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Democrats: Fla. Still Relevant

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By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, The Associated Press

Published: October 29, 2007

LAKE BUENA VISTA - Florida may not have any Democratic delegates at the party's national convention next year, but it will have a huge influence in choosing the eventual nominee, political strategists said Sunday at the state party convention.

The Democratic National Committee is stripping Florida of all its delegates because the state is violating party rules by holding a primary before Feb. 5, when more than 20 states hold Democratic caucuses and primaries. But panel members speaking at the Florida Democratic Party convention agreed the attention the candidate gets after winning Florida on Jan. 29 will still be a huge boost.

'If I have the choice between a good headline and a bunch of delegates, I'll take the good headline,' said Craig Smith, a former political adviser to President Clinton who also worked on former Vice President Al Gore's 2000 campaign and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman's presidential run in 2004.

Florida is the nation's fourth-largest state, and the largest of the states expected to be competitive in the general election.

Whoever wins the primary, though, will have to do it without campaigning in Florida after signing a pledge at the urging of DNC-approved early voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. The boycott began after Florida Democrats refused to go along with a delegate selection process after Feb. 5.

It will still be a prize for the victor.

'This is a state where the person coming in second or third in the first four states can come in first and change the whole thing around,' said Robin Rorapaugh, who has worked with several Florida politicians.

Looking ahead to the November 2008 election, panelists agreed the state is winnable.

'Florida is becoming an increasingly Democratic state,' Smith said. 'It used to be Pennsylvania was the battleground. This year it's going to be Florida.'

Democrats need to have a message, campaign on economic issues and counter Republicans' strategy of using fear to win elections, said Jim Kitchens, a Florida-based pollster and strategist.

'What we now have is a party on the Republican side who knows how to do great spin, and who knows nothing about public policy and who cannot do anything they say they stand for,' Kitchens said. 'We on the other hand are a very, very policy orientated party ... and we have not been very successful at communicating.'

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson countered: 'The Democrats have a tough time communicating their liberal policies because Americans don't support the largest tax increase in our nation's history, bloated government bureaucracy, and an arbitrary withdrawal of our troops fighting the war on terror.'

Democrats also have an opportunity to win a greater share of Florida's large Hispanic vote, said Joe Garcia, Miami-Dade County's Democratic Party chairman.

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