in how it assesses what Florida did and the problems it will cause. It makes it clear Dean has no choice, and I think our Democrats need to stop with saying he is "disenfranchising" them. That is some BS gleaned from talking points.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070729/6florida.htm

"Penalty play. If Florida holds the January primaries, which have been locked into law by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist and the GOP-controlled Legislature, and the national parties don't relent, the state could lose huge blocs of delegates to both national nominating conventions next summer. Republicans have left wiggle room to review state-by-state primary plans, probably this fall. The Democrats have gone further as disciplinarians, stipulating that any candidate campaigning in a state that violates the rules will be ineligible to win any of the state's delegates. Florida Democrats could have avoided the problem by treating the January vote as a so-called beauty contest, without the power to choose delegates, but they decided to go ahead with a full-fledged primary. (100% yes vote)

While the GOP ponders its options, the DNC's rules and bylaws panel is scheduled to consider the Florida situation on August 25, and DNC Chairman Howard Dean says the party won't back down. "These are automatic sanctions," says a Democratic strategist close to Dean. "Without these rules, all of the states would start leapfrogging."

[iamjoy]

4. Note To Parties: Threats Won't Work

It is obvious that threats of loss of delegates, even if enforced, will not stop this crazy leapfrog game. So, why not try something else, like - oh, I don't know, a FAIR primary process. Having the same annointed states always go first and other states always get left out is NOT a fair way. It's an obnoxious process.

A more equitable way MIGHT be rotating the primary calender (for which states go first), having blocks of "Super Tuesday" in which the smaller states go first or rewarding states with higher voter turnout percentage (in the last off cycle or presidential election) and allowing them to go first. I like this last idea because it rewards the states who have good grassroots programs in place and people who are paying attention.

[madfloridian]

5. My problem is Florida's bullying right now.

I was glad that two more states were added with more diverse populations, and I figure more changes would come.

I am very much against the way Florida has handled this. They tried to spin it saying Dean was trying to "disenfranchise" them.

Howie Klein has a very interesting scenario on this issue. This is from his Down With Tyranny website. He also posts at FDL.

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com:80/2007/07/i-live-in-california-so-ill-have-luxury.html

Pretty controversial blog post, but contains scenarios many of us have considered before. We remember that absolutely not one single leader in the party here complained about a March 9 primary last presicential election. We were told it was good to have a late primary.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. It's actually quite fair for the candidates...

Iowa and New Hampshire are states that you can go door to door and not have to raise a lot of money to win. That gives all candidates an equal playing field regardless of how much money they can raise.

[demoleft]

6. Kick! n/t

[madfloridian]

7. Hi, demoleft.

:hi:

[madfloridian]

8. Florida Dems are teaming with other states to escape blame...

because they have a Republican governor.

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070716/CAPITOLNEWS/70716017

"TALLAHASSEE — Backed by a tailor-made resolution of support from other southern states, Florida Democrats are pleading for mercy from their national party — hoping to escape political penalties for the state's early presidential primary. The party's message: Don't blame us — Republican Gov. Charlie Crist and the GOP-run Legislature moved Florida's primary to Jan. 29.

State party chairwoman Karen Thurman and a delegation of party leaders attended a southern caucus of the Democratic National Committee in Charlotte, N.C., last weekend and came away with an amnesty resolution for Florida. It states that "states controlled by a Republican Legislature and Republican executive" should not be penalized for violating the Feb. 5 rule. The resolution by the 62 southern DNC members at the meeting also noted that minority party leaders in the Florida House and Senate offered unsuccessful Feb. 5 amendments to the bill moving the primary to Jan. 29. Thurman lobbied against the early date.

Democratic National Committeeman Jon Ausman of Tallahassee said in a memo to party activists that the resolution will be taken to an Aug. 25 DNC meeting in Washington, where state delegate-selection plans will be reviewed. A spokesman for the national party declined comment, saying Florida's delegate-selection rules have not yet been formally submitted.

"We will make a strong case for mercy and I hope we receive it," Ausman wrote. "The last thing our Democratic nominee needs, whoever it is, is for the first day of the Democratic National Convention to be focused on a credentials battle."

Maybe you should have thought about that before the Florida Dems started accusing the party of "disenfranchising" them. Maybe you should have thought about it before Democrats actually started the ball rolling on moving up the primary.

Good luck, cause I don't care. We don't have a choice anyway.