DNC May Deny Florida Slots at '08 Convention

[cal04]

Florida lawmakers angrily assailed the Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, saying he is threatening to "disenfranchise" the state's voters by considering a plan to invalidate the state's presidential primary.

The DNC's rules committee is to vote today whether to sanction Florida for violating party rules by moving its primary up to Jan. 29 and violating a party rule against holding a primary before Feb. 5. The action would deny Florida its delegates at the party's national convention next year and prohibit Democratic presidential candidates from campaigning in the state before the primary.

In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said the DNC "is poised to assault the basic right of a person to vote at its meeting tomorrow." He threatened to sue the national party to prevent the sanctions from being imposed.

"I hope that cooler heads are going to prevail tomorrow," an exasperated Nelson said. "If they don't, and if the full DNC were to then take that position, then certainly we will have to assert what we think are important rights."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082402124.html?hpid=topnews

[mountainvue]

1. Has this ever happened before? Exactly what is

Dean trying to accomplish here?

[catgirl]

2. He's trying to keep the election in 2008!

[RB TexLa]

3. Dean wants rural whites in Iowa and New Hampshire to make the choice of who is nominated

and will do whatever to prevent any Southerners, urbanites, African-Americans, or hispanics from casting votes before they can. Two states that are very unrepresentative of the US have held too much power for way too long. Dean needs to let a state that actually has cities and minorities have more of a say in the process.