by Tamara Lytle
Democratic party chief Howard Dean this morning stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Florida's Democratic congressional delegation and said Florida will have a delegation at this summer's presidential nominating convention.
"We are committed to do everything in our power to seat the Florida delegation," Dean said on the steps of the Democratic National Committee, where he met with Florida's nine House Democrats, Sen. Bill Nelson and state party chairwoman Karen Thurman. It was a marked change of tone for Dean, who has repeatedly said Florida would not have a delegation based on its Jan. 29 vote because it broke the rules in having that primary too early.
The details of how to seat the Florida delegation still must be worked out with the campaigns of Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. but, he said, "we are confident enough we have reserved hotel rooms," for Florida. Previously, the DNC had said there were no coveted hotel rooms in Denver reserved for Florida.
"You would not believe the importance of having a hotel," said Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville. Florida Democrats now can move ahead with planning to attend the August convention. Although logistics of a deal have not been worked out, she said she was pleased that Dean committed to do everything he can to resolve the thorny problem.
Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, agreed. "This is a breakthrough to have the chairman say he's going to do everything he can."
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Comments
The whole story here is the method of apportionment. If the delegate count is evenly split between the potential candidates, the DNC has created a meaningless nullity. The only way this latest decision by the DNC (Howard Dean) can have any validity whatsoever is if it reflects the current change in public perception of the candidates to reflect the information about each which is now known by the electorate. This information had barely registered at the time the original Florida primary vote was cast. I am referring specifically to the pervasive anger of the senator's wife and his own longstanding personal relationship with the Reverend Wright and his racist, hate-filled, anti-American rantings over the past twenty years of their close relationship. Perhaps Florida can save the country's electoral system as a measure of payback for the damage it did during the election of 2000.
Posted by: Shelly W. | April 2, 2008 1:06 PM
I don't see any way they can seat the delegation but by the already held primary. Seating delegates based on public opinion polls is downright unamerican. Without an election to pick new delegates they'll have to go on the results of the previous election. Huge win for Hillary.
Posted by: Jeff | April 2, 2008 1:32 PM
The delegates should be allocated based on the actual result of the official Florida primary election. You know, the one with the record turnout and all the candidates' names on the ballot, that official primary election. To seat delegates based on anything else, such as some formula that takes into account national results, or arbitrarily "splitting them 50/50" would be even worse than not seating the delegates at all. Why? Because not seating our delegates would be "merely" not representing the millions of Florida Democratic voters who turned out to vote. Seating the delegates based on anything other than the pure results of the Florida primary would be to actually MIS-represent the millions of Democratic voters in Florida!!!
Posted by: Edna | April 2, 2008 3:07 PM
Hmm. If I was in the Obama camp right now, I’d smell a rat. There is no way to seat Florida delegates in a manner that is both fair or significant. If they are seated on the basis of the primary vote, then Obama got sandbagged by the DNC, and that would not be fair.
Posted by: John W. | April 2, 2008 6:34 PM
They cannot be seated.
Both candidates understood that due to Michigan and Florida legislature decisions that the vote would not count. Both candidates agreed prior to the election on this rule. To change the rules now is wrong. Both States are still important and play a key role in November. Hillary is being a bit untrue with her current stand.
Posted by: Steve | April 2, 2008 8:43 PM
Florida voters came out in huge numbers for Hillary. They could have voted for Obama, but they didn't. The results should stand. The voters made their choice. If Florida were to revote, Hillary would still win and Obama knows it.
Posted by: goldenstate | April 3, 2008 2:19 AM
as a floridian, i wish everyone could understand that it was our republican controlled legislature that created this mess. i believe intentionally. we voted, so let the vote stand as is, simply seat the delegates, and move on!
Posted by: wayne atkinson | April 4, 2008 7:57 PM