On Saturday, I was asked by Fox 35 News (Orlando) to comment on the announcement by the leading Democratic Presidential Candidates that they are pulling their campaigns out of Florida, in response to the Democratic National Committee's decision to not count our delegates if our primary remains on January 29, 2008.
Back in the June DemsLink newsletter, I wrote: "Can you believe 2007 is almost half-way over? And, that the Florida Democratic Primary, set for January 29, 2008, is only 7 months away?!?"
Well, with the recent decision by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to punish Florida Democratic voters by refusing to count our delegates because of our primary date, it remains to be seen whether or not our votes will count on January 29 or whether we will even have a primary at all.
The announcement by the leading Democratic Presidential Candidates that they are pulling their campaigns out of Florida as a result of the DNC's decision is unfortunate for not only the voters in Florida but also for all of you who work so hard at building strong grassroots volunteer organizations, whether you are a DEC, club or candidate. This decision will ripple down to impact our local and state races and our ability to build a real party infrastructure statewide.
I am also disappointed that the Florida Democratic Party's response to this has been "no comment", as was reported in Sunday's Orlando Sentinel.
I am very interested in hearing what your thoughts are on this decision by the DNC and the Democratic Presidential candidates and by the lack of a quick, definitive response from the Florida Democratic Party. Please post your comments here so others can read them.
Also, contact the DNC and Florida Democratic Party to let them know that you want your vote to count!
You can watch the video at http://www.demslink.com/videoclip_090107.asp or on YouTube:
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7 comments:
Unfortunately, I must agree with the candidates. Why bother coming to Florida for primary votes which will not be counted because Florida insists on violating policy by "jumping the gun" with an earlier than permitted date. Why can't Florida conform to the rules, the candidates will have an interest in the voters of Florida and the votes of Florida will be counted in the primary, so they will have input into the selection of our Democratic candidates for the 2008 election. I do not understand why there are those who insist on doing the Florida voting a few days before the DNC rules allow, thus forfeiting those votes as a result. It is senseless.
Steven (Altamonte Springs, FL)
I think it is a perfect example of the recent hypocrisy of the Democratic party. For a party that made such a big deal in the 2000 elections about every vote counting to decide that the votes of an entire state will not count because of a legislative decision that the democratic party of that state can't do anything about, I am apalled.
I can't help but wonder if there are puppeteers at the top of the party that want a candidate other than the one they think will be favored in Florida, and this is their way of negating some of the votes that person would receive.
I am really not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I agree with Steven, and on the other hand I am kind of angry that they are boycotting our state. I do realize that it is wrong what the State of Florida is doing. I am wondering if they might decide to conform to the policy and change the date?
Liz (Miami,Florida)
The comment by Harrisintegration above really says it all. The Florida Dem party is about as lame as it gets. Useless might be a better word. Moving the primary date to upstage other primaries is typical of most Dem actions - hollow, meaningless, never addressing REAL issues. Where are any of the changes promised from the 2006 election? Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul are the only real change candidates.
By their actions, the DNC is indicating that they do not value the opinions or the votes of Florida Democrats. Although I have been a lifelong Democrat, active in politics and a financial contributor, I am considering switching to the Republican Party. Maybe they would value my contributions.
Arabella (Winter Springs, FL)
I believe that each state should have the right to select the date of their own primary. The Florida legislature (Democrat and Republican, mostly Republican) selected the date of January 29. The DNC and the RNC should allow the State of Florida and the voters of Florida to have the primary on the date that they select. The Florida Democratic Party should represent their state and their voters by challenging the DNC, especially since the Governor has indicated that he would veto any effort to move the date of the primary as it has been changed to a date that was selected by the legislature. Why is it such an issue to the DNC? Why must they control each state? Especially since they have just been able to unify the Democratic party enought to be an effective opposition to the Republican party, acts such as this will splinter the support of the party and alienate many voters. I have sent inquiries to the DNC for a response as to their stand against Florida and the date of the primary but I have never received any response at all. We all need to contact the DNC and the Florida Democratic Party to make our concerns known, no matter where you stand on this issue.
Goodness, people are reading way too much into this situation. This mess came about at the instigation of the Republican National Committee, which ordered its minions in the Florida legislature to make things tough for the Democrats, which they very neatly did. Now entirely too many Democrats are hopping around shooting themselves in the foot by criticizing each other. They should be buckling up and getting ready to get out the vote on Jan. 29, because the vote will count. And we should defeat the property tax amendment and choose our favorite for the presidency. The vote will count. Delegates will be seated. You read it here first.
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