Just What the Democrats Need Heading Into 2008…

Anyone up for a little infighting?

So I was surfing across the internet when I came across the little nugget I linked to above. Apparently lawmakers in Florida want to hold their Democratic presidential primary on January 29, 2007, which doesn’t seem noteworthy, except for the fact that rules enacted by the Democratic Party say say states cannot hold their primary contests before February 5, 2007. The only exceptions to the rule are Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Despite that rule, Florida lawmakers went ahead and passed a law setting its primary date for January 29. The rules enacted by the Democratic Party state a violation of their calendar triggers some pretty serious sanctions – the Democratic congressional delegation and DNC members from Florida will lose their votes for the nominee at next year’s national convention in Denver. And the Rules and Bylaws Committee will decide whether to strip Florida of anywhere from half to all of its 185 other delegates to the convention.

What’s most disconcerting about all this is the potential for a showdown between the DNC and said Floridians at the national convention.

Sen. Bill Nelson told reporters in a conference call Friday that he’ll lead the delegates to Denver whether or not the DNC plans to let them in.

“We are quite concerned that Florida Democrats are going to lose their right to vote,” Nelson said. “And of all states, we have the sensitivity of this because of what we have gone through.”

Now most folks will agree that the 2008 election is a chance for Democrats to continue to make gains and pick up not only more seats in the House and Senate, but to also win the White House as well. The last thing the Democrats need is for infighting at the national convention to choose the Democratic presidential nominee. In my opinion, this situation has all the makings of an absolute clusterfuck, and I just hope it gets resolved without boiling over to the convention in 2008.