Hardball in Florida

From The Washington Post:

The Democratic National Committee sought to seize control of its unraveling nominating process yesterday, rejecting pleas from state party leaders and cracking down on Florida for scheduling a Jan. 29 presidential primary.

The DNC's rules and bylaws committee, which enforces party rules, voted yesterday morning to strip Florida of all its delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver -- the harshest penalty at its disposal.

The penalty will not take effect for 30 days, and rules committee members urged officials from the nation's fourth-most-populous state to use the time to schedule a later statewide caucus and thus regain its delegates.

By making an object lesson of Florida, Democrats hope to squelch other states' efforts to move their voting earlier, which have created chaos in the primary structure that the national party has established. But the decision to sanction such a pivotal, vote-rich state has risks.

The party punished Delaware in 1996 for similar rules violations. But Florida, a mega-state that has played a pivotal role in the past two presidential elections, is different. The clash leaves the presidential candidates in limbo about how to campaign there.

Asked what Hillary Rodham Clinton's plans are for the state, Harold Ickes, a DNC member and adviser to the New York senator, said, "I don't think anyone's going to answer that question, or cross that bridge, until we see what happens in the next 30 days."

Bill Burton, a spokesman for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), said, "Hopefully, in the next 30 days, Florida and the DNC can reach agreement so Florida's delegates can contribute to the nomination contest."

Personaly I think the primaries should be spread out over several months and scheduled in such a way that the outcome is not known until the final round of voting. That may not always be possible, but at least the candidates would have to pay attention to the entire nation.

Having said that the United States is a federal republic and each state should have the maximum freedom to manage its own affairs so I hope Florida pushes back aggressively. Let the DNC strip them of delegates if it feels it must, but let the Democrat Party in Florida announce that it will sit out the 2008 elections. No help from the state organization to the candidate at the top of the ticket or to the people running for House or Senate. Only candidates running for statewide offices will get help in Florida from the Florida party organization