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By WILLIAM MARCH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 29, 2007

TAMPA - As the time nears when campaigns should crank up for Florida's Jan. 29 primary, the leading Democratic candidates have all pledged to boycott Florida.

Which means they won't be coming here, right?

Well, sort of. Maybe.

In fact, nobody seems to know what's forbidden and allowed by the pledge the leading Democrats took, at the demand of Democratic parties in the four nationally accepted early-primary states, to boycott Florida's primary - or even who will decide.

Can Bill Clinton campaign in Florida in place of Hillary Clinton?

'No comment,' said spokeswoman Carrie Giddins of the Iowa Democratic Party, one of the four 'early state' parties that demanded candidates sign the pledge.

What about Barack Obama's fundraiser in Tampa on Sunday? Is that 'campaigning'? Can Obama do a press interview while he's here?

And what about the appearance at a breast cancer benefit in St. Petersburg by John Edwards' wife, Elizabeth?

'We're not comfortable making decisions like that,' said Joe Werner, executive director of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, another of the early states.

Neither, apparently, is anyone else.

The boycott pledge originated because the Jan. 29 date picked by the state Legislature for the Florida presidential primary violates the schedules set by the national apparatus of the two major political parties. They say Feb. 5 should be the earliest.

Democrats allowed four states - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - before Feb. 5. Those states asked candidates to respect their status by avoiding Florida until after the primary.

At least twice, the Democratic Party chairmen of the four states have issued statements about what's allowed by the pledge.

They refused to allow an exception for candidates to go to the Florida Democratic State Convention at Disney World in October, but said they can go to an Arab American Institute Conference on Oct. 28 in Michigan.

Michigan is also subject to the pledge because of its Jan. 15 primary, but the conference 'is not a state party event,' Werner said.

Pressed on whether the state parties will act as referee of the pledge, he said, 'I don't know. I think we've made it as clear as we absolutely can.'

Pledge Has Several Versions

It doesn't make things clearer, however, that there have been several versions of the pledge.

The most recent one allows candidates to raise money in Florida, but not campaign.

Florida party spokesman Mark Bubriski said the party believes campaigning by spouses is OK, based on 'conversations we've had with other Democrats and the candidates.' However, he said, 'We're not clear on who is the arbiter of the pledge. I don't know if there's anything that's clear about it.'

At least one thing is clear: Republicans are happily making hay out of the boycott, which suggests the fuss could hurt Democrats' 2008 chances in Florida.

'It will be a tool in our arsenal to hit the Democrats with all the way to November,' said state Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami. 'If I was the Republican nominee, I would constantly remind the voters of what the Democrats did to Florida.'

They've already started.

'First thing, I want to make a pledge to you: I will not boycott Florida,' Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said in a speech to the Pinellas County Republican Party on Sept. 7. 'I'm inviting all my Republican opponents to boycott Florida.'

Arrogance Or Stupidity

On the record, the GOP candidates and the party play down the boycott as a campaign issue.

Giuliani Florida strategist Karen Unger said Giuliani won't make a general election issue of the boycott.

Mitt Romney Florida strategist Sally Bradshaw would not discuss whether Romney would make it an issue, but she called the boycott 'either the height of arrogance or the height of stupidity.'

State GOP chairman Jim Greer said he doesn't want the party to focus on it.

'On its own, it will be a discussion among Democrats without the GOP being at the center of it,' Greer said.

But that didn't stop the state GOP from sending a mailer this week to Florida Democrats urging them to switch parties.

'Has being a Florida Democrat brought you to tears? You're not alone,' said the mailer, which helpfully included a mail-in registration change form. 'Democratic presidential candidates say they won't campaign in Florida. They'll only raise money here.'

The mailer doesn't mention that state Republicans also face sanctions because of the Jan. 29 primary. The sanctions are the loss of half their convention delegation, which means Florida Republicans' voting power is diluted by half.

But Greer denied that's comparable, because Florida would still have more Republican delegates than most states and new delegate selection rules designed to maximize their impact.

The most recent version of the pledge on the Iowa Democrats' Web site allows fundraising but otherwise bans campaigning as defined in national party rules, a broad definition that suggests even press interviews could be covered.

Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee said he didn't know whether it would allow campaigning by spouses or other surrogates, but he denied the boycott would hurt Clinton's Florida chances in 2008.

Florida voters 'are going to pick their next president based on a very clear choice,' based on the candidates' stands on issues including the Iraq war and health care, not on the primary maneuverings, Elleithee said.

Spokesmen for Obama and Edwards didn't return calls for comment.

Because of the fundraising exemption, Obama's Florida fundraiser Kirk Wagar said Obama could continue to have rallies in the state like several he has held, which have $10 to $20 admission prices and therefore are called fundraisers, but still draw large crowds.

'We can keep doing everything we have been doing,' Wagar has said.

Both Giddins and Werner said the voters in their states would be the ultimate arbiters of whether the candidates keep to the pledge.

'We don't have time to spend on each little 'if, and or but,'' Giddins said when asked about what the pledge allows.

'Ultimately, our caucusgoers and the voters in the four early states will monitor what happens and will decide whether the candidates are keeping their pledge.'

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

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