Democrats Fight Sanctions

By WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 30, 2007

TAMPA - Beleaguered by sanctions because of the state's Jan. 29 primary date, Florida Democrats are casting about for ways to strike back, and revealed a couple of possibilities Saturday.

Their chances for success, however, remain iffy, at best.

First, with Democratic presidential candidates pledging to boycott the Florida primary, state party leaders hinted they will seek a pledge of their own from the candidates - a pledge to seat a full delegation from Florida at the Democratic National Convention, despite sanctions imposed by the national party.

Second, state Sen. Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach vowed to file a lawsuit against the four early primary states that demanded the boycott.

Geller's lawsuit could be the third filed in the case. He said it will allege a "conspiracy to intimidate the presidential candidates" by the Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina Democratic parties that disenfranchises minority voters in Hillsborough County.

The county is one of the jurisdictions covered under the federal Voting Rights Act, so its minority voters are protected against anything that dilutes their voting power. Geller said the boycott pledge does that by preventing county voters from seeing the candidates at campaign events.

State Democratic leaders talked over the presidential primary situation in a statewide conference call with party activists Saturday.

Their problem is that the Jan. 29 primary date set by the Legislature violates the rules of both national parties, which say national convention delegates should not be chosen before Feb. 5. The purpose of the primary is to choose the delegates.

The Democratic National Committee allowed exceptions for the four early states that now are trying to guard their "first in the nation" status.

The DNC has said it will not seat a Florida delegation at the convention. That would mean, in effect, that Floridians' primary votes would not count because they would not affect the contest for convention delegates.

The four early states demanded the boycott pledge against Florida, Michigan and any other state that moves its primary into the pre-Feb. 5 window.

Saturday was the DNC's deadline for the Florida party to produce a revised plan for choosing its convention delegates. The state party has rejected the idea. Chairwoman Karen Thurman sent a letter to the DNC on Saturday reiterating the party's intention to treat the primary as binding.

Only that way, she said, can Florida Democratic voters have "full participation" in choosing the nominee, including early voters and Democrats overseas, such as soldiers.

Put Candidates 'To The Test'

During the conference call, former Hillsborough Democratic chairwoman Janee Murphy said state Democrats should seek "a pledge of our own" - that candidates "will work with us in reinstating all 210 of our delegates."

"Let's start putting them to the test," she said.

State party Executive Director Leonard Joseph responded that he has had "informal conversations" with the candidates, and added, "I think we could take it upon ourselves to start that conversation with them in a more formal process." Through a spokesman, Joseph later "clarified" his remarks, saying, "We are going to discuss among the leadership" whether to seek such a pledge.

A candidate who wins enough delegates before the convention to compete for or sew up the nomination could influence the seating of the delegation.

If the candidates all took the new pledge being discussed, it would ensure that Florida Democrats voting in the Jan. 29 primary would have a voice in picking the nominee. Their votes then would result in delegates casting ballots to choose the nominee at the convention.

The problem, said Geller, is that the candidates almost certainly will refuse.

Early States Have 'Stranglehold'

The four early states "right now have a stranglehold" on the candidates, Geller said. And a loss in the early states could cost them momentum in the primary battle. "To ask a candidate to do anything right now, he won't do it," Geller said. "They'd kill him in Iowa and New Hampshire."

Two Florida Democrats, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Orlando and U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Miramar, have said they will file a lawsuit this week over the primary. Two Florida Democratic Party activists already have filed one.

"The four states have been acting in unison … conspiring together, making up the rules as they have gone along," Geller said during the conference call.

Some experts say any lawsuit has limited chances of success.

"The legal hook is very difficult; a series of Supreme Court cases give the national party authority to choose how to seat its delegates," said Nathaniel Persily, a Columbia University law professor who specializes in election law. "The goal here is to shame the party into adopting more equitable rules."

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com.