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Denying Vote Now Part Of Party Policy

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 27, 2008

In the tumultuous days following the 2000 presidential election, Democrats and civil rights activists descended on Florida, accusing the state of disenfranchising voters and failing to count every vote. They accused the Sunshine State of being just one step away from Jim Crow.

So imagine my surprise last summer when the Democratic National Committee announced it won't count the votes of Florida Democrats who go to the polls for Tuesday primary. That's right, the political party that castigated Florida for disenfranchising voters is going to disenfranchise every Democrat, all because the Republican-controlled Legislature decided to move up the state's primary date to Jan. 29.

What hypocrisy.

The decision is not only hypocritical, it's suicidal. In the last eight presidential elections, only two Democrats have won Florida: Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1996. Florida is still a battleground state, but the DNC has chose to disarm its troops.

Where Are They Now?

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state's 4.2 million Democratic voters, but a federal judge sided with the DNC and its chairman, Howard Dean.

But where, I wonder, are all the protesters from 2000?

Jesse Jackson, for instance, showed up days after the 2000 election suggesting that Republicans were practicing Jim Crow tactics to deny the votes of blacks. At a rally in Palm Beach County he said, "In the voting booth, there can be no gap between intent and destination."

So with blacks making up a good percentage of Democratic voters, why hasn't he held a rally in front of the DNC? After all, Katherine Harris and company never got to the point of telling people their votes wouldn't count.

Why hasn't the NAACP filed a lawsuit about so many blacks being disenfranchised? The fact that they haven't makes me believe more and more that the nation's oldest civil rights organization, which had been nonpartisan for most of its 99-year history, has become an extension of the Democratic Party.

While I agree that states shouldn't be allowed to leapfrog each other in a quest for influence, the fundamental right to vote should override party rules, and that makes what the DNC has done a civil rights issue.

GOP Is Biggest Winner

Even if you don't count the issue of voter disenfranchisement, the DNC's decision, coupled with the agreement by Democratic candidates not to campaign here, is self-destructive. In an attempt to punish Florida voters for moving its primary, they will likely hurt themselves in the general election.

Republican candidates have been here for weeks, making speeches and airing ads, while the Democrats have stayed away. Independent voters will be more familiar with the GOP nominee come election time, and Howard Dean and company will have no one to blame but themselves.

If the DNC doesn't bend on its decision to count Florida votes, then Florida television stations should refuse to broadcast the Democratic National Convention. Major networks have reduced prime-time coverage in recent years, and this would be a good reason to cut it even more.

NBC affiliates could broadcast a show that best describes the DNC: "The Biggest Loser."

Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer.

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