Democratic primary confusion

What if Democratic voters turned out for a presidential primary in Florida and their vote didn't count? No, this isn't a Katherine Harris joke.

It's an option state and national Democratic leaders are seriously considering as they grapple with Florida's newly scheduled 2008 presidential primary date, which could upend the national primary process and produce yet another weird Florida election. More here. Note that Bill Nelson doesn't like the idea of making 1/29/08 non-binding.

Some fear turning Florida's primary into a beauty contest will prompt Democratic presidential contenders to blow off Florida: The danger is that every Republican candidate spends time here trying to win Florida, and the Democrats are noticeably absent, " said Chris Hand, a former aide to Sen. Bob Graham, who managed Alex Sink's campaign for chief financial officer last year. "That doesn't play out well in the general election. I wouldn't want to be the Democratic presidential nominee who skipped Florida's primary."

Comments

i love katherine harris jokes. katherine harris is a joke herself.

Full disclosure: I'm a registered independent who was a Democrat. I was considering switching back to vote in the primary.

If the Democrats turn this into a beauty contest they will turn off thousands of Democratic-leaning independents like myself across the state. This would be the death knell for the Democratic Party in Florida for a generation.

So, please Dr. Dean and Congresswoman Thurman, don't play into the GOP's hands here and enforce the party's arcane rules. Let Florida's votes count.

If you don't, Charlie Crist's brand of moderate leadership is looking more and more attractive than ever.

[Loves Jokes]

Isn't every election that occurs in Florida already a joke? It's hilarious that the DNC would penalize the Florida Democratic Party for the actions of the Republican State Legislature.

Dean/Thurmadrunk... '08!

Baxley is still an idiot. Stay tuned...

The Democrats don't want to count votes in Florida? I'm getting a feeling of deja vu all over again.

I wish people would get it through their frickin heads that the "arcane rules" are set by a bunch of folks who aren't going to reward a state jumping ahead of everyone else, thumbing their nose at 2 years of putting together a calender. Dean can't do anything to stop that.

It's David Rivera that is disenfranchising Florida Democrats, not anyone else.

And what about Florida's performance in recent elections does anyone think we deserve to be early in the process?

I’m still shocked that the words “Democrat” and “confusion” are used in the same headline… ;-)

None of this makes much sense to me. I think that the Democratic party would put those rules in place because they have a set "schedule" for the elections but if it is such a big deal why don't Republicans have the same rules?

I congratulate the Legislature in moving up the election because a state as large and diverse as Florida should be leading the way.

Oh and the argument that the Democrates not going to pay attention to this election holds about as much wieght as the Insurance Companies pulling out of Florida.

This nothing new...Democrats are always confused.

so the party that spends all their time railing against Republican policies that disenfranchise voters is going to not count their supporters votes? Do the Republican need any more help increasing their voter roles?

10:30 - well democrat voters rarely pay attention anyway during a campaign - on election day they are picked up on church buses and told who to vote for when they reach the polls.

11:28, aren't republican voters told who to vote for at the sunday school sessions at evangelical churches?

[Gene Smith]

The Dems in the state legislature did not have the ability to stop the Rs from moving up before February 5th.

I think Dr. Dean ought to look a little more closely at his 50 state strategy and get us some more Dems in the legislature. That would be a lot better use of his time than trying to figure out how to make Floridians votes not count.

the rules of the convention are agreed upon and voted on by all the delegates in the previous convention. The rules for the 2008 convention and the rules for the primary dates were actually voted on in 2004 at that convention. At least that is how it works in the Republican Party. All the dates you could move your primary to, as well as, punishment for breaking the rules has been known since then. This isn't new facts just a group of individuals that don't want to follow the rules or don't accept the rules.

“…rules of the convention…”

1) Get drunk and have sex with ugly people
2) Make sure you pay your bar tab
3) Tip your waitress, she’s a illegal and needs it
4) Pretend like you have a clue what it’s all about
5) Wear 70’s clothes
6) Report back to your local DEC that it was very productive
7) Show everyone at you local DEC the photo of you and the Obama cut-out
8) Hide your receipts from 1 & 2 from your wife/husband
9) Tell everyone that Dan Rather "ROCKED!"

"Election by election, state by state, precinct by precinct, door by door, vote by vote...we're going to lift our Party up and take this country back for the people who built it." Governor Howard Dean said this when he launched the 50-state strategy in February 2005.

"We are going to guarantee that every vote is counted. We did not break the back of Jim Crow in order to find it restored in Jim Crow.com."
Sen. John Kerry, Orlando, Florida 12-8-03

i like that...jim crow.com

[IssyWise]

If the Democratic Party doesn't respect voters who go out to polls on primary day, they can't expect voters to respect them when the votes really count. It is a democracy. If the Democratic Party shows itself to be an insiders club, the hell with them!