More Florida Primary Fun

Political consultant Victor DiMaio and attorney Michael Steinberg have named the Democratic National Committee and the Florida Democratic Party as defendants in a lawsuit. Both are registered Democrats. They have asked the U.S. District Court in Tampa if it is legal for Florida delegates to be disenfranchised from the Democratic National Convention.

"Personally, my greatest fear is we end up with no delegates at the convention," DiMaio said during a news conference. "We have no say in determining who's going to be the next Democratic candidate for president."

The Democratic nominee will probably assert his or her influence on Howard Dean. It is unlikely that the DNC will say no to the possible future President. However, I have learned never to bet against Florida fucking up an election.

Steinberg wants to court to come to a decision before the deadline. It's unlikely a judge will rush a decision that has national consequences.

Florida House Minority Leader Dan Gelber wrote this letter to Howard Dan.

Today, toe-tapping Republicans with their excesses and over-reaching, are imploding on the national stage. Leave it to Democrats to create a distraction born out of a nuanced disagreement over some arcane party rule. The truth is our disagreement today isn't about some principled belief as the primary schedule is hardly premised on some inviolate notion of fairness. On all things important – protecting public education, providing quality health care, defending the middle class – we are in lock step. So let's try to avoid creating another "ooops I did it again" moment, and focus on positioning our party for a 2008 victory. You can be certain that the Republicans view our flare-up as a welcomed opportunity to gain an Election Day advantage. We should all be cognizant of that, and make sure, whatever we do and say, that winning in November remain our priority.

Two things:

1. I'm sure the Republicans want the Democrats to implode in Florida.

2. I'm not certainly that Florida will lean Democrat in 2008. Bill Nelson and Alex Sink are the only Democrats whom won statewide races. Nelson beat Katherine Harris. He would have been unemployed if Jeb Bush or Charlie Crist ran as his opponent.