The decision comes as no surprise.
TALLAHASSEE -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Democratic National Committee has every right to strip Florida of its 210 delegates as punishment for moving its primary date to Jan. 29.I don't recall where I read it, but legal precedents were all on the DNC's side. That doesn't change my opinion that the national party made a bad decision.U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle dismissed a lawsuit against the national party by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, ruling from the bench that ``Florida has to comply by the same rules as everybody else and does not get to insist on its own way.''
Nelson and U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, both Democrats, sued the Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, after the DNC ruled that Florida would lose its delegates because the Legislature set the presidential primary before Feb. 5. The party had decided that only Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina could hold primaries before that date.
Hinkle ruled 12 minutes after hearing arguments from attorneys that the Democratic Party has a constitutional right to make the rules and enforce them when it comes to scheduling the presidential-preference primaries.
''There can be a schedule,'' he said, summarizing his conclusions. ``There need not be a free-for-all. The entity that can set the schedule is the national party with broad limits.''
Will it affect Democratic chances in Florida next year? It could, but I'm predicting it won't. Remember I'm from Florida and a registered Democrat.
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
2008 Presidential Race, Democrats, Florida, Primaries, States
Tags: Democrats, Florida Primary, Senator Bill Nelson
Comments (4)
As I've said on a number of... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Jim Addison | December 6, 2007 3:03 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
As I've said on a number of occasions, these threatened "penalties" against states who hold early primaries, from both the DNC and RNC, are a joke.
Once a candidate wins a majority of delegates, he or she will effectively control the party and the convention from then on. The DNC/RNC will be instantly demoted to a support role from that time to the election (and beyond, for the winning side).
Suppose, for the sake of argument, Hillary wins the Democratic nomination. Of course she will order her delegates to seat those from Florida, Michigan, and any other "penalized" state. Given the prospect of a close election, what sane candidate would risk offending even a small segment of voters in any state just to reinforce their National Committee in such a case?
Once the Democrats seat those delegates, the Republicans will, too. Nobody is going to risk losing the election over a turf war.
The only solution to the primary schedule is some sort of national agreement, which I proposed as allowing Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada to remain as the early states - one relatively small state from each region. The rest would rotate: those voting earliest one cycle would move to the end for the next, and so on until the last was first and the rotation begins anew.
1. Posted by Jim Addison | December 6, 2007 3:03 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 6, 2007 03:03
2. Posted by bill-tb | December 6, 2007 9:01 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Count every vote comes to mind ...
2. Posted by bill-tb | December 6, 2007 9:01 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 6, 2007 09:01
3. Posted by DoubleU | December 6, 2007 7:34 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
how about count every valid vote... ONCE.
I say have the primaries one one day across the country.
3. Posted by DoubleU | December 6, 2007 7:34 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 6, 2007 19:34
4. Posted by jeff | January 8, 2008 7:14 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
That is why I am not voting democrat any more.
4. Posted by jeff | January 8, 2008 7:14 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 8, 2008 19:14