Bill Nelson is glad he sued the DNC...Karen Thurman, chairman, has no regrets at all.

All is happy among the Florida Democratic leadership. They are fine with how it all happened. The only ones who are confused are the people of the Democratic Party in Florida...some of whom are fearful that Democrats can not even vote here.

They wanted Florida to be more relevant during the early primaries. They said we are such a big state, and New Hampshire and Iowa are so very little.....that we should have a bigger role. Fine and good, but do it the right way, not disrupting the primaries.

In effect, the bottom line, the Florida Democrats traded the voters' right to choose for the chance to be a media darling and influence the election by their vote as a big state....instead of by the selection of delegates. Media one, Democrats in Florida zero.



The Florida legislature, the Democratic congresspeople from Florida, and the state party gave up the people's right to make a choice in the primary with their vote....and went for gaining more importance as a very large state which will get lots of media coverage for being so big.

Bill Nelson is fine with what he did.



He took away our choice to get the momentum he wanted. He forced the DNC to use valuable time and money on one of the many lawsuits against Deam's DNC. (As an aside...why are there so many lawsuits??)

And the party chairwoman, Karen Thurman? She's ok, too.



Florida's Early Primary Draws Candidates, Political Fights

And has the media told the truth on this yet. No, they have not.



Media still spinning this. The Democratic party and the Democratic lawmakers here were totally on board with this issue. The vote was 115 to 1. And they worked with Marco Rubio, Jeb's right hand man, as early as March 2006.



And Palm Beach County is admittedly feeling a pinch. They predict lowered voter turnout.

Palm Beach County expects lower turnout



My absentee ballot is on the way. I don't know yet how I will vote. It will either Obama or Edwards for sure.

There is a vital tax amendment on the ballot as well. I was hoping the Democratic state party would send out information on the issue. It appears to be good on the surface...you know...lowered taxes. But it really not that good at all. It would be a great rallying point to get voters out.

John and Elizabeth are NOT quitting on us and WE CANNOT quit on them! :thumbsup: Johnny :kick:

We have been for Edwards a while, but had decided not to vote. Then we thought we should. It is hard because I feel like it won't count, but then the vote will count for the electoral votes.

We got ours in Pasco over a month ago. Only 2 things on the ballot.

I voted (1)Edwards, and (2) NO!.

Somehow I got off the list. The last I saw there were 3 items listed, and I am not sure what the other one was. May have been just a county thing? Not sure.

I have been meaning to ask and forget to.

:hi:

Slow, due to everyone's resolutions to lose weight for the new year, but that should clear up in another week or so. But week-ends make up for it.

We were doing 16 hour days for the first month, but we've got a handle on pretty much everything now, and have cut back to about 6 hours a day apiece, in shifts. It seems to be working.

I haven't been around here much lately, but that will change soon.

I forwarded your posts on the CSX debacle to Suzan Franks, and told her to use them against her opponent in the S-3 race. She's gonna run with it.

Thanks for asking.

:hi:

It is going to ruin several areas of Polk County with no say into the development.

Wish her luck for me.

It is like he has no clue that he is one of the ones responsible for the people not having a choice here. He still thinks Florida will ride in on a white horse and save the day because we are so big, and because as he said recently...world wide media will notice us.

He was expected to endorse Hillary. Many people believe she is why this whole primary deal went down, why the Democrats went along so readily. I am not sure, but it was her state chairs who have been so activist and pushing on it.

But this statement by Nelson shows his only loyalty will be to whichever candidate he expects to win.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/01/nelson-florida.html



Florida is going to be the "table-setter"? The DNC was trying to "minimize" Florida? He has no clue at all of the way they have hurt our state.

I think they, DLC and allies, were doing another end run on Dean. Following attacks, by Schumer, Emmanuel, Ford and Cueball. There's been talk of a brokered convention and I don't think the DLC wanted Howard in charge if there is one so they tried to upend him. Too bad for them he is so smart about what he does. Am disappointed with Wasserman Schmidt on this.

and who knows about the rest of them.

Super delegates (party insiders) control 40% of the votes needed for the nomination. They are committed to no candidate.

This might get ugly.

