Florida Republicans Weigh In On Democratic Primary Do-over

A new proposal for seating Florida's Democratic delegates at the party's convention in Denver has emerged, this time from a Republican. The state's Republican governor -- Sen. John McCain's number one Sunshine State buddy Charlie Crist -- said he would "oversee" a mail-in re-vote for Florida's more than five million Democrats.

"He must be kidding," says Ann Zucker, chair of the Council of Presidents of all Democratic clubs in Greater Fort Lauderdale. "Does Gov. Crist think we are stupid? He actually signed the bill causing this problem, and we all know this is merely part of his quest to be on the Republican ticket."

Crist, often mentioned as a potential running mate for McCain, held a press conference over the weekend in which he said that if the Democratic National Committee would pay for a new election, his Elections Division would oversee it "to ensure the integrity of the process." He then reiterated his pledge Sunday on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulus in tandem with DNC leader Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), whose state has a similar early primary punishment.

Gov. Dean however, said it was up to the state to fund a re-do election. Florida legislative leaders from both parties, meanwhile, say "not a penny" of public funds will be used for an election that was "settled last January."

Crist's recommendation would mean only limited expenses to the state if the DNC paid the lion's share, he indicated. He said this would be an alternative but he still preferred seating of the delegation based on the Jan. 29 primary results.

Crist has been campaigning in Florida this past week with McCain.

State Sen. David Aronberg of Palm Beach County echoed the Democratic criticism of the governor's suggestion, saying "no state money" should be used in a re-vote. "The state is already in debt," Aronberg said. "However, there is always the possibility of doing a do-over election if it was paid for by private donors."

The 'private donor" argument is one of many being floated to solve the DNC-Florida feud. Also under consideration, according to comments by Crist and Dean, are a "50-50 split in delegates between the Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. Most observers say this is unlikely, because it would work in favor of Obama's candidacy inasmuch as Clinton won the January primary and is favored in a Florida re-do vote.

"The governor's suggestion is an insult," said activist Michael Gambetta, of Fort Lauderdale, president of the GLBT Florida Democratic caucus, which held its semi-annual meeting this weekend in West Palm Beach. "Whoever handles an election has access to email addresses, voter lists, and would be able to identify how certain segments of the public are responding. This information could be used in the general election by the Republicans."

"Ridiculous," said Broward County Supervisor of Elections Democratic candidate Adriane Reesey, "It is inconceivable that Crist would be overseeing a Democratic vote. We've already had an election in January. And, wouldn't the Republicans like to bankrupt the DNC with additional expenses?"

Florida Democrats are currently scrounging to find a way out of the elections quandary caused when they broke party rules and voted a week ahead of Super Tuesday. The DNC has refused to recognize the results - even though a record 1.7 million Democrats voted in the January primary. Gov. Dean has repeatedly said that in order for Florida to be seated at the Aug. 25-28 convention in Denver, it would have to fund its own re-election and reiterated that stand on the ABC Sunday show.

But party chief Rep. Karen Thurman of Orlando has told the party faithful that there only could be a "re-do" if three conditions are met: 1. The full participation of Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama; 2. A guaranteed commitment of the millions of dollars it will cost to conduct the event; and 3. A detailed election plan that would "enfranchise all Florida Democrats, including our military service members serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere."

Sen. Clinton had won the January primary but indicated she would support a "redo" primary vote. Sen. Obama says he would only support a new caucus.

Actually, Florida's Convention delegation - at this point - would make only a miniscule difference in favor of Clinton if the January results were recognized. Because delegates are elected based on proportional Congressional district votes, Clinton only would be ahead of Obama by a handful of delegates in Florida . Most observers believe a redo of the election would have much the same results, at an unnecessary cost of 4 to 5 million dollars.

If Florida and Michigan were to be seated at the convention, the magic number to name a nominee would be 2,209 delegate votes (without the two states, it is 2,025).

With the proportional selection of delegates based on a percentage basis of each district tally, it will hardly matter, political pundits agree.

