Bill Nelson to Dean...lift sanctions by Monday and I won't sue you.

[madfloridian]

And he says there might be a special session to change the primary date back. The Republicans in Florida will do that when hell freezes over. Or as Naked Politics puts it:

Chances of the Republican-controlled Legislature moving back the primary, making the state less important in picking the nominees and resolving the Democratic turmoil: slimmer than Angelina Jolie on a diet.

Here is more.

Florida: Pretty please?

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Karen Thurman asked if the four states would look the other way just once, when the state party holds its convention in Orlando next month. They said no.

In another last-ditch effort, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has told DNC Chairman Howard Dean that if he agrees to lift the sanctions by Monday, Democratic state lawmakers will try to move the primary back during a special budget-cutting session next month.

"Doing so will also help avoid a legal challenge based on voter rights versus political party rules,'' Nelson warns in the letter.

Chances of the Republican-controlled Legislature moving back the primary, making the state less important in picking the nominees and resolving the Democratic turmoil: slimmer than Angelina Jolie on a diet.

Uh, Bill, why don't you concentrate on condemning MoveOn. Maybe you can catch them using another bad word.

So, Bill, condemn MoveOn and then threaten the national party and Governor Dean with a lawsuit? Maybe you should get together with Victor in Tampa, he has already filed one. And how many times have you threatened to do it?

I can tell you really have the best interests of the party at heart.

[madfloridian]

1. BTW, the county and state party people in general are trying to reach compromise.

I have seen much more conciliatory emails lately. Bill is not welcome to keep intruding like this while the others are trying to work with the national party. Nothing perfect yet, but better.

[liberalnurse]

6. That is good news.

O8)

[madfloridian]

14. Well, I guess I lied.

Now I see a post here that they will just keep the Jan. 29 date. :shrug:

[depakid]

2. "Democratic state lawmakers will try."

An empty "promise" from a smarmy DINO.

The smartest thing Dean can do is to hold firm on principle.

[AtomicKitten]

3. My money's on Dean.

[Mojambo]

4. Pretty damn weak bluff. n/t

[madfloridian]

5. More..Alcee Hastings joins Bill in the threats.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2007/09/florida-lawma-1.html

" Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings have fired off the latest shot in the war between the Florida and national Democratic parties. In a letter Friday to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, the two pressed Dean to lift the sanctions that have been imposed if Florida doesn't back down from allotting its presidential primary delegates based on the Jan. 29, 2008, primary election. The sanctions go into effect unless Florida backs off its January primary by Sept. 29.
The two (Hastings is the Democratic chair of the Florida House delegation) also hinted at a lawsuit if the sanctions aren't lifted by Monday. Florida will lose all its delegates and the presidential candidates won't campaign in the state, under DNC rules that prevent all but four states from holding presidential contests before Feb. 5.

Nelson and Hastings said they were running out of compromises to propose after offering first to have the DNC move the four states with early primaries up even earlier and then to have a March Florida state convention ratify the Jan. 29 vote. But, they said, the DNC offered only a Florida caucus or mail vote without enough funding to cover it.

"The Florida Democratic Party cannot in good faith waste millions of dollars on a caucus, or a mail-in vote, that preserves a broken primary process," the letter said. They promised that if the sanctions are lifted, the Democratic minority in the Florida legislature will try again to change the primary date.

"On January 29 there will be multiple elections and other important issues on the ballot in Florida, whether the DNC recognizes the vote or not," they said. Nelson and Hastings urged a lifting of the sanctions by Monday. "Doing so may also help avoid a legal challenge based on voter rights versus political party rules."

[iamjoy]

7. This Sucks

It's just bad all around

:(

[brentspeak]

8. Wonderful. Just great. Just what we need. Not.

Good grief.

[robcon]

9. Compromise is needed

And I think compromise is possible.

[MasonJar]

10. Didn't Nelson vote against Move-On; he can shove it.

[madfloridian]

15. Yes, he did.

He votes against just about everything we support.

[madfloridian]

11. Nelson using Hispanics here to attack the DNC

He is absolutely not going to let up.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/NEWS01/709220343/1006/NEWS01

"In trying to attract more Florida Hispanics, Democrats face one major obstacle: Their own party officials.