I've read that that when expecting a NH loss, the Clintons were putting together a plan to pressure those super delegates. A concept, btw, that I object to. Why should they have such sway, let voters decide.

”Some big name Democrats want to oust DNC Chairman Howard Dean, arguing that his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races cost the Democrats several pickup opportunities.

The candidate being floated to replace Dean? Harold Ford.

Says James Carville, one of the anti-Deaniacs, "Suppose Harold Ford became chairman of the DNC? How much more money do you think we could raise? Just think of the difference it could make in one day. Now probably Harold Ford wants to stay in Tennessee. I just appointed myself his campaign manager." Cont…

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/11/10/134326/75

“So Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel (Bill Clinton’s former White House adviser), and James Carville think that Howard Dean ought to be replaced. The comments circulating around the blogs regarding the “chuck Dean on his keister” proposal agree pretty consistently that the idea is a stupid one, and if you mean stupid for the Democratic Party, I agree. But if you mean that the proposal is stupid from the point of view of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel and James Carville, you haven’t thought it through.

What the Clintons, Rahm Emanuel and James Carville are so upset about isn’t that Democrats lost, because overall Democrats won and won big. No, what they’re upset about is that some of their pet candidates, hand-picked by them and fed loads of cash by them — such as Tammy Duckworth — lost. Instead, Democrats candidates to whom the Clinton-Emanuel-Carville insider machine didn’t give much cash were the Democrats who won. The Clintons, Rahm Emanuel and James Carville are upset because so many of the Democrats who won this past Tuesday aren’t beholden to their machine, and so can’t be controlled by them. Replacing Howard Dean with one of their stooges is not just smart for them but imperative if they want to maintain their grip on the Democratic Party.

In short, this is not a struggle about the best interests of the Democratic Party. This is a power struggle between the ever-more powerful Dean machine and the fast-fading Clinton machine.: cont…
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2006/11/11/machine-democrats-maneuver-to-oust-howard-dean/

“Rep. Harold Ford Jr.: "(Laughing) I won't have him down so many times in Tennessee on the campaign trail with me. He has made some comments as of late that really speak to a lack of understanding I think, of the country, a lack of understanding of faith and values. I'm a Democrat and I'm a God fearing one. I grew up in church. Christianity is not reserved for white males. I think perhaps Governor Dean sometimes gets a little excited at the mouth, and says things that are simply not true. It may reach a point where if he can't find a way to kind of control some of his comments, and temper his comments, it may get to the point where the party may need to look elsewhere for leadership, because he does not speak for me, and I know he does not speak for a majority of Democrats and I dare say Republicans in my home state. I know that other, even Senator Biden and others, have made some stronger comments about him. I look forward to having a chance to sit with him here in the next day or so. I think he's going to be here in Capitol Hill a little later today to meet with us. I want to ask him directly. Can he contain himself in a lot of ways, and what is his thought process in a lot of these issues because it is not representative of where the party is."

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2005/06/harold_ford_mis.html

“Only weeks after the Democratic National Committee chose Howard Dean as its chairman last year, the nasty whispers began to circulate around Washington and among longtime party donors and activists in cities from New York to Los Angeles. "He's going to be a disaster," they muttered. "He can't raise any money. He doesn't know what he's doing. And what does he mean by this crazy 50-state strategy?"

Those early days must have been painful for the former Vermont governor -- still smarting back then from his presidential primary defeat and that endlessly looped "scream" video -- and he endured a barrage of snarks and snipes from the Democratic congressional leadership as well. Unfortunately for Dean, he doesn't play the Washington press corps nearly as well as do rivals like Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., who ran the House Democrats' campaign”committee, or Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who performed the same role in the Senate.:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/11/10/dean_dems/


A good article by Lynn Sweet on the matter

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2006/11/sweet_blog_extra_carville_want.html

“The Democratic National Committee has allotted states a total of 796 superdelegates to the party's national convention this summer. Those delegates, mainly members of Congress, other elected officials and DNC members, are free to support any candidate at the convention, regardless of the outcomes of the primaries and caucuses.

Most superdelegates contacted by the AP before the Iowa caucuses were undecided. However, among those who have endorsed a candidate, Clinton leads with 160, compared to 59 for Obama and 32 for former Sen. John Edwards.

