Will the GOP Be Smart Enough to Capitalize on This?
Written by Sam on September 3rd, 2007
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards angered Florida Democrats on Saturday by pledging to skip campaigning here and in other states that break party rules by holding early primaries.
The three front-running candidates still could raise money in Florida but could limit the size of groups they rally, local officials said.
Further practical implications of the pledge remained an open question, particularly given that a Democratic debate is scheduled next Sunday in Miami and candidates already have events on their schedules.
Mark Bubriski, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, said officials were assessing the pledge and had no comment.
Other Florida Democratic stalwarts said it would hurt fundraising efforts in the state and send the wrong message to grass-roots organizers in this pivotal political battleground. Republicans saw it as a tactical mistake by rival national-party leaders.
My understanding is that they are treating Michigan the same way. Not too bright of Howard Dean here, pissing off his party’s base in two swing states, one of which the GOP has won in the last two Presidential elections.
This also goes to show that when the Democrats were running around after the 2000 and 2004 elections screaming about how every vote should count they were full of it. I guess every vote should only count when it could put Democrats in power. The hypocrisy couldn’t be any clearer, and I hope Democrats in both states see that.
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I think this could come back to bite the Democrats in the rear end. I can imagine the Florida and Michigan Republican Parties having fun with this baby handed to them by the DNC. I guess more importantly, this creates a lot of bad blood between two swing state Democratic parties and the DNC.
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Well, let’s see what my liberal neighbors have to say about this:
“Any candidate that boycotts Florida and thinks that they will raise money here will be sadly disappointed,” said state Senate Democratic leader Steve Geller. “And it is my prediction that any candidate who boycotts Florida and thinks Florida will welcome them later will be sorely disappointed.”
State Sen. Jeremy Ring, a Broward County Democrat who joined the Republican push to move Florida’s primary from March to January, promptly yanked his endorsement of Barack Obama for signing the boycott pledge, saying it ensured Florida issues would not be front and center for Democrats. “What scares me the most is the Republicans are still going to campaign here, and they’re going to have a six-month head start on us,” Ring said. (St. Pete Times)
And Karen Thurman, former Congresswoman and Chair of the Florida Sociali-, er, I mean, Democrats, said:
“I don’t see how anybody who believes he or she should be president of the United States of America could get tricked into signing a pact to ignore tens of millions of diverse Americas by a selfish four-state alliance of party insiders.”
OK, so right now the Dems down here are pissed, and that’s going to temporarily hurt the candidates who turned their back on this state. However, when Election Day comes along, I do question how angry they’ll be after the Dem candidate virtually camps out down here and the voters realize how important their votes actually are. Faced with staying angry at Shrillery or staying home and watching a Republican get elected, I doubt they’ll stay home.
That being said, short of the Republican candidate peeing himself onstage during a debate, I don’t see how Florida doesn’t stay Red in ‘08 regardless of all this.
At the very least, let’s hope this nonsense convinces both parties to agree to a sensible way to pick the most powerful person on Earth when 2012 rolls around.
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Why are political parties controlling this? Shouldn’t elected representatives be in making public votes after public hearings and public input on this decision?
This is one instance where it might be appropriate for the U.S. Congress to give input into an issue that crosses state lines.
Why not have a rotating multi-state primary system that would be fair to all the states? Surely, a numbers cruncher somewhere could come up with a rotating multi-state system that over several cycles would bring all U.S. voters into the Prez primary system.
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Thompson announcing on Leno!? WTF? God help us all.
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well someone in some party needs to stop this primary nonsence! hope the gop does the same thing if another state moves there’s forward
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Thompson on Leno:
Told you he is more of an actor than leader. I hear he’ll be on Jerry Springer next.
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Hi–your so-called “liberal” poster is back after sometime away! Talking about that jerk H. Dean!
Think about it. All he is doing is positioning the DNC against the people of the state–not just Dems. The whole concept of moving the primaries up is to give the state first say in the primaries.
If he stopped acting like a jerk and let it happen, nothing too major will come of it. Unless he hopes that someone can knock Hillary out of the lead, since time is needed for a Dem contender to wedge her out of front runner status.
The Dems are boring and are known to shoot themselves in the foot. I can already predict that Michigan and Florida is going to the Republicans from this boneheaded decision. With that many electorial votes against them, Dean is making the presidential race an uphill battle before they have a nominee.
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What a joke — I’ll be even money with anyone on this website that Senator wins the election, probably with over 300 electoral votes.
In fact, you conservatives always drone on about the efficiency of markets:
http://specials.slate.com/futures/2008/control-of-presidency/
doesn’t look like good news for you guys
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I would not mind placing bets on a Huckabee or Paul ticket. The odds look insurmountable, but hoping for Fred Thompson to make a big splash in the coming weeks may actually show what acting looks like.
Just on conviction, these two guys are the Main horses of the Race. Paul’s anarchist view of government(or is that small government–we “libs” can not really tell!!) versus Huckabee’s expansionist views are really the theoretical discourse on which way the Republican party should go.
Strange at it may sound now, but those other guys are taking up time and space from the Reps debate.