Florida Republican leaders publicly also have been cool to Gov. Crist's proposal to oversee a new Democratic vote, but have been quick to enter the fray and keep the controversy in the news. GOP House speaker Marco Rubio (reportedly eyeing the governor's mansion if there is a VP Crist) said that Crist's plan would overburden the state's election departments, already gearing up to run a national general election in November. He said no state funds were available for another election.

Other Republicans sneered at the Democrats, saying Gov. Dean was "obsessed" with the Florida situation, saying the record turnout on Jan 29 should be good enough to seat a Florida delegation. On that point, many Democrats are in agreement.

The entire controversy has become a major item for political posturing. Republican State Rep. David Rivera of Miami said he would offer a bill (the Legislature is now in session) that would ban the Democratic nominee from the Florida ballot in November if the DNC refuses to seat the Sunshine State's 210 delegates. Other GOP members said "no" to such potential legislation, noting "it would make us look as bad as Howard Dean."

But, the controversy has elevated anew with Crist's nationally televised offer, with his Dem opponents labeling his latest TV appearance "an audition" for the vice presidential spot. Many Republicans also reacted by putting themselves in the middle of the Democratic controversy and are sure to use the Democratic infighting as a campaign issue this fall.

Although most Democrats are fuming at the Republicans attempts to enter the delegate controversy, some called for a pause in the battle. Democratic party leader Thurman said that the delegates will be seated in any case. "It is important to remember that the Democratic nominating process does not end until June 10 when other states will be voting, She said there is always the possibility of appealing to the Credentials Committee of the National Convention to seat the Florida delegates as currently allocated.

"We continue to move ahead with preparations for an unprecedented coordinated general election campaign," Thurman said.

Some Florida Democrats urged caution in flatly rejecting a mail-in redo election. Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying it could be like the Academy Awards, if a private accounting firm were hired to oversee a postage-paid-by-mail vote and the State or national party or private donors would come up with the money.

Florida's delegation battle has become the big news. Television newscasts locally and on cable and newspapers give the subject mammoth coverage daily. "Governor Proposes Oversight of a Revote" says page one of the Miami Herald. The Florida Sun-Sentinel, headquartered in Broward, the State's most Democratic county, had major headlines about the delegate controversy on successive days. "A Second Primary is Unlikely... Democrats see many hurdles to makeover vote," was the headline prior to the Crist-Dean television appearance Sunday.

Most Florida political junkies argue that the DNC punishment was too harsh and now neither party wants to bend and show weakness, adding that the controversy is playing into the hands of Republican strategists. The GOP, they say, sees Florida as an electoral battleground in November that can go their way if they keep the controversy alive. Democratic activists mostly agree, saying this is not the time to aggravate the public, recalling that it was only a handful of ballots that cost Al Gore Florida's electoral votes and the loss of the 2000 election.

Comments

[Plowboy]

I have to wonder about this.

First, a mail-in vote is illegal under Florida law. And that is a good law because mail-in voting is an open invitation to fraud.

Second, the Florida Democratic lesislators have opposed any revote. They want to work out an agreement with the DNC for Florida representation. Earlier Clinton opposed a do-over, and Obama opposes a mail-in do-over. So I believe there to be no reason to have one.

Third, with Obama's lead in large pledged delegates there is almost no chance that a re-do will make any difference in the presidential selection. So why waste so much money on a revote?

[Mover]

I'm having a problem with the whole re-vote notion, especially if it's going to cost even one Florida tax dollar to do.

But let's face some facts. It was Howard Dean's temper tantrum that created this Democratic mess. He says, from your post, "it was up to the state to fund a re-do election.". I say let him pay it.

Here are some more facts, everyone in the Democratic Party went along with Dean's decision and the 2 presidential candidates pledged to boycott Florida.

They've made their bed, let them ly in it.

As for Ms. Zucker's, He "(Gov. Crist) actually signed the bill causing this problem", remark, the moving of the primary date is not at fault. Again, it's Howard Dean's fault, along with those who went along with him.

Florida voters voted. All the DNC has to do is reverse Dean's decision and seat them.

And just a little FYI: No state has more voting rights than any other state in this country. Just because New Hampshire's legislature passed a law declaring that they go first, doesn't mean any other state legislature is required to knuckle under to them.

