Line In Sand Has Democrats Hopping

By WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune

Published: Sep 7, 2007

TAMPA Florida Democrats appear to be looking eagerly for a way out of the dilemma over the state's Jan. 29 primary, but no ready solutions appear at hand.

Democratic leaders in South Carolina and Nevada said this week that they aren't interested in a compromise proposed by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson that would involve rearranging primary dates to accommodate the wishes of the four "early states" - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Another alternative being considered by the Florida Democratic Party - a direct-mail primary with ballots sent to all 4.2 million Florida Democrats - would cost $7 million to $8 million, party officials think. They don't know where they would get that money.

On Thursday, Nelson proposed Senate legislation setting up a system of regional primaries with specified dates, to take effect during the 2012 election cycle.

His bill would not affect this year's problem, but in a Senate floor speech, Nelson said the current situation, in which the Democratic National Committee has said Florida's primary in effect won't count, is "Unacceptable. Unacceptable. Unacceptable."

"As to our right to vote, and have that vote count, there can be no debate," he said.

Party officials confirmed Thursday that they canceled a meeting that was to be held today in Tampa to look for a way out, waiting to see what Nelson's next step will be.

State party Chairwoman Karen Thurman, who has been avoiding public comment but burning up phone lines for the past week trying to find a solution, may have had a change of heart on the matter. Previously, top party officials have agreed that choosing delegates according to the Jan. 29 primary vote is the only way to honor the will of Florida Democratic voters.

In an e-mail message to state Democrats on Wednesday, she indicated she was seeking a solution that the Democratic National Committee and the four early states would accept. That could mean an alternative to choosing the state's national convention delegates according to the outcome of the Jan. 29 vote.

Thurman offered no details, but said party officials "hope to be making an announcement in the coming weeks."

Meanwhile, positions of those on the other sides of the argument don't appear to be softening:

•In a Florida newspaper column Wednesday, prominent DNC member Donna Brazile stuck with her tough line in favor of sanctions against Florida.

She said Florida's moving up its primary date "represented a unilateral move that would completely disrupt the system on which everyone had agreed," and that states that make such moves are motivated by an "economic-development plan or a desire to have candidates focus on parochial issues."

•State Senate Democratic leader Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach, responding to the candidates' threat to boycott the Florida primary campaign over the Jan. 29 date, angrily urged Floridians to withdraw their endorsements for the candidates - and maybe their money.

"If the DNC chairman and the Democratic candidates choose to ignore our voters, then we can choose to ignore their campaigns," Geller said. "And where we go, so goes our wallets."

•When Michigan's governor and Legislature last week moved up their primary date to Jan. 15, it added ammunition for those advocating sanctions against states that buck the schedule.

"The problem with making an exception for Florida is that we'd then have to make exceptions for Michigan and other states that would like to be in the [early primary] window as well, which is most of the states," said Jill Derby, chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Nevada, one of the early states.

The conflict arises because the Democratic National Committee's rules set Feb. 5 as the earliest acceptable primary or caucus date, allowing exceptions for the four early states.

Deadline Only Weeks Away

The DNC has given Florida until Sept. 29 to change its delegate selection plan, or the DNC says it will refuse to seat any convention delegates from Florida.

In addition, the four early states have asked all Democratic candidates to avoid campaigning in any state whose primary date is too early, and all the major candidates have agreed to the boycott.

Nelson's idea of moving up the four states' primary vote, he said, could solve the problem by allowing the four early states to retain their "early" status while allowing Florida to stick with its Jan. 29 primary.

He said the four states, which all can legally change their primary dates without legislative action, could move up to precede Florida and Michigan.

Iowa and New Hampshire, under laws in their states requiring them to have the nation's earliest caucus and primary, will do what Nelson is asking regardless of whether the DNC endorses his proposal.

But neither Nevada nor South Carolina appears ready to agree.

"I'm not sure I think a compromise is what we're looking for here," said Derby. Her goal, she said is to "preserve the order the DNC decided on."

Joe Werner, executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party, said the state party wants to preserve its "first in the South" status. But Florida's Jan. 29 date is the same as South Carolina's.

South Carolina Republicans already have moved their primary date up to stay ahead of Florida. Werner said it's possible his Democrats could do the same - basically following Nelson's suggestion - but he's not sure whether they would be willing.

"We could do it hypothetically, but there are a lot of bridges we have to cross to get to that point," Werner said.

Caucuses Proposal Rejected

Florida Democrats have rejected a solution suggested by the DNC that they choose their delegates in a series of caucuses held Feb. 5 or later. Only about 100,000 state Democrats could participate in the caucuses, instead of the millions expected to vote in the primary, they said.

A bigger caucus plan or a direct-mail primary on Feb. 5 or later would give more Florida Democrats a chance to participate, but both would be prohibitively expensive, party officials say.

Nelson's bill provides for six presidential primary dates - one in March, two each in April and May, and one in June. Each date would include primaries in at least one state from each of six different regions of the country, and the order of the states within each region would rotate every four years.

Nelson said that would give fair shares of influence on the nominating process to both large and small states, and to various geographic regions and ethnic groups.

Nelson has at least two allies from his party for his proposal, Senate co-sponsor Carl Levin and Levin's brother, Sander Levin, who has sponsored a similar bill in the House.

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