The Swamp: Florida Democrats sue DNC over Sunshine primary

Posted October 4, 2007 4:51 PM

by Matthew Hay Brown

Two Florida Democrats are taking chairman Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee to court over the committee’s decision to shut the Sunshine State out of next year’s nominating convention.

It is the latest salvo in the ongoing skirmish between the state and national party committees over the timing of the presidential primaries.

First, the party told states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada not to hold their primaries before Feb. 5. Next, Florida scheduled its vote for Jan. 29. Then, the DNC’s rules committee barred Florida’s 210 delegates from the convention in Denver next summer.

In their lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings claim that the DNC move violates the First, Fifth and 14th amendments as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They told reporters today that it disenfranchises more than 4 million voters.

"I would have hoped that we in Florida wouldn’t still be talking about preserving one’s right to vote 42 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, or seven years after the debacle known as the 2000 election, or less than one year after 18,000 votes somehow went missing and still are missing in Sarasota," Hastings said, referring to the disputed result last fall in the race between Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan and challenger Christine Jennings.

"But if my Florida citizenship of 71 years has taught me anything, it is that the struggle continues," Hastings said. "Sometimes we need to educate immigrants from Miami, and sometimes even medical doctors from Montpelier, Vermont" – referring that time to Dean, the New England internist who chairs the DNC.

As troubling as the disenfranchisement, Nelson said, was that "the average citizen of Florida, as a result of the DNC rules, can no longer see their candidates, can no longer interact with their candidates for president, because the party bosses have barred the candidates from campaigning in Florida except for private fund-raisers.

"This is unacceptable," he said. "Paying for political participation is unacceptable, just as a poll tax was unacceptable."

In a statement, the DNC said that it is the political parties, and not the states, that have the right to determine how they nominate their candidates for president and vice president. The committee said that Florida moved the primary up "knowing full well what the consequences from the national parties would be," and that the DNC "has the absolute legal right to treat the state-run primary as a mere beauty contest."

Comments

The Congressman quoted above, Alcee Hastings, was impeached and convicted by a Democrat-controlled Congress for corruption (taking a $150,000 bribe) and perjury when he was a federal judge. Evidently, bribe-taking and impeachment is no bar to further advancement in the Democratic party. See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcee_Hastings

Posted by: Bruce | October 4, 2007 6:15 PM

Good! I love democRAT party unity....this is proof positive that President Bush won Florida in 2000 fair and square.....the dems in Fla. are idiots!

Paulo

Posted by: Paulo | October 4, 2007 8:49 PM

Hey guys you forgot this info:

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON Oct 3, 2007 (AP)
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Released Oct 3
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/client/act_dsp_pdf.cfm?name=mr071003-2topline.pdf&id=3668

Hillary Clinton 35
Obama 23

A new AP-Ipsos poll shows Clinton ahead of Obama 35-23 -- nowhere near the 33 point advantage shown in the ABC/Post poll. The Obama camp offers up some triumphant sarcasm. "A shockwave was sent through Washington late today as the AP released a poll showing that Obama halved Clinton's lead in national polling in just one day," the Obama camp says in a deadly serious press release (we swear this is as real as the Thompson memo above is fake) obtained exclusively by The Note.

Blacks are split down the middle over Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential race, seeing both as on their side, a new poll says.
In the late September poll, Clinton led Obama among whites by 35 percent to 18 percent, Blacks were essentially evenly divided, 40 percent for Obama and 38 percent for Clinton. Among all Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, Clinton led by 35 percent to 23 percent. All those measurements have been steady for months in the AP-Ipsos poll.
Faced with choosing between two potential White House firsts the first black president or the first female black women split 47 percent for Clinton, 37 percent for Obama. Clinton has led decisively among all women nationally.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3685236

Posted by: Natalie | October 4, 2007 9:06 PM

What does Alcee Hastings record have to do with the fact that registered voters in this state will be denied a Constitution right because a political party is assuming a power not given to them in the Constitution? I've been registered Dem for 20 years. The only one I'll vote for in the primary is Dennis K, who will campaign here despite the commands of Dictator Richard Head Howard Dean and the Deaniac Party.

If you don't have a voice in picking your president, you are stuck with Taxation Without Representation. Ever heard that slogan? It's why we fought a revolution against the King of England. And now we're stuck with King Howard the Screamer. Great.

The Deaniac Party claims it has a 50 state strategy. Let me tell you what that strategy is: let 49 states pick a candidate, and suck money from the 50th to pay for ads in the other 49. And ignore issues important to the 50th state. Who cares, it's not a real place, it's only Disney World.

This state has lost a tremendous number of young men and women in Iraq - and their votes don't count because Howard the King says so. What irony - they are dying to help Iraqis vote,but their vote doesn't count.

And why isn't this happening to Michigan? It also advanced its primary, but its voters haven't been excommunicated by Pope Howling Howard.

Dean is every bit as arrogant as the Neocons who lied us into the Iraq war. This country is being shoved out of its rightful place in history by a pack of self-important 'my way or the highway' types. They are the ones who should hit the highway.

Stop trashing the Constitution and give me my vote back, Massa Dean suh!

Posted by: Dataperson | October 5, 2007 1:24 AM

Way to go Gator Democrats stick it to Dean and Hil and stand up for your voting rights. I'm surprised anyone is surprised by Alcee Hastings. Dems love felons and Hil wants them all to vote that's because she and Bill know so many of them. Jerry White, Springfield, IL

Posted by: Jerry White | October 5, 2007 10:22 AM

So now Bruce has a new alternate personality called "Natalie"? He's even changing gender in his pathetic attempts to smear anything and anyone affiliated with the Democratic party.

Posted by: BC | October 5, 2007 10:47 AM