Florida moves to wipe out clout of smaller states with Jan. 29 presidential primary

[jefferson_dem]

Source: Sun-Sentinel

Florida moves to wipe out clout of smaller states with Jan. 29 presidential primary

By Anthony Man
Political Writer
Posted March 22 2007

Tallahassee – Hoping to muscle Florida into a pre-eminent role in picking next year's Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, the state House voted Wednesday to leapfrog almost all the other states and set a Jan. 29 primary, with an option to go even earlier.

The change, championed by House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and approved 115-1, is part of a national rush by states coveting the clout of Iowa and New Hampshire. Those states have enormous sway in choosing presidential candidates, even though they are small and, some say, unrepresentative of the nation's people and politics. The proposal must still pass the Senate.

"Florida is obviously going to be the big enchilada on the 29th. It will immediately become very, very important," said Nichol Rae, political science professor at Florida International University.

Florida's bid for increased influence is being tempered by the other vote-rich giants, California, New York and Texas. California already has moved its primary to Feb. 5, and the others are expected to do the same.

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Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-fprimary22mar22,0,4643105.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

[SteppingRazor]

1. Woooo!!! We rule! Small states suck!!

:woohoo:

[wuushew]

4. Is it really a such a good thing?

Unlike California you can't really say Florida is more progressive than other states. Some of those other small states you speak of are in liberal New England.

[SteppingRazor]

8. Well, I don't know that it's a great thing, but not for the reasons you named

These are the primaries, not the general, so how liberal/conservative the entire state is really doesn't matter. And in fact, Florida's Democrats are actually very liberal -- they're just outnumbered (barely) by Florida's conservatives.

However, large states being first in primaries gives a natural advantage to the candidates with the most money, since they will have the resources to campaign across the whole state -- especially in terms of television ad buys. So, putting large states first favors the candidates with the biggest war chest, and I don't think that's a good idea.

And in any case, what liberal New England state are you referring to? New Hampshire? The same New Hampshire that's been reliably Republican for every single post-WWII presidential candidate except Clinton and LBJ? The same New Hampshire that's been solidly red in Congress until the 2006 election?

Anyway, that aside, like I said, I don't think large states going first in primaries is a good idea, for the reasons mentioned. My original post in this thread was just me being a smart ass. Apologies for that :)

[sofa king]

27. I think you meant to say,

"Florida's Democrats are actually very liberal -- they're just outnumbered by Florida's conservative voting machines."

Other than that, I have no problem with Florida. It keeps the worldwide weird news business afloat.

[LiberalFighter]

31. If the Founding Fathers realized that primaries would be a factor in elections

I believe they would had applied the same principle as they did with the representation in the Senate.

[Eurobabe]

2. You know, why don't we just move the primaries up to April 2007

[Retrograde]

20. or the day after the presidential election

June is a reasonable time for a national primary - assuming we have to have them at all (tell me again why parties have both primaries and conventions).

Or just figure out how to get the MSM to pay the proper amount of attention to New Hampshire, Iowa and the other small states: nice places, I know, but only a small percentage of the national population.

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. Let's just have all primaries on January 1st and be done with it!

As long as people can drag themselves out of bed from the night before...at least it's a holiday. :eyes:

I remember the days when there was actually some excitement with the Party Conventions and who would be the nominee.

[peace frog]

6. Hear, hear

Or pick a day (any day) to hold a nationwide primary election, make it a national holiday to encourage particpation, and be done with it already. SHEESH.

[MaineDem]

5. It may well be that Dem candidates will lose their delegates over this

Going before the window opens will not be tolerated by the DNC.

[OneBlueSky]

7. place your bets . . . which state will be the first to move the primary to the previous year? . .n/t

.

[The2ndWheel]

11. How about before the last election?

That way, when we're voting in say 2008, we can pick who we want running in 2012. The 2008 election won't be too important that way. Then in 2012, we could probably pick who we want to run in 2020, since the method would have improved by then. That could get the money out of politics. Well, no, they'd just throw the money in 2020 for 2040. It would be a long term investment. Although the quicker we find out who we're going to be voting for in 2060, the fewer sound bites we'll need to hear. What about 2080 though? I guess we could genetically engineer some babies a few decades before that to fit what we want as a candidate. Then we wouldn't even have to worry about it, since we could just stick them into the office when it's their turn.

