DNC takes hard line with Florida
The Democratic National Committee, taking the toughest line possible, voted Saturday to refuse to seat any Florida Democrat at the Democratic presidential convention in 2008 if the state party did not delay the date of its 2008 primary to conform to the party\ufffds nominating calendar.
The vote by the national committee\ufffds Rules and Bylaws Committee laid bare a sharp division between one of the most politically important states in the country and a party that has been struggling to change its nominating calendar to accommodate party leaders, who object to the dominance Iowa and New Hampshire have enjoyed because they are first in the nominating process.
The party voted to allow two states, South Carolina and Nevada, to move their contests to the start of the year to provide regional and ethnic balance, and barred all other states from holding contests before Feb. 5.
The situation is somewhat more complex then it appears at first glance. The state legislature in Florida is Republican, they set the date for the state wide primary. But the Florida Democrats helped them and where quite bold about saying the where not afraid of the DNC. Right up until the DNC decided enforce the DNC rules.
Now the state Democrats are in a tough situation, because the Republicans are sure to try and block them from changing the date or setting a separate Democratic primary. I believe the primary also violates RNC rules, but it is unlikely that the RNC will do anything.
At least the DNC is aware that the primary rules are still broken. I think the only solution that can work will involve rotating the leading states, but there is going to be a fair amount of pain in getting there.
Jay