Florida Democrats Stripped of Convention Delegates Due to Early Primary

Fox News ^

[Sub-Driver]

Florida Democrats Stripped of Convention Delegates Due to Early Primary

Saturday , August 25, 2007

AP

WASHINGTON — Democrats decided Saturday to strip Florida of all its presidential convention delegates unless the state holds its primary later in the 2008 election calendar. The punishment would leave the fourth largest state without a vote for the nominee.

The state party has 30 days to comply by moving its contest back at least seven days from the current Jan. 29 plan or lose its 210 delegates to the nominating convention in Denver next summer.

The state party chairwoman, Karen Thurman, said she would confer with officials about the ultimatum. Elected officials in Florida have said they would consider legal action and a protest at the convention if the national party barred the state's delegates.

[gulfcoast6]

Pigs fly too!

[johnny7]

LOL... last time I heard, The Beast was pulling 36%.

[BfloGuy]

I’m in favor of letting each party decide its own rules, but this is quite a smackdown of Florida Democrats who really went to the mat to try and get Al Gore elected in 2000.

[raybbr]

Which side practices fascism again?

[mware]

The Dems are really cracking the whip.

[LibFreeOrDie]

This whole moving-back-primary-dates thing has gotten ridiculous. At this rate, we’ll be voting next week. It’ll just force candidates to start campaigning even earlier than they do now, which is pretty near continuously, anyway.

[HamiltonJay]

Woo Hoo... 2008 will be 1968 all over again... get to watch the commies eat their own on TV on the nightly news.... gotta love it.

[dawn53]

Am I understanding this right? The Florida Dems actually have no control over when the primary is, do they? It’s set by the legislature in Florida (majority Republican)...so the Democratic Party is going to cause division over something that the Florida Dems can’t control?

[Gay State Conservative]

Good news for Dennis The Menace,I’d say.

[Political Junkie Too]

Repeal the 17th amendment and cripple the national party committees. They won't have this dominating power if the only election for them to coordinate is the one presidential election every four years. Their power comes from the 33 Senatorial elections held every two years.

-PJ

[Amalie]

The more I read this, the more incredulous I am, but not for the reasons you list. Let me get this right - the state votes to host an earlier primary, so the party says your delegates won’t count. OK, fair enough. But do you think the FLA Rats will ditch the party? Hell no - they will complain now that the GOP majority in the legislature ‘stole their vote.’ They will posture as victims, and put pressure on the legislature to revoke the change, adding that the GOP mismanaged it in the first. If the pressure doesn't work, the DEMs will let the delegates back in with some statement on how the evil GOP corrupted even the primary process. This is all about strategy IMO, and it is as insidious as anything they have done. Wait until you start reading the headlines on Monday.

[dusttoyou]

Yeah! don’t it sound like something Rove pulled off????

The John Dean is a real little dictator.

Maybe the FLA Dims will decide to vote R in the General.

[digger48]

Maybe the FLA Dims will decide to vote R in the General.

All those Buchannan supporters are itching to Pull for Paul

[Teacher317]

Imagine that... Democrats trying to deny votes if people don't toe their line... how typical of them.

[ozzymandus]

Sounds like a hillary job to me. Check the parks for “suicides”.

[vetsvette]

I don’t believe this for even one second. The Dummies are pretty dumb, but pissing off every Florida Dummie “ain’t” going to happen.

[Bosco]

I'm Joe Stalin, and I approve of this action!

[Erik Latranyi]

This whole moving-back-primary-dates thing has gotten ridiculous.

I agree. However, it is due to the lack of coordination between the parties and the states. At this rate, voting will take place this year.

Expect to eventually see a rotating schedule of primaries so each state gets to vote first every few election cycles.

[packrat35]

The democrats are stupid if they stick to this. All the Republicans have to do is run ads about how the democrats are “dis-enfranchising” their vote.