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Obama Takes On Florida Boycott

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By WILLIAM MARCH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 13, 2008

TAMPA - Moving into his new role as the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama will seek to mend fences with his first visit in months to Florida, including a Tampa campaign event, next week.

Obama plans to begin a three-day tour of Florida by visiting Tampa on May 21 - the first campaign day after the Kentucky and Oregon primaries, which his campaign believes will, in effect, seal the nomination.

It's significant that he plans to spend that day in Florida, particularly in the Tampa Bay area, Florida's biggest media market.

"It's consistent with what he's been doing the last couple of days, which is pivoting to the general election," said veteran Democratic political consultant Derek Newton of Miami, who has been neutral in the race between Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Newton and others said it indicates Obama wants to soothe resentment by Florida voters over their primary disenfranchisement, and to vigorously contest the race for Florida against John McCain.

This week, Obama will visit Michigan, the other state boycotted by the Democratic contenders and penalized by the national party over a too-early primary.

Obama's Florida trip will be his first since November, and his first stop in Tampa since September. Those visits were for fundraising only, in keeping with the pledge Obama and the candidates took to avoid campaigning publicly in the Florida primary.

Next week's tour will include fundraising, but will concentrate on events with public exposure, said Obama's Florida finance chairman, Kirk Wagar.

Obama's most-recent public campaign event in Tampa was a rally in Ybor City in April 2007, thronged by about 2,000 people.

The Democratic contenders boycotted Florida until the Jan. 29 primary because the date broke the party's schedule. The four states that had party approval to hold early primaries demanded the no-campaigning pledge in Florida and Michigan. Since then, the candidates have been preoccupied with primaries in other states.
Campaign spokesman Josh Earnest said plans for the Tampa stop aren't set yet, but could include a rally or a town-hall style gathering.

Obama needs to re-establish relations with Florida voters, after the boycott and his previous insistence that the Florida primary results shouldn't count, said Jim Kitchens, an Orlando-based Democratic political pollster.

Obama recently has offered to negotiate a compromise over seating the Florida and Michigan delegates, but Clinton has continued to insist the primaries count in full.

"The whole Democratic Party has fences to mend down here," Kitchens said. "Obama didn't break the fences, but since he's the nominee, he's got to mend them."

Polls, he said, have shown that up to a quarter of the Florida Democrats who voted Jan. 29 indicated the boycott and controversy over the delegates could affect whether they vote for the Democratic nominee.

"When it's down to either Obama or John McCain, those Democrats may come home, but some may not," he said.

Obama's estrangement from Florida has led to speculation that he might not compete to win the state, instead seeking an Electoral College majority elsewhere. Obama denies that, and Earnest said he doesn't believe the party sanctions and boycott are a significant issue for voters.

"Florida voters want to hear about universal health care coverage, how we're going to get our troops out of Iraq, how to deal with the weakening economy," he said. "The other things will get brushed aside when we talk about those issues."

Asked whether Obama will seek to explain or justify the boycott to Floridians, Earnest said, "Reporters and others may ask him about it, and he'll certainly answer those questions."

Florida Republicans, however, have taken every opportunity to bash the Democratic Party and its candidates over the boycott, and won't pass up this one, said party spokeswoman Erin VanSickle.

"We're going to do more than just put out a press release," she said, refusing to elaborate.

Responded Earnest: "When you're running on the legacy of George W. Bush, you'd rather talk about almost anything but the issues."

After the May 20 Kentucky and Oregon primaries, Obama won't yet have a majority of all the Democratic convention delegates, but he expects to have a majority of the pledged delegates who are chosen by primaries and caucuses.

That will put the race in the hands of the unpledged superdelegates, who aren't bound by primary results.

"As we've said, we can't imagine the superdelegates overturning the decision" of the primary and caucus results, Earnest said. "We consider that a significant day in the contest."

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

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