DNC, Dean respond

The Democratic National Committee thinks Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings are all wet.

In a legal response to the Democratic duo's lawsuit over the decision to strip Florida's delegates to the party's national convention, the DNC contends that the case has no merit and, like the Florida Democrats themselves, it should be tossed out on its rear.

National Democrats punished  their Florida cousins after the state Legislature moved Florida's presidential primary to Jan. 29, a week earlier than allowed under DNC rules. Hastings, of Miramar, and Nelson sued the DNC and Chairman Howard Dean on grounds that making Florida's primary moot was unconstitutional, because it would disenfranchise voters, including many minorities.

In the response, filed Tuesday in federal court in Tallahassee, the DNC says that's ridiculous. Federal judges have long given the national parties leeway to operate as they see fit. And even if the primary is conducted by the state, the party still has the power to decide whether or not to seat the delegates at this summer's national convention in Denver, the DNC claims.

The response also says Florida Democrats shouldn't have gone along so readily when the Legislature moved the primary, and that they erred in rejecting suggestions for getting legal, including choosing delegates through a ballot-by-mail election and holding statewide caucuses.

A spokesman for Nelson said "there are no excuses that justify the DNC ignoring the votes in a lawful election."

Nelson and Hastings are expected to file a motion this week seeking a quick hearing on the case. Meanwhile, most of the Democratic candidates for president are boycotting the state at the behest of the four approved early choosers, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada.

Last week, by the way, that Republican National Committee announced that Florida will be losing half its delegates to the GOP convention for holding the early primary. By contrast, however, the Republican candidates are flocking to the Sunshine State like Canadians in December.

Comments

[Weekend at Bernie's]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/41889
When asked by NEWSWEEK if he has done baptisms for the dead—in which Mormons find the names of dead people of all faiths and baptize them, as an LDS spokesperson says, to "open the door" to the highest heaven—he looked slightly startled and answered, "I have in my life, but I haven't recently." The awareness of how odd this will sound to many Americans is what makes Romney hesitant to elaborate on the Mormon question.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/West/12/10/baptizing.the.dead.ap/

"Also among those baptized posthumously by the church, according to Radkey's research: Ghengis Khan, Joan of Arc, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Buddha"

Thank you Weekend at Bernies -
I haven't committed to any Republican candidate but because you chose to post that same story in every tread, I just went to Mitt's website and donated money.
Newsweek isn't exactly known for their quality of "journalism".

Can you keep the Mormon baptist posts to just the Romney threads? Please? I think the regular readers of The Buzz have read this crap 50 times already. Enough!

2:25 God bless you and your dearly departed, posthumously mormon baptized family members.

See you in the Garden of Eden, Branson, Missouri!!!

We can go out and party with the lost tribe of Israel - the Comanche's, the Sioux, the Seminoles, the Mohawks...

Any Democrat that contributes money to a candidate that won't campaign in our state is a moron.

D-D-Deeeeeeeeeean.

[ALW]

Nice try 3:00 - we'll continue to fund our candidates and our voices will be heard on Jan 29th.

While we are on the subject, shouldn't the feds set A primary date instead of allowing all this jockeying to continue. Just imagine if Florida let every county set their own primary date too - chaos.

3:22

elections are not federal affairs - presidential elections are in essence the sum total of 50 separate elections...the federal givernment has never been nor does it need to be, involved in electoral matters unless only in the case when an individual's civil right to vote is infringed upon.

that being said, if elections are 50 separate affiars, each individual and soverign state has the right to organize and hold elections as they see fit - hence the change to January 29 was entirely within the purview of the state of Florida, and the national parties should recognize the soverign state as such.

3:35 The only problem with your analysis is that the Democratic and Republican Parties are not affiliated with the Federal Government. They can do as they see fit.

SCREW THE ELECTIONS... I APPOINT KATHERINE HARRIS!

[Gene Smith]

Don't appoint Katherine Harris. Instead - Draft katherine Harris:

http://www.draftkatherineharris.com/page/content/draftkh-index/

Some people should just be pointed at and laughed at.

-> Dean. Haaaa Haaaaaa Haaaaaaaaa!

Move it along, people, nothing to see here

The response also says Florida Democrats shouldn't have gone along so readily when the Legislature moved the primary

well well well, i screamed about this. why not a revolution up in tally? thurman said "she" as going to meet with howard. Bill the shill for torture was going to sue? dean is right to laugh. and when you are not looking, nelson is laughing too.

[RJM]

Alcee Hastings shouldn't even be serving in office. What a joke. I'm sure if Howard Dean slips "The Honorable" Mr. Hastings a few thousand dollars, he'd forget all about this whole lawsuit.

Oh, and keep the Romney/religious bigotry stuff out of these threads. There's enough clutter already.

[AlvaIzMyHero]

There are two other lawsuits pending against the DNC that I know about...

Former gay outreach adviser sues DNC
http://www.washblade.com/2007/6-8/news/national/10721.cfm

Sen. Nelson sues his party over Fla. primary
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-10-03-nelson-fla_N.htm

[Issywise]

So, targeting discrete groups of citizens' voting rights is illegal, but if your shotgun spray is wide enough or indescriminate enough, then the law should have no concern? What an argument! What great Americans the leaders of the Democratic National Committee are.

What the Florida Legislature should do is:

1) Pass a law requiring any political party that wants a primary in Florida to commit itself to honoring every Florida vote fully.

2) Pass a law that say Florida will hold its primary on the date that Iowa or New Hampshire or whatever other state schedules the earliest primary of caucus.

Is is a democratic sin that
Americans is some states matter and others do not in the presidential candidate selection process.

This mess has been allowed to fester so long that people in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have come to think of it as their right to matter more than other Americans and they (along with both party's national committees) are prepared to take away other citizens votes to protect their "vested right" to matter most in the process.

Americans are idiots and hypocrites. We don't even treat the most important thing in democracy as important--our political process screws with the sovereign individual citizen's right to vote and to be treated as if "created equal" by God.

It's hard to stand on a soap box and preach up ourselves up as examples for the "nonfree" people of the world when we show ourselves so indifferent to the foundations of our own freedoms.

away from is illegal, but--if your shotgun spray