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Fed. Judge Rules for DNC Over Florida Delegates

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 03:41:29 PM EST
Tags: DNC, convention, 2008 (all tags)
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A federal judge has ruled the DNC can exclude Florida delegates from the convention as a penalty for moving up their primary date.

[U.S. District Court] Judge Robert Hinkle said that political parties have a First Amendment right to set their own rules and enforce them. The national party did that, which means that Florida will not have a say in picking the Democratic nominee.

Florida's set its primary for January 29 even though the rules don't allow them before February 5, so as to maintain the importance of the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. Two other states, Nevada and South Carolina, are also allowed early primaries "to add geographic and racial and ethnic diversity."

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    Fed. Judge Rules for DNC Over Florida Delegates | 10 comments (10 topical)

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    Lost confidence? (none / 0) (#1)
    by TruthHurtzIndeed on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 03:46:51 PM EST
    Not a whole lot of confidence in Florida these days for the DNC? Is it worth it in the long run alienating the state with just the end result in mind?

    An imagination (none / 0) (#3)
    by manys on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 04:48:43 PM EST
    It sure is nice to see a hard line drawn in the sand. Florida played with fire, now they'll be irrelevant. Besides, Florida is only useful for gaming Republicans into office in a close race, and none of the presidential candidates are going to be strong enough to force a win by fractional percentage points.

    Parent
    No, the GOP dominated legislature gave us the (none / 0) (#9)
    by Molly Bloom on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 06:55:12 PM EST
    early primary. Remains to be seen if the GOP follows suit with its Florida delegation.

    Parent
    It does seem (none / 0) (#2)
    by Deconstructionist on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 04:11:34 PM EST
     to be a questionable position by the DNC. Why even risk alienating the party structure in a astate that if I recall correctly has at some point in history been  relatively important to the outcome of a general election.

       Perhaps after establishig the legal point that it can exclude if it wants,  the national committeee will magnanimously refrain from doing so.

    Undoubtedly (none / 0) (#4)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 05:07:32 PM EST
    Of course this was the state Demo party that designed ballots too complex for their Senior base to figure out.

    ;-)

    Parent

    LOL n/t (none / 0) (#5)
    by dutchfox on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 05:14:38 PM EST


    Parent
    Divide the electoral college as follows (none / 0) (#10)
    by Molly Bloom on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 07:00:53 PM EST
    NY And CA to the Democrats. Texas to the GOP.

    The GOP cannot afford to lose Florida.  The Democrats can- if they take Ohio (not that I am advocating ceding Florida) and if the GOP doesn't manage to pull of the electoral vote gambit they are trying to pull in CA.  

    Look for Governor Strickland (OH D) to rank high as a potential VP nominee.

    Parent

    What a Swell Idea (none / 0) (#6)
    by jarober on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 05:29:57 PM EST
    Republicans should thank the Dems, for pushing to alienate a swing state.

    Let Florida Dems pass anti-electoral college (none / 0) (#7)
    by jerry on Wed Dec 05, 2007 at 06:14:07 PM EST
    initiatives....

    Seat Florida Delegates ! (none / 0) (#11)
    by lanesharon on Tue Feb 12, 2008 at 10:51:59 AM EST

    Passage of Florida legislative bill HB 537 has caused 1,684,390 US voters to become disenfranchised. Unless the RNC & DNC policies are changed, this could happen to you some day; regardless of your state or party affiliation. The contents of this website will discuss this bill, what happened; and what you can do to try to reverse this situation and prevent it from recurring. Please help us reinstate the voting rights of Florida Democrats. How you can help:

    Visit the website - --> Seat Florida Delegates

    --> Read the Position Summary Section

    --> Visit the What To Do Page and follow our action suggestions

    Pass this information on to others.

    If you have already signed a petition that combines the Michigan and Florida reinstatement effort, please sign this petition also. There are different arguments for each state and I believe they need to be argued independently.

    Please keep these facts in mind as you read the contents of this website:

    • The Florida Democratic primary election ballot had all democratic candidates listed.
    • Florida Dems have been disenfranchised, through no fault of their own
    • HB537 was written by a Florida Republican to change Florida's primary date.
    • A state legislature has interfered with it's constituents National voting rights.
    • The Florida Democratic Party did NOT change this date, the legislature did.
    • The Florida legislature has an overwhelming Republican majority.
    • The House of Representatives in Florida have 41 Democrats; 71 Republicans.
    • The Senate in Florida have 14 Democrats; 26 Republicans
    • The state of Florida has a Republican Governor.
    • The citizens of the state of Florida did NOT vote on this date change.
    • HB537 was passed in May 2007 & legislatively changed the Florida primary date.
    • This date was, and still is, unalterable by the Florida Democrats.
    Fed. Judge Rules for DNC Over Florida Delegates | 10 comments (10 topical)

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