One more thing. The U.S. Constitution provides that the legislatures make all the arrangements for electing the President of the United States. I can find no mention of a political party's duty, right, authorization or edict, to lord it over any electoral process. The top down power exhibited by the DNC aught to be a warning concerning the direction this country is taking.

Just speculating but.... Did Gov. Dean come up with the idea to "punish"Florida and Michigan on his own? Or was he bowing to some lobbyist's bank account?

[goodsnservices]

I don't understand why the DNC doesn't just split the delegation in half and give each candidate half the delegate pledges. That way they balance each other at the convention, but they get to be seated and get to take part in the convention voting and negotiations.

[zorrobozo]

Oversee a mail in vote!

Hear we go again with Florida!

[UltraClassic]

Hillary '08

Why is it that liberal democrats are always getting screwed? They can't vote right on punch cards, they can't use computer screens, they vote for changing primary dates and then blame the republicans.

It seems that with a rather large felon vote now ready to be had in Florida that the Obama camp would be ready to work it into the ground.

Hillary '08

[fixbone]

Quite simply the florida and mi vote is invalid from a number of standpoints - clearly it SHOULD NOT be used as is, unless it is used in a way that does NOT affect the nominating outcome - I think the DNC should say sorry, I feel bad for those dems who got/get screwed by not having their vote count this time BUT if the DNC changes the rules that were clearly established a long time ago in this matter than they have no credibility or authority going forward next time.

[tpagy]

the Date was moved by the state republicans that tied it to a bill that required a paper trail on voting machinces and those won't be available until sometime in july and 15 counties have no machinces they can use for any redo and the hands of Democrats were tied either vote no and be tarred with voting against a paper trail or go along either way Democrats were screwed but no one seems to want to talk about that I wonder why?

[jsinclair]

McCain wants to campaign against Hillary. Could Crist make it any clearer?

[mamamay]

McCain wants Chris on his ticket and the two of them have so many skeletons that they want to scare/share with Hil, that the Rep will pay any sum of money to bring down Hil using their tactics. Hil doen't stand a ghost of a chance winning against the Rep. The Rep approach will be the Clinton's worst nightmare. You know what , Hil cant win against them. On the other hand, Obama will be the Rep worst night mare and Rep really don't wont anything to do with Obama. This is why Obama is the most electible in 08. Man to man, JMcC doesn't stand a chance Obama, and he knows it. Obama is too smart, too intelligent, too wise, posesses too much finesse, ( JMcc doesn't understand this). Obama is a leader, uniter, inspirer, he's an educator, Obama has diplomacy, He is one who is even inspired by the foreigners of all nations.. He is the one who will be able to deliver by assist of reach to and from across the aisle bipartisan assist in efforts to get our policies passed. He is a highly likeable person. Obama will win hands down in all states. Why? Obama is the new guy with somethi to offer to and needed by all people. A new kind of political santa claus..He knows who's been good naughty and nice. The states are waiting and watching for the Obama sleigh. Vote Obama and reap.

[CindyKay]

Attention All Voters I have a Thought I Wanted to Share.

You see the DNC & GOP both have all of this Arranged so that they can CONTROL Who is Nominated therefore PREVENTING The American People ( You & I ) from Taking Back Our Country . Now Don't Get Me Wrong there are Plenty of Other Interested Parties that are involved as well . They Love how everything is set up so that they can Manipulate ( AKA Steal ) the Election.That is just One More Reason We Need to Vote for OBAMA .

OBAMA is New & They have already said they need to TEACH Him the way things are. Yeah , I think We ALL know what that Means .......They want time to Corrupt Him & bring Him into the Fold & they Never Thought that He would come So Far So Fast , it was a wake-Up Call for them & NOW they are scrambling trying to come up with a New Plan . Do Not sit still for this , We need to do something NOW! Obama is Ahead with the Popular Vote and in Delegates , the last time I checked here was the Total

