DNC Votes to Strip Florida of its Convention Delegates

The Democratic National Committee has voted to strip the State of Florida of all its convention delegates because the State’s primary is being held on January 29. Party rules state that only New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina can pick delegates earlier than February 5. State law recently moved the primary up, and the Republicans control Florida’s state government.

The DNC has given Florida 30 days to come up with a solution. Something is going to be worked out, but it isn’t going to be pretty. In all likelihood, the state party will go ahead and hold the primary as per the law, but it will hold a caucus of some sort on or after February 5 to comply with the national party’s rules.

This means that candidates will probably avoid campaigning in Florida in the run up to the primary. After all, why bother to win an election for delegates if there aren’t any delegates being awarded? There are other contests that will affect the nominating process. Florida’s will be nothing more than a beauty pageant.

Florida Democrats are complaining that their voters are being disenfranchised by the DNC. They are even talking about suing under voting rights statutes. It is hard to see how they could make that stick. The DNC’s rules aren’t subject to such legislation; it is, after all, a party election not an election to public office.

By the same token, the DNC is bluffing. Someone is going to have the nomination locked up before the delegates meet in Denver. That someone is going to make sure Florida’s delegation is seated. Failure to do so would be tantamount to writing off Florida in the general election, and there are too many electoral votes at stake to let that happen.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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