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DNC's Florida Stand Sabotages Party Chances

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

The position taken by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic Parties in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina is harmful to Florida and other states, selfish, probably illegal, and should be reversed. It is causing harm to Democratic efforts to win Florida and the White House.

For many years, Iowa and New Hampshire have been the first states to elect delegates to the political conventions. Florida's primary has historically been held in March, when the presidential candidates were already largely decided. Iowa and New Hampshire would get great attention from the presidential candidates on their important issues, while Florida's important issues, such as a national natural disaster fund, would get little attention.

The Republican speaker of the Florida House made an earlier primary one of his top priorities. As word circulated that Florida was looking at a primary earlier than Feb. 5, the DNC issued threats to the Florida Democratic Party that if the Legislature did this, sanctions would be taken.

In the Senate, a bill dealing with a verifiable paper trail was amended to add an early primary with a date of Jan. 29. When the bill came to the floor for a vote, we tried to accommodate the wishes of the DNC, and I offered an amendment to change the primary date to Feb. 5 to comply with the DNC rules. There are 26 Republican senators and only 14 Democratic senators, and I knew that we could not possibly win this vote.

The amendment was defeated by a voice vote.

This Republican-sponsored bill was passed by a Republican-controlled Senate, a Republican-controlled House, and signed by a Republican governor. Florida Democrats are being punished for our failure to stop something we had no ability to stop.

After the bill's passage, the DNC and the four states announced that the state party would lose all of our votes at the Democratic Convention and that they would take action against any Democratic presidential candidate who campaigned in Florida before Feb. 5, except for fundraisers. The states demanded that all major Democratic candidates sign the pledge that they would not campaign in Florida before Feb. 5, and advised all of the presidential candidates that they would punish any candidate who did not sign the pledge.

Florida's Democratic leaders attempted to negotiate with the DNC. The DNC demanded that the primary not count, be only a 'beauty contest,' and that we elect our delegates later. Even if we did this, the DNC and the four states said that they would still prevent candidates from campaigning in Florida until after Jan 29, 2008.

Florida's Democratic leaders determined that we could not do anything to change the DNC's stand on the Jan. 29 primary. A major Constitutional amendment and many local government elections were on the Jan. 29 ballot, and we are determined to ensure a large turnout. We are certain that our delegates will count at the Democratic Convention next summer.

One week after the Florida primary, approximately 20 states will hold their primaries. Whoever carries the Florida primary will have huge momentum going into the Feb. 5 primaries.

I do not blame the presidential candidates who submitted to the extortion of the four states. They had no choice. I blame the DNC for being foolish, and ignoring the consequences of the decision that it has made. The country cannot endure another four years of Republican mismanagement. These actions hurt the Democratic chances in the most important swing state in the country. The Republicans cannot win the presidency without Florida.

My anger at the DNC is not as great as it once was. During extensive negotiations it became apparent that at least some DNC leaders were willing to reach a face-saving compromise. I believe that we could have done this if not for the selfish self-interest of the four state parties. I believe that these states have made a major legal mistake here and are violating the law.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 establishes special protections for minority voters in certain areas where they were historically oppressed. Florida has five voting rights counties: Hillsborough, Hendry, Hardee, Collier, and Monroe. The four states have conspired together to intimidate the presidential candidates to ignore Florida, such that a minority voter in a federally protected Voting Rights county will have no opportunity to see a Democratic presidential candidate during October, November, December, or January, unless they pay for this privilege. I believe that this is a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act. I expect a federal Judge will agree.
Florida Democrats are being punished for the actions of Florida Republicans and the DNC and especially the four states are taking possibly illegal actions that may ultimately hurt the chances of electing a Democratic president in 2008. Florida's Democratic Leaders have determined that we will not disenfranchise millions of voters, and we are confident that our votes cast on Jan. 29 will count. I call upon the DNC and the four states to reconsider their actions for the good of the entire Democratic Party.

Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City, is the Senate Democratic leader and the longest serving member of the Florida Senate.

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