Obama - Popular Vote 13,007,968 - Pledged Delegates 1,335

Super Delegates 199 -Total# 1,534

Clinton - Popular Vote 12,415,286 - Pledged Delegates 1,197

Super Delegates 238 -Total# 1,435

Now You Must Realize that Clinton is Only as Close as She is to Obama because She was GIVEN more Super Delegates than Obama & those are Votes You can receive by Many Devious & Underhanded Methods . If You want to bring Florida and Michigan into play then You must consider this , Hillary was the Only Candidate listed on the Ballot in Mi. & there was a Closed Primary in Florida & in Many Other States as well . Now Everyone knows that the Independents have been supporting Obama. You must also add to the equation that A Large number of Dems stayed home because the Voters knew their Votes Would Not Count & that the Candidates had ALL Agreed to this.Including Hillary. Where the Hell was All Her Concern For the Voters when She Agreed to this Soooo long Ago?? I Guess She Changed Her Mind After She Was FORCED To Contemplate Her Losing The Nomination & Decided That It Would Be In HER Best Interest To Find Some Voter Concern & FAST!.

We All need to Wake-Up and Real Fast. We may have Our Last Chance To Take Back America!

It is Supposed to be By The People For The People , Well Guess What !

WE ARE THOSE PEOPLE!

We May Not Have This Chance Again For A Very Very Long Time! Please , We Must Act Now !

If We Don't We Will Continue With Their Montra Of " f Your For The GOP Then Your In The DNC!

Think About What We Could Do With This Combination !

Obama / Biden or WEbb as VP Depending on the VP choice Webb We could have Joe Biden or Samantha Power as Secretary Of State ( as ErnestineBass Has Suggested to Me )

John Edwards as Attorney General

What Do You All Think???

[Yurdelite]

Facts about Florida from a Florida voter:

-The Florida primary was driven by a property tax amendment that affected many of the property owners in Florida contrary to what the MSM and Charlie Crist would have you believe. Of course they do not report this because then it would take away the premise that the primary was the driving force and weakens their argument.

-The only reason all of the names were on the Florida ballot is because by FLORIDA STATUTE they had to be on the primary ballot if they wanted to be on the presidential ballot. Evidently this is not the case in MI.

-The Republican legislature and Republican Governor approved moving the Republican primary up thus affecting the Democratic primary. The Republican party stripped only 50% of their delegates while the Democrats went postal and stripped ALL in accordance with their By-Laws. This was agreed upon by the DNC Rules Committee of which all candidates had representation. There was not protest from any of the campaigns who agreed to follow the rules and also agreed not to campaign there. The nerve that the Governor has to now insist they be seated is pure nonsense and pandering at its worst when he was the one who allowed this to happen. There was also a provision in the bill that the Democrats had to go along with so in effect the Democrats were trapped. Charlie Crist is a Republican and he will look out for Republican interests above all despite his effort at being so sincere. Beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

-Hillary Clinton has a vested interest in Florida because she has the super delegates such as the Alcee Hastings, Bill Nelson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Corrine Brown, etc. As it stands now, they will not be seated. If Barack Obama had won, can you honestly say Hillary Clinton and her campaign (Terry McAuliffe, Harold Ickes two former high powered members of the DNC elite) would be fighting so hard to get them seated? Terry McAuliffe was in Howard Dean's position and set this whole thing up for Hillary and Bill to waltz into the WH. It was supposed to be over on Super Tuesday.

My 8 year old granddaughter questioned why Hillary Clinton was trying to break the rules. My 14 year old grandson is reporting on this in his class today and is learning valuable lessons about integrity and the Democratic process that has come under assault the past 7 years and now by the party of the same name. He says he is disappointed because rules are rules and if you change them at the end of the game so the other team benefits then what is the point of having rules.

It is evident what Hillary Clinton and her campaign are trying to do to this party. Each day she continues in this race she destroys the credibility of the party in an effort to improve hers. She and Bill have done great damage to their standing in the Democratic Party and with many of the voters in the Party. It is truly a sad time for the Democratic Party.

A house divided cannot stand. This house, the Democratic Party, will go down in flames...

Hillary Clinton and her DNC cronies that are a major part of her campaign need the popular vote totals to win the argument that she has won the "big states" and the popular vote. That is the reason for the do over. Florida and Michigan do not deserve to decide who the nominee is, period. If Hillary Clinton gets the nomination because of this she will not win in November even if Obama should lose his mind and become her VP running mate.

