Vote Rocks State Democrats

By BILLY HOUSEand WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 26, 2007

WASHINGTON - The national Democratic Party decided Saturday to strip Florida of its delegates to the party's national convention because of the state's primary on Jan. 29, earlier than party rules allow.

The action by the national party's rules committee gives state Democrats 30 days to come up with an alternate plan for picking their delegates that doesn't depend on the vote in the primary, which doesn't seem likely.

If they don't, under Saturday's action, Florida would have no delegates at the National Democratic Convention in Denver next August.

Because the delegates' convention votes are how the will of primary voters is carried out, the effect would be to render the state's Democratic primary moot, with no effect on the overall primary race other than a psychological and publicity boost for the winner.

Questions remain over whether the sanctions will be carried out, or exactly what their effect will be.

Many Democratic Party insiders expect that whoever becomes the presumptive nominee will reverse the sanctions and seat a Florida convention delegation to avoid alienating Democratic voters in the nation's largest swing state.

Meanwhile, the threat to eliminate Florida's delegates also means there won't be any attempt by the national party to prohibit candidates from campaigning in Florida.

Party rules say any candidate who campaigns in a state with a too-early primary is prohibited from getting any convention delegates from that state. But because the ruling attempts to remove all Florida's delegates, the candidates won't lose anything by campaigning here.

Rules committee member Alice Germond of Washington, D.C., said the committee chose to eliminate all of Florida's delegates, not just some, "in order to not be forced to sanction any candidate who chooses to campaign there."

But the net effect is to leave the primary under a cloud, which concerns party activists.

"It will sap some of the energy building among local Democrats to support the national ticket," said Hillsborough County Democratic Party Chairman Mike Suarez. "This doesn't seem like a fair assessment. This was a Republican legislature and a Republican governor who signed [the bill setting the primary date] into law."

Suarez said he's glad to see there will be no restriction on candidates campaigning in Florida, but can't feel certain the state will get its delegates back at the convention.

Democrats hope for a big turnout Jan. 29, because of municipal races and the property tax "super-exemption" referendum on the ballot.

'Only Republicans Will Show Up'

Allan Katz of Tallahassee, the only Floridian on the rules committee, said Saturday's action raises the danger that "only Republicans will show up."

He argued almost alone on the committee against the sanctions, and called it "a terrible situation for Florida and a very bad situation for the Democratic Party."

It also leaves the candidates uncertain.

"The question is, how much time will we spend there, given there are no delegates at stake," said Luis Navarro, spokesman for the Joe Biden campaign. "Ultimately, the way a candidate is nominated is by getting delegates."

Florida Democrats attended the rules committee meeting in Washington on Saturday, arguing that they weren't responsible for the Jan. 29 date.

State Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said the party opposed the bill when it passed in the Legislature last spring, and has since sought to have it reconsidered.

Party Vice Chairman Jon Ausman told the committee, "We're asking you for mercy, not judgment."

The rules committee rejected the argument. Efforts to have the legislature reconsider the primary date were "form over substance," said James Roosevelt, co-chairman of the 30-member committee.

Primary Schedule Worries

Committee members also worried about other states moving up their primary dates, wrecking the schedule set up last year by the DNC. It seeks to give precedence to small states where face-to-race campaigning takes place, and with substantial minority populations.

"I'd hate to see what happens if we show others [states] some wiggle room in the process," said committee member Donna Brazile, a prominent Democratic campaign strategist. She said she cast her vote "to send a signal to the people of Florida … I'm going to send a message to everybody … we're going to follow the rules."

Thurman said she's not sure how the Florida Democratic Party activists will react to the rules committee's decision, but the state party executive committee has firmly rejected making the Jan. 29 primary nonbinding, saying that would amount to disenfranchising Florida voters.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida's senior Democratic elected official, threatened Friday to have his own party investigated for possible voting-rights violations if the party imposed sanctions.

In a written statement Saturday, Nelson said he believes the matter can be resolved if the early states move up their primaries a week.

The Republican Party of Florida is involved in a similar controversy with its national party, which also prohibits primaries before Feb. 5. At stake is a threat to reduce the size of the Florida delegation to the GOP convention by half.

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com. Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@tampatrib.com or (202) 662-7673.