Via McClatchy: Opposition from all quarters to Florida’s primary plan
The Florida Democratic Party’s unprecedented proposal to conduct a do-over presidential primary by mail sustained several potentially fatal blows Thursday, leaving state party leaders all but out of alternatives.
The state’s entire Democratic House delegation opposed the plan, Barack Obama and representatives of Hillary Clinton expressed reservations, and state officials said Florida law would prohibit them from authenticating voters’ signatures.
Florida party chair Karen Thurman, who has said any deal would require both candidates’ assent, acknowleged that the hurdles may be insurmountable, though she said she would wait until Monday to review comments on the plan.
“I have a feeling this is getting closer to not, than yes,” Thurman said in Tallahassee.
I must confess, that at least at first blush it is odd to me that Florida’s entire House delegation would reject the proposal as one would think that they would be inclined to want a fair and inclusive vote for their constituents in this process. On the other hand, perhaps they all favor Clinton. Although that theory is damaged by the fact that Senator Nelson, a Clinton supporter, is in favor of the vote-by-mail plan.
Of course, I will also confess that I am not certain that the logistics of the mail-in option are manageable.
Regardless, I continue to marvel at the fact the the DNC dug their own hole with this over their Iowa/New Hampshire fetish.
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Make that Iowa/New Hampshire/South Carolina/Nevada fetish. The idea was to put a few specifically chosen states up front. Not that I am defending the idea, though I would defend in general the principle that the national party should take precedence over state parties in organizing nominations for its national leader. (And, yes, clearly the national party was a whole lot less willing to challenge Iowa and New Hampshire than it was to challenge Michigan and Florida.)
The members of the delegation would all be ex oficio delegates, so absent a resolution of some sort, I believe they also lose their rights to be seated at the Convention.
There was a reported rumor of a deal yesterday (like all reported rumors at a user-generated site like DailyKos, take it for what it is: a report of a rumor of a deal and nothing more). (A quick scan over there today shows some other claims of the same.)
Comment by MSS — Friday, March 14, 2026 @ 10:57 am
I can concur with the notion that the national party ought to trump the local.
As such, I don’t think that that DNC did anything that they didn’t have the right to do, just that I think it was a stupid thing to do
I suppose when it comes to breaking the IA/NH/etc. fetish, I am something of a bipartisan mischief-maker, and would love to to see the whole process blown up and reconstructed (as I know you would as well).
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Friday, March 14, 2026 @ 11:04 am
Well, one certainly can exercise one’s rights stupidly if one choose to!
Blow up and reconstruct, yes. And in that sense, I admit some sympathy with the Fla. and Mich. parties, given that their states have a lot more in common with mine, and thus the nation at large, than do IA and NH.
Comment by MSS — Friday, March 14, 2026 @ 12:26 pm