Florida ditches new primary plan

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Florida ditches new primary plan

Florida Democrats have decided not to re-stage their presidential primary. They had planned to re-run the ballot using mainly postal voting in an effort to resolve a row over whether the January vote in the state counts.

Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the January vote by a large margin.

But it did not count because Florida Democrats earlier lost the right to send delegates to the crucial summer nominating convention.

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) stripped Florida of its delegates because the state party held its primary early without permission.

Obama opposition

Party leaders had said they were concerned about proposals for a re-run.

Mr Obama voiced concerns about whether a postal ballot would be fair

With Hillary Clinton and her Democratic Party rival, Barack Obama, locked in a tight race, Florida was seen as of key importance in deciding which candidate should be the party's presidential candidate.

Supporters of Mr Obama had opposed re-staging the primary.

Mr Obama expressed concern over whether a Florida postal vote could be held with fairness and accuracy if it was organised at such short notice. But had said his campaign would "abide by whatever the DNC decides".

Mrs Clinton had called for the primary to be run again or the January results honoured.

The DNC had said it would not support the plan unless both Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton backed it.

The proposed new primary would have been a combination of postal and walk-in votes.

Resolution

At the moment the votes of the 1.75 million Democrats who took part in the first primary will not count.

Karen Thurman, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, had urged state leaders and the presidential candidates to come on board.

Under the plan, all of Florida's 4.1 million registered Democrats would have been sent a ballot in the post and would have the choice of posting it back or casting it in person at a polling station.

The Illinois senator currently leads the fight for delegates with 1,602 to Mrs Clinton's 1,497, according to the Associated Press.

The successful candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.

The Democratic Party was keen to find a resolution that avoids damaging in-fighting, with an eye to the general election contest in November against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7301958.stm

[dalegg 143]

On this whole recounting Florida and Michigan nonsense- it would be an immense waste of time anyhow. If they recount those two states then the required delegate count would go up from 2,025 to 2,162. Obviously they would let Obama get a fair chance at the delegates, and they'd probably end up pretty close to split in those two states so neither would get 2162 either.

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Live in FL, not a Democrat (or anything else for that matter), but I still think this is unfair (not allowing the 4th largest state in the U.S. to have a voice at the convention)...

But we were stupid...break the rules, pay the price...

But it worked out for Obama, didn't it?

[Dan J 277]

But we were stupid...break the rules, pay the price...

For some, taking responsibility for ones actions, is a foreign concept.

[MandR 0]

Typical Florida............... I am so sick and tired of voting here and in the end my vote doesn't count.

I get the feeling that a day doesn't go by that somehow Florida ends up in the news for some reason or another.

How I love this State....... only during the winter months

Edited March 19, 2008 by MandR

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Typical Florida............... I am so sick and tired of voting here and in the end my vote doesn't count.

I get the feeling that a day doesn't go by that somehow Florida ends up in the news for some reason or another.

How I love this State....... only during the winter months

I'm a native Floridian (I know, quite rare we are), and I find it amusing that the majority of Floridians are from somewhere else, but we still are the butt of jokes everywhere...especially politics!!!

I will vote regardless...I teach American Govt. and History, and I want to set a good example for my students...

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

But we were stupid...break the rules, pay the price...

For some, taking responsibility for ones actions, is a foreign concept.

the voters takes responsiblity for the actions of their party leaders?

The Republicans handled the "punishment" of FL and MI a lot better IMO

[Dan J 277]

But we were stupid...break the rules, pay the price...

For some, taking responsibility for ones actions, is a foreign concept.

the voters takes responsiblity for the actions of their party leaders?

The Republicans handled the "punishment" of FL and MI a lot better IMO

The state leaders should take responsiblity for thier actions.

They knew the consequences. They still went ahead with moving up the primary. Now some of the same leaders are turning around and complaining that thier votes are not being counted. In other words, they don't want to own up to what they did.

If the nomination was already decided, I don't think that many people would even care.

The situation really stinks though. I don't think it can be resolved in a way that would be considered fair all around.