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Moving Up Florida Primary Complicates And Intensifies

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By WILLIAM MARCH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 21, 2008

Updated: 01/20/2008 11:55 pm

TAMPA - The Florida Legislature's decision last spring to move the state's presidential primary to Jan. 29 has been wildly successful, in the opinions of almost everybody.

Not quite everybody, though.

"It's been a disaster. It's been utter chaos," said Kirk Wagar, Miami lawyer and top fundraiser in Florida for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

"I don't think the Republicans were smart enough to realize they were doing this, but they achieved a tangential goal of disenfranchising Floridians," Wagar said.

The date change, backed by Gov. Charlie Crist, Republican leaders and some Democrats, has altered the landscape of the election year.

It made Florida probably the most important state in choosing the Republican nominee, and one of the most important on the Democratic side.

That has forced candidates to speak on Florida issues including an insurance catastrophe fund, though they aren't all speaking the way Floridians want.

The date change could even prove to be a springboard to a history-making change in how the nation chooses presidents.

"I couldn't be more pleased," Crist said in an interview recently. "Having that kind of impact on the next president has brought about a tremendous focus on the Sunshine State."

Democrats Bitter

It also has fouled up the Democratic primary in Florida, however, leaving supporters of the Democratic candidates, like Wagar, bitter.

The date - too early for the schedules of both national political parties - caused the Democratic candidates to boycott Florida, and both parties to limit the state's convention delegates, the deciders in the nominating process. The Republican delegation was cut in half, and the Democratic delegation eliminated entirely.

"On balance it didn't work," said former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman, who supports Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. "Everybody I know is just terribly frustrated about the whole thing. They think their voices won't be heard because there won't be delegates."

Acknowledging the state still looks significant in the Clinton-Obama-Edwards race, Freedman added, "Maybe I'd have to give it about a 50-50, because it's proving to be an important primary on both sides."

State House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami, who declared the primary move-up one of his goals before becoming speaker, was the driving force behind the move.

For the past two presidential elections, Florida's presidential primary, formerly held in mid-March, occurred right after the last challengers dropped out, making Florida's vote irrelevant.

Florida could have jumped to Feb. 5, the earliest date allowed for most states by both parties, making Florida one of nearly two dozen states voting that day. The state would have received less attention, but no penalties.

Rubio and others argued that an earlier date would put Florida at center stage. Because candidates need early primary wins to generate momentum, they'd be forced to cater to Florida voters.

"I think it has worked," Rubio said, citing discussion of the catastrophe fund - Florida's top federal priority and one of the main reasons for the primary date change.

Blame The Party, Rubio Says

Rubio acknowledged the early date hasn't forced all the candidates into line on the catastrophe fund.

Among leading Republicans, only Giuliani, who's relying on Florida to rescue his campaign, is solidly committed to it, as are Obama and Clinton.

Rubio said, however, that voters at least will know for sure where the candidates stand.

Crist, who has met with most top GOP candidates, said the primary date gave him leverage on Florida issues.

"Their focus on the cat fund or Everglades restoration is 10 times what it was before," he said.

Asked whether the move had disenfranchised Florida Democrats, who are also his constituents as House Speaker, Rubio said he was "disappointed as a Floridian," but said the GOP-driven date-change wasn't responsible. The national Democratic Party was, he said.

"They went beyond what they had to do" in imposing a penalty on Florida, he said. "It was an outrageous disenfranchisement of an entire state."

Democratic Party rules, he noted, allowed a penalty like the Republican one - eliminating half the delegation, not all of it.

But those same rules also called for a candidate boycott, and the national party didn't demand one. The boycott pledge agreed to by the candidates came from the four early states - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Wagar said there also was pressure for a boycott from officials of the Feb. 5 states, who contended they had obeyed the rules, and that Florida and Michigan, which moved to Jan. 15, shouldn't benefit by breaking them.

The boycotts and penalties Democrats applied to Michigan and Florida have disrupted their race, raising the possibility of an awkward credentials battle at the convention and possibly hurting the Democratic nominee in the November election.

National Reform May Result

That foul-up has led to new calls for reform of the national presidential nominating process, including one by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who backs a proposal for regional primaries.

Currently, there is no federal law on choosing presidential nominees. States set their own primary dates, but political parties decide how to choose their nominees.

The resulting process focuses heavily on states with traditionally early dates, Iowa and New Hampshire. That arouses resentment in larger, more representative states including Florida and Michigan.

"It disenfranchises the rest of the country," said Sen. Jeremy Ring of Fort Lauderdale, a Democrat who supported Florida's date change.

Ring said that even with the boycott, Florida Democrats are no worse off than in past primaries.

"Back then, the nominees were already decided by the time our primary came around, so the candidates would come here to raise money but not to campaign for our votes," he said.

"So what are they doing now? The same thing. We're no worse - if anything, we're better.

"My hope is we've blown up the whole primary system," Ring said. "It would be the biggest legacy we'll get from this legislation."

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

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