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Boycott To Hurt Democrats, Nelson Says

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By WILLIAM MARCH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 28, 2007

LAKE BUENA VISTA - Sen. Bill Nelson told Florida Democrats on Saturday that the national party sanctions and candidate boycott against Florida and the boycott of the state's primary by presidential candidates, if not ended, will hurt the party's chances of winning Florida in the 2008 election.

Nelson's comments were made to 2,000 Democratic activists gathered at Disney World for a state convention to kick off their 2008 campaign. His speech was a strong statement against the sanctions - and against the national party - from the state's senior Democratic elected official.

Nelson cited a recent poll he said shows the boycott will alienate some independent voters.

He even bashed the leaders of his party as 'political party bosses in Washington' and accused them, as he has previously, of violating Floridians' right to vote.

'The average citizen in Florida can no longer see their candidates for president,' Nelson said. 'The party bosses have barred them from campaigning here except for private fundraisers. This is unacceptable.'

But Nelson also said he feels 'very, very optimistic' that the situation will be resolved - possibly by reaching a compromise with party officials, or possibly as a result of a lawsuit he and Rep. Alcee Hastings have filed against the Democratic National Committee.

'I think at the end of the day, we will be united. I think at the end of the day we will have the candidates coming to Florida, within a short period of time,' he said.

A Democratic National Committee spokesman, reached shortly after Nelson's speech, wouldn't respond on Nelson's suggestion for a compromise or the suggestion that Democratic 2008 chances are being harmed.

Giuliani Edges Clinton In Poll

Nelson cited the latest Quinnipiac University poll of Florida, which came out last week.

It showed Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani barely edging Hillary Clinton among Florida voters, 46-43 percent - a margin equal to the poll's margin of error, technically a tie.

That's a reversal of last month's result in the same poll - Clinton 46 percent, Giuliani 43 percent.

In the new survey, 62 percent of all voters, including roughly equal percentages of Republicans, Democrats and no-party voters, said the sanctions were wrong.

Asked whether the sanctions would make them less likely to vote for the Democratic nominee, 22 percent of no-party voters, and 3 percent of Democrats, said it would.

'If not on the merits of the case, this is why Chairman Dean should lift the ban,' Nelson said. 'We simply cannot afford another misguided Republican administration.'

Voters 'Care About Issues'

But many Democrats at the convention seem to agree with former Miami-Dade County party Chairman Joe Geller, now running for state Senate, who called the poll 'bogus.'

'At the end of the day, the election won't be about internal matters in the Democratic nominating process,' he said. 'People will vote for the candidate they think will impact their lives for the better. It won't matter how that candidate got there.'

Many say voters will focus on the nation's problems - problems the Democrats here say are caused by the failures of the Bush administration.

State party Chair Karen Thurman said the poll proves the opposite of what Nelson said. 'Look at the nearly 80 percent of independent voters who said it doesn't matter,' she said. 'They don't care about the controversy - they care about issues.'

In her opening speech to the convention, Thurman derided the GOP candidates, calling them, 'Fred Thompson, the counterfeit Reagan, who wants to drill in our Everglades ... Rudy Giuliani, the fellow who left the mayor's office to set up a lobbying firm that fought for Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, the patsy of the oil cartel,' and Mitt Romney, 'the flip-flopping, hair-greasing, Reagan-loving weasel.'

'Not even in the place where dreams come true will the Republicans carry this state with that cast of characters,' she said.

Mike Gravel, the only presidential candidate to defy the boycott and come to the convention, spoke briefly Friday night and received polite applause but criticized the national party for the sanctions. 'You are getting the short end of the stick,' the former senator from Alaska told bloggers.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink of Tampa urged Democrats not to be discouraged by the absence of their party's stars.

'If they Republicans can figure out a way to keep George Bush from attending their convention, I'm sure they would.'

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

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