One of the most potent arguments against the Democratic National Committee taking any action to inhibit Florida's ability to hold a presidential primary in January (aside from, of course, the argument that voters in Iowa and New Hampshire shouldn't be entitled to anything other voters aren't entitled to) is that by stripping the Sunshine state's delegates, which the DNC has threatened to do, the Democratic Party may face negative repercussions in the general election. Tim Padgett, for one, expresses such a view in Time magazine this week. But does that argument hold water if the Republican National Committee is threatening to do the exact same thing?

The Republican National Committee plans to penalize at least four states holding early primaries, including New Hampshire and Florida, by refusing to seat at least half their delegates at the party's national convention in 2008, a party official said Tuesday.

Much of the focus in the primary scheduling fight up to now has been on the Democratic National Committee's moves to penalize Florida by not seating its convention delegates because of the state's decision to move up its primary. But the Republican rules are even more stringent, and the national party said today that it would not hesitate enforcing them.

As alluded to in the lede, the RNC is going one step further than the DNC, threatening not only Florida but also New Hampshire and South Carolina, two states who had exceptions carved out for them by the Democrats so that they are able to hold pre-February nominating contests. Perhaps, then, there will be extended debate over whether the Republicans are trying to kiss off not only Florida but also New Hampshire and even Michigan, whom they are also threatening? I'm not holding my breath. That said, the RNC's move, at least on its surface, seems to make it easier for the DNC to threaten sanctions against the RNC, if only for the fact that it would not, then, be alone in doing so.

Taking a step back, I think that the fronloading of the primary season coule lead to a huge mess, and that it's something that isn't a terribly good development. I write this not as a fan of Iowa and New Hampshire dominating the nominating process, because I certainly am not. In fact, as I have written before, I don't think that Iowa and New Hampshire have done a particularly good job at selecting nominees for the Democratic Party, at least judging by the results of the elections in the 30-plus years since the two states secured their most prominent positions. Instead, I write this as someone who tends to believe it's important for there to be at least some thought in designing the nominating process.

If there is some good to come out of this, perhaps it will be that the DNC will revisit its scheme for choosing a presidential nominee in a the most serious way since the late 1960s, when the nomination process was upended in the wake of the disastrous 1968 Democratic convention. In this case, there would be an opportunity to put some real thought and intention into reforming the process rather than throwing a bandaid here or there. Maybe I'm hoping for too much, though. Maybe we're in for an effective national primary for the time to come. But then again, maybe that wouldn't be the end of the world, either.

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I did not believe for a minute that Dean and the DNC would start a big brouhaha with the Florida Democratic party over the number of delegates Florida gets to keep after moving to January 29th to be part of the early-state rotation.    So, today's announcement comes as good news, and I would say chances are very strong that Florida will be able to keep all 201 delegates moving forward.   The Democratic party wants to win in November 2008, and win big.   We can't afford to quibble over delegates, thereby endangering the very real chance of turning Florida blue.

http://www.politicalwire.com/

Despite pleas to the legislature from the state democratic party to return the primary to February 5th, the legislature is unexpected to do so. Instead, according to Ballot Access News, the DNC will meet later this month to consider issuing a one state exemption for Florida, allowing it to retain it's traditional number of 201 delegates even with a January 29th primary.

http://www.ballot-access.org/2007/08/07/ democratic-national-committee-will-consi der-florida-exemption/

Democratic National Committee Will Consider Florida Exemption

August 7th, 2007

On August 25, the Democratic National Committee will consider whether to grant an exemption to the Florida Democratic Party, to let it keep its full slate of delegates even if the Florida presidential primary is held on January 29.

A one-state exemption for Florida to keep all its delegates is a perfect solution.  It insures that other states don't feel that they have a free pass to move up if Floria got to keep its full delegate contingent, and it avoids a highly publicized battle between the DNC and the Florida Democratic party over delegates.   We have a great chance to turn Florida blue in November 2008, and with Florida likely to keep its full delegate count, Florida becomes an all-important state before Super-Duper Feb. 5, as its 201 delegate count dwarfs the combined totals of all other states preceding it.  

We will know after August 25's decision on the one-state exemption for Florida, but the fact that they are even looking at this exemption and have a meeting about it tells me that it will most likely happen.  

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