[CindyKay]

I live in Florida too & I Agree , I do not want a Do Over of Any Kind. The Candidates agreed & that should be the End of it. No Delegates, the Only Compromise I would Accept is a 50-50 Split so that it does not interfere with the Current Status. If Fla. & Mi. are being punished in some manner then those Delegates Should Not be allowed to have such an impact .

[CindyKay]

Correction : " If Your For The GOP Then Your In The DNC ! "

[TXRed]

With a mail-in campaign, of ballots originally mailed to registered voters, how in the world can they prevent fraud? how can they be sure the voters voted only once (no duplicated forms), that all registered voters received a ballot, that no dead, moved, or otherwise ineligible voters vote, etc. And who gets mailed a ballot -- do they register their party affiliation? in this election, many cross-over voters have been assumed to have voted for whatever reason: Republicans to elect the more beatable Democrat, Independents who wish for some reason to vote for a party candidate, etc. I say NO to mail in ballots; the DNC has ruled that Florida violated party rules, so Florida must accept the punishment that was meted out.

[go4thegold]

If Crist signed the bill moving the date then he is responsible for all of this... He knew so now its time for the people of Florida to take it out on the responsible party.. Maybe Crist should resign. D.

[sandiegoconservative]

Genius- The Democratic party was the party that drafted the original bill. He just signed it.

[adamsmith]

It was a bill put out by a democrat senator, approved by a democrat led legistlature. Get your facts straight. Stop being such a progressive liberal...­..........­.

[tpagy]

you must be either a republican or not to bright the the Fla house is led by Republicans as well as the state senate and the Govenors office not Democrats.

[rh654]

Dang - these Republicans are really good at this game aren't they?

They pass a bill that disenfranchises Democrats (and Republicans) but they know that the way the Republican Primary is run (Winner Takes All in each State) that this issue wouldn't really matter to the Republicans - but given the way the Democrats run the Primaries - well dang - if they weren't able to create a huge mess for the Democrats - and then when it becomes a mess - the same Republicans come back and say "Well of course there should be a re-vote - but we aren't going to pay for it".

Simply a Masterful bit of Politics.

[connorin]

the republicans counted their FL delegates, so how are republican voters disenfranchised???

[JulieSA]

All the Democrats in the FA legislature voted for this, too.

[sandiegoconservative]

Again, see above. It was deafted by Democrats in the first place.

[connorin]

You guys are right! The democrats of FL asked for and early primary and held it even though the national committee said it won't count...now the nomination is a mess and everyone wants FL votes...let the taxpayers of FL pay for it again...it was all their fault anyway, right?

[EinChicago]

"let the taxpayers of FL pay for it again...it was all their fault anyway, right? "

And how do propose to justify that to the registered republican or independent taxpayers of FLorida?

[rh654]

That's an easy one. The Republican's are in control of the Florida State Legislature - and the Governor's office.

They are the ones that pushed election forward - knowing full well that they were dis-enfranchising Florida voters.

The GOP in Florida made the mess - let them come up with a way to pay for cleaning it up.

THEN - the voters of Florida can remember this debacle the next time there are statewide elections in Florida.

[PeopleFirst]

My FL vote didn't matter to her when she signed the Agreement so why does it matter now? Oh that's because she's losing. Why didn't she fight this hard from the beginning and NOT sign the Agreement????? The Democratic Party cannot guarantee that if it's a mail in that EVERY SINGLE VOTE will be accurate, received, received in a timely manner, be the actual person that is the registered voter, so on and so on! She is not keeping her word. She's breaking an agreement and the Party is just going along with it. She's dictating to us just how things are going to be run just like Bush does. If it was in Obama's favor would she fight so hard for the revote? WAKE UP! And stand up to her. Why is everyone including the media so scared to put her in her place???

[CindyKay]

EXACTLY!

[SuppersReady]

It is a fact that Democrats did vote even though they knew it didn't count....the other very important fact is that many stayed home. Republicans outnumbered Democrats voting in the Florida primary. All the other primaries had Democrats out voting Republican­s.........­What he and the Clintons really want is to seat the votes as they stand........go away Gov. .....

[jaschrod]

Crist is just another reason to vote Democratic.