Those numbers could change dramatically if Obama continues to win at the ballot box, which could lead to more endorsements by superdelegates.

An AP analysis of the Iowa caucus results showed Obama winning 16 delegates, followed by Clinton with 15 and Edwards with 14. In the overall race for delegates, Clinton leads with 175, followed by Obama with 75 and Edwards with 46.

A total of 2,025 delegates is needed to secure the Democratic nomination.”

http://www.clintontracker.com/hillary_clinton_campaign/index.html

“The Clinton campaign also hopes to build another firewall among superdelegates -- the party officials who have automatic status and a vote at the national convention next summer. But some of them are resisting pleas for endorsements. They say Clinton must win this with the voters, not with the party establishment.” Cont…

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/07/post_265.html?hpid=topnews

“Superdelegates might be the thing to sink the Obama campaign.

The respective primaries and caucuses which choose pledged delegates are all obviously important and are key to the nomination, but we have consider the possibility even with more early Obama wins, under any circumstance, Clinton will fight on even after Super Tuesday if she needs to. And believe me she has the money and ego to do so. So imagine if you will that she yields her organization and national prominence to take huge bites out of the states that Obama should otherwise be sweeping. You can have a situation where the nomination goes all the way to the convention and the Superdelegates will choose the winner. At the moment Clinton has twice the number of Superdelegates Obama has.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/6/3290/71429

The Florida party did a good job of hurting Howard Dean in Florida. If he ever decided to run again, he could not count on Florida because of his own party.

I am so angry. Most of here know why it was done, and we seldom say so because it is so "divisive." Well, after reading this article why should I worry about "divisive". It was done for Hillary, by her people. It was done to make her inevitable by January.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-maxwell1008jan10,0,4531374.column?coll=orl_news_local_state_util

"Refusing to count votes? Forget Iraq. Maybe we need to send troops into Democratic headquarters to restore the type of government we're so busy convincing the rest of the world we operate.

Simpler, though, would be for the party hacks to say: OK, we've had our fun, puffed up our chests and asserted our authority. Now it's time to get real.

And if that won't happen, then it's time for these presidential contenders who claim they're tough enough to stare down Osama Bin Laden to do something as simple as stand up to Howard Dean and other party insiders.

The background to this story is that Florida wanted its primary to count more. So legislators, led by Republicans, moved up the date.

This ticked off the traditional early-voting states. So those early states conspired with Dean to stop candidates from visiting Florida and to strip Florida of its delegates at the convention. And the candidates, worried about upsetting the early states, kowtowed".

And that's the nice part of one of the "nicer" articles about him.

Shame on Nelson, Hasting, Wasserman Schultz, and Thurman.

I'm very upset with him, he really needs replaced by a real Dem (I cannot believe I'm saying that, as I like him), it's just time for him to go, and Dean is a great guy, he would have made a GREAT president compared to el dolte that we have in there now...

I appreciate the updates.

I hope you encourage others to vote as I will.

I am voting for John Edwards - I see him matching up in FLORIDA and OHIO better than any of the other 2 we have to offer, against the GOP candidates, and I think we'd be a wise group to push for John who will certainly push for us.

got their collective noses out of joint during IA and NH, and they have been insulting Dean all over again. It's a real shame that people don't know the story.

and honestly, if a candidate came to FL and spent a million on GOTV operations and put the word out through mass emails every day reminding their subscribers to tell others to vote at the end of the month, that candidate could win this state's primary.

Instead of absentee in a meaningless primary.

The ongoing joke of the FL Democratic Party continues...

It just never changes.

in their place. Guess Dr. Dean really is buddies with those guys with the flags in the back of their trucks like he said.

I just did a search on florida primary and related terms like nelson and thurman.

Ugly letters to the editors, news blogs pounding the DNC and Dean and not laying a hand on Thurman or Nelson.

Why is that? Because no one in Florida has even tried to tell the truth. Not the party, not the legislators, not the bloggers. They are content to let Dean and the DNC be the fall guys.

That is a lousy way to try to win. Trying to win by being a big shot.