DNC Robocall On Rubio

The DNC is sending out this robocall in Florida. Sen. Rubio did vote for the federal government to default. Not voting to raise the debt ceiling the day before the government would default should disqualify Rubio from serving in public office.

The DNC robocall.

Florida:

I’m calling from the DNC.

Senator Rubio was an architect of the strategy that shut down our government and took us to the brink of economic collapse.

Marco Rubio’s shutdown cost our economy $24 billion dollars and his refusal to pay our nation’s bills risked raising mortgage rates, crashing the stock market and even put Social Security payments at risk. And now Rubio is signaling that he’s willing to do it all again in a few months.

Call Marco Rubio at 202-224-3041 and tell him please stop. Stop his dangerous actions right now.

Paid for by the Democratic National Committee. (202) 863-8000. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Blowback From Nan Rich Not Speaking At Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

Miami Herald political reporter Marc Caputo is marveling how how big of a mess the Florida Democratic Party has made out of not allowing Nan Rich to speak at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.

Way to go, Florida Democratic Party, you've allowed the Republican Party of Florida to mock you for appearing to mistreat one of your own, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Rich.

Marc, don't you know by know the Florida Democratic Party always manages to snatch defeat out of victory. The FDP is the Washington Generals of state political parties. We now see that RPOF chairman Lenny Curry sent out an email panning the FDP for allowing Rich to speak.

Because Senator Rich is an experienced spokesperson for Democratic ideology in Florida, it must be disappointing to see your Chairwoman, Allison Tant, put the interests of big-dollar donors ahead of a mere five minutes for Florida's leading champion of liberal causes.

It might be the fact that she is just out of touch with Democrat activists like many of you, and takes her orders from Washington. But it also may be that Tant is working with Charlie Crist to set up a possible gubernatorial candidacy announcement at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner. Who knows.

As I wrote before, this has less to do with the FDP and more to do with the DNC clearing the way for a Charlie Crist or Bill Nelson campaign. Many progressive activists are bothered by Rich not being given 5 minutes to speak. It wouldn't have killed the powers that be to at least pretend the nomination was still in play and give Rich a speaking slot. Realistically, she wouldn't have a chance against Nelson or Crist. It is not like speaking at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner would be a game changer.

Mitt's Excellent Adventure to England

The DNC is running this ad on Mitt Romney's disasterous trip to England. It is almost like Mitt Romney is a secretly working to get President Obama re-elected. The man just keeps putting his foot in his mouth.

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz at Netroots Nation

I haven't been able to find a video of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's speech at Netroots Nation. Reading the transcript reminds me how much I miss Howard Dean as DNC chair. I generally like Wasserman-Schultz, but she needs to be more inspiring. Perhaps the speech was better live. At least that is my hope.

A bit of good news is Wasserman-Schultz indicated that the Justice Department will fight the restrictive voter laws signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

Hello! It’s great to be at Netroots Nation with all of you!

This is my first trip here and I’m very excited about it.

A couple of months ago, I was privileged to get a call from the President of the United States. He was calling to ask me to serve as the Chair of the DNC.

When the President calls and asks you to do something, the answer is “Yes!” But, more importantly, as a “gimme the ball” kind of person, I was thrilled that the coach put me in!

In 2008, President Obama ran a campaign powered by people at the grassroots level. You know that, because you were an essential part of his grassroots team! As the name of this conference implies, the netroots brought our nation together for President Obama.

Read more »

Karen Thurman Quits

DNC chair Tim Kaine released this statement.

“I would like to personally thank Chairwoman Karen Thurman for her steady leadership at the Florida Democratic Party. Over the past six years as Chairwoman, Karen has successfully built the infrastructure and modernized the operations of the Florida Democratic Party. Her focused efforts to empower our party’s grassroots activists will continue to benefit Democrats across Florida. I would like to thank Karen as she retires for her commitment to public service, for the reforms she has made at the party and her career spent fighting to improve the lives of Floridians,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine.

So much for talk that Thurman couldn't be forced out because her term was not over.

Peter Schorsch and Joy-Ann Reid report the black caucus is less than thrilled about the possibility of Rod Smith becoming the new chair.

The black lawmaker, who spoke to TRR on background, didn’t express support or opposition to Smith, but did point out that Alex Sink’s running mate failed to deliver north Florida for the ticket. “He ran for governor and lost, he lost to Jim Davis in the primary” the lawmaker said. “And then he lost as lieutenant governor to Alex Sink. In my mind, three strikes and you should be out. We need change in the Democratic Party. We need new blood. We don’t want to see the same good old boy system. There are too many smart, diverse people, too many cