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Report: Florida Dems To Make Primary Non-Binding
Florida Democrats are expected to announce some time this week that their primary — scheduled by law for January 29, in volation of the national party's rules — will be a non-binding "beauty contest" with delegates selected at a state convention on February 5 or later. The Democratic National Committee had given the state party an ultimatum: Come up with a different plan, or lose all delegates.
If these reports pan out, it would definitely take some of the weight out of that primary, and constitute a huge victory for the DNC in its struggle to maintain control of the calendar. A beauty contest victory in Florida could still be of some use to a candidate — but they probably wouldn't put too much work into it.
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The continued weakening of the Florida primary is bad news for the Clinton campaign, who was going to use Florida as a firewall in case of bad results in IA or NH. This makes Clinton's showing in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina much more important, and makes her vulnerable to small swings of momentum. And this is precisely Clinton's worst nightmare: Being at the mercy of the smallest developments in the early states is the surest way for a frontrunner to derail.
September 16, 2007 10:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Daniel, I would guess that the Clinton campaign would try to capitalize on the 'beauty contest' in some fashion, anyway.
But, at the Harkin event in Iowa today, it did look as if Hillary supporters were rare. If this link works, scroll to the second picture [I believe that is Hillary at the podium] and you will see maybe three Hillary signs in a sea of Obama signs. Also scroll to the fourth picture to see how someone's camera captured an early morning scene.....that, of course, is the basis for Obama's campaign symbol.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CWJd
September 16, 2007 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
The candidates won't put much work into it? Um, Feb 5 is just a week after January 29. I'd be surprised if this "convention" didn't end up having rules that caused its outcome to be the same as the "beauty contest."
I say "surprised," and not "very surprised," because, from this distance, Florida looks like political Bizarroworld. Much weirdness seems to happen there.
September 17, 2007 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
So basically, the state party has stripped it's voters of having a real say in who the Democratic nominee is.
This is a compromise?
September 17, 2007 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink