State Democrats vow an early vote

By Lesley Clark, Miami Herald

Thu, Aug. 23, 2007

Three days before a showdown with the national party, defiant Florida Democrats vowed Wednesday to push ahead with a January presidential primary that flouts party rules.

The national Democratic Party's rules committee is set to take up on Saturday Florida's decision to host a Jan. 29 primary. The vote violates a party rule that permits only four smaller states to vote before Feb. 5.

The national party suggested this week that Florida Democrats instead stage their own election, called a caucus, after Feb. 5. The national party said it would spend about $800,000 on the vote.

But state party Chairman Karen Thurman said Wednesday that Florida Democrats believe any approach other than a Jan. 29 election would disenfranchise voters.

'If I heard it once, I heard it 10 times, `This is unacceptable, we want to make sure people have the opportunity to vote,' '' Thurman said of her conversation with state Democrats.

The state party runs the risk that the rules committee, seeking to bring order to an unruly presidential primary season, will punish Florida by taking away half of its delegates to the 2008 convention. It could also decide that presidential candidates who campaign in the state are ineligible for delegates.

But Thurman suggested the penalties may be meaningless because the winning presidential nominee ``will make the final decision on whether there are delegates or not.''

She said she is prepared to argue that Florida is sticking with Jan. 29 for a variety of factors, including that many cities and towns have moved up their local elections to Jan. 29 -- the date set by the Republican-led Legislature.

''So when we go up to Washington to fight for all our delegates, it will be the Democratic National Committee who chooses to penalize us,'' she said.

Democrats said they don't expect the presidential contenders to forgo Florida, despite the talk of sanctions.

All the major Democratic candidates have agreed to appear in a Sept. 9 debate to be broadcast live by the Univisión television network from the University of Miami.