[bluestateguy]

9. This is out of control

we need to go to the old days when there were only a few primaries, smoke filled rooms at the party conventions, and the campaign really didn't even start until Labor Day of the election year.

We need to go back to that.

[Divernan]

12. Indeed out of control-particularly for states with winter weather.

The vagaries of weather are known to have significant impact on voter turnout. Rain is bad enough, but snow/sleet/icy roads can greatly reduce the turnout - particularly of the elderly or poorer people who have to rely on walking/public transportation to get to the polls. Waiting at the bus stop in miserable weather is a major detriment to voting. The northern tier states should have elections no earlier than mid-April. It is ridiculous for all these changes of date to be the focus. We should do what many other countries do and have all of our elections over a multiple day period, including weekends. But then our state legislatures - dominated as they are by macho male/egomaniac competitive (Nyah-nyah! My primary is earlier than your primary)personality types - are not known for thinking outside the box.

[William769]

10. Good for Florida!

[yardwork]

13. Why don't we just skip primaries, go straight to elections, and have proportional voting

Then the party who wins the most votes can pick the president from a field of candidates who might actually be qualified. And Congress would include lots of parties, not just the Republicans and Democrats.

Oh well.

[radfringe]

14. jeebus

this is getting ridiculous -- before you know it, we'll be having primaries 4 years before the freaking election

just set a freaking date, and make it nationwide

[cali]

29. No. That will completely ensure that those with the biggest

war chest will inevitably win. No grassroots candidate will ever have a chance again. In any case, it won't happen. NH's first in the nation status is encoded in NH law, and they've made it clear that they'll simply move their primary back- if necessary into the year prior to the election.

[JCMach1]

15. Should start with a rotating system... this is getting crazy!

[annabanana]

30. Now THIS makes sense to me... In fact, I would prefer a RANDOM

schedule. Just pull State's names out of a hat. There would be less time to game the system that way.

[JCMach1]

33. Pull it out of a hat like the Basketball draft lottery...

[ProudToBeLiberal]

16. I hope that Dean revokes Florida's delegate status

I know that Dean said if any candidates campaigned in a state that moved their primary before Feb. 5th he's going to revoke their delegates.

[MaineDem]

17. I don't think it's Dean personally as much as the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee

This is what should happen. I believe it's in the Rules.

This is going to get ugly.

[dbackjon]

18. We need to go to a regiional rotational system

And no, Iowa and New Hampshire do not have a divine right to be first. The nation would be better if they weren't.

[rsdsharp]

19. It may not be "divine"

but Iowa is required by state law to be first in the nation.

Frankly, I wish that weren't so. How many of the rest of you have been subjected to Mitt Romney TV spots for the last month?

[Retrograde]

21. in the "safe" states with (formerly) later primaries

we got very, very few commercials at all. Lots of requests for money, though.

[rsdsharp]

32. That's my point.

We are inundated with ads, although I have NEVER seen them start this early. I think Romney is going to hurt himself doing this. If he's still in it come caucus time, his long term media barrage will be even more annoying than the later ads of his competition.

In Iowa, and in New Hampshire, too, candidates actually have to hustle their butts, and meet the people. And not just at speeches and "town hall" meetings, but in cafes, and living rooms, and on the streets. Neither of these states is large or cosmopolitan, but the populace is used to having candidates interrupt their morning coffee, and the aren't the least bit shy about asking pointed questions, and calling bullshit to a candidate's face. A 30 second spot, and a canned stump speech doesn't work so well here.

[Vidar]

22. Florida's corruption gave us Bush. What can we expect from this?

[Odin2005]

23. This is getting ridiculous.

Have all the primaries on April 1st and be dome with it.

[KamaAina]

24. Well, duh! Of course Florida has to have an early primary

think how long it's going to take them to count up all those g-dd-mn chads! :P

[w4rma]

25. This BS is stupid. I think we're all going to find out that the old dates were better. (nt)

[sofa king]

26. I'm waiting for two states to decide they're going to be the FIRST.

It'll be fun to vote in the 2112 primary. Down with the Temples of Syrinx!

(Election day, 2112 is November 8. Mark your calendar.)

[JNelson6563]

28. Is this against DNC rules?

Everything I've gotten from the Michigan Dem party says our primary is in February (forget exact date) with large disclaimer saying if another state breaks the rules and moves their date up so will we.

Julie