The Democratic National Committee has threatened to disregard Florida's primary votes unless the state rescinds its decision to move up its primary election to Jan. 29, and the top Democratic candidates have pledged to not campaign in Florida until the dispute is resolved.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., questions his party's wisdom.

"If the DNC does not change," he said, "it says they think party rules count more than the right of a person to cast a ballot and have it counted."

Florida is the one who broke the rules, and Bill Nelson is hurting all of us.

With Harry Reid setting up votes to condemn a liberal activist group, with the Florida party getting people to sue the DNC and take up valuable financial resources....with Bill Nelson telling the world that if we lost the Hispanic vote it is Deam's fault....

I wonder...this has been a hell of a month.

[hayu_lol]

12. Gill Nelson is just one of our DINOS who need to be thrown out of...

office. He seldom sees a Repug bill that he does not endorse. People like Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Lieberman need to find a real job where they can continue to be abysmally stupid and self-serving.

Bill helped Bush in Florida...and is still doing a bood job for Bush.

[madfloridian]

13. Looks like Nelson will be suing, doesn't it.

Bill and Victor suing together.

[jcrew2001]

16. Nelson wants to give the Florida primaries to Hillary

so he can get to be her VP

quid pro quo, Nelson you sly dawg

[madfloridian]

17. Thanks for saying it....I had heard it.

But only hearsay. :-)

[jcrew2001]

18. Golden rule of politics: Quid Pro Quo

All politicians want something, you just have to connect the dots of their actions and the results of those actions.

Politicians primarily care about winning elections and career advancement.

I sure hope Nelson gets his promise in writing.

[flpoljunkie]

22. Read Bill will be endorsing Hillary on the St. Pete Times buzz blog several weeks ago.

[flpoljunkie]

24. Both members of "The Fellowship" according to a very recent Mother Jones article.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/hillarys-prayer.html

[DrDan]

19. Bill Nelson is nothing but a weasel

voted for the stop-free-speech resolution last week. Also voted for continuing the Iraq debacle this past week.

He has lost my Florida vote.

Emailed him on both votes - he has yet to send his standard, generic reply.

Time for a change in Florida.

[madfloridian]

20. Thurman and Wasserman Schultz made their announcement today.

They promised so much, but not how it could happen.

http://miami-dade-dems.blogspot.com:80/2007/09/vote-on-jan-29-your-vote-will-count.html

""The nation will be paying attention on Jan. 29, and Florida Democrats will have a major impact in determining who the next president of the United States of America will be," she said.

A score or more of state and local Democratic leaders stood with her as she made the announcement and fielded questions from a skeptical bunch of media reps who seemed to have swallowed the Rovian line that the vote wouldn't count, the delegates wouldn't be seated, the candidates will ignore all of poor Florida's desperate needs, and the sky will fall.

After Thurman declined to answer the third or fourth iteration of that list, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) stepped in and said she would urge all to vote for the nominee of their choice. "We will make sure they count," she said, and the Florida Democratic Party expects the state's delegates to be seated at the Denver convention next summer.

Sen. Bill Nelson said in the party's written statement that the vote will certainly count, and "On Jan. 29, there will be multiple elections and other important issues on the ballot in Florida, whether the DNC recognizes the vote or not."

Miami-Dade Chairman Joe Garcia said, "Florida elects presidents. On Jan. 29 we will have a bigger impact than any caucus or small-state primary. The eventual nominee will seat our 210 delegates next year and our voice will be heard."

Promises that may not come true. Kind of sad. There are no winners in this.

[flpoljunkie]

23. The FLDems asked for this when they willingly went along with the R's in Tallahassee to move date.

[CTLawGuy]

21. voter rights???

few people understand that, even in voting for president in the GE, you have no "right" to vote. The constitution makes it clear that state legislatures decide the means for choosing presidential electors. That means they could choose the presidential electors themselves.

In a primary you have even less right to vote because a political party is a private organization, which didn't even have popular-vote primaries until recently.

It is a simple rule, just follow it Florida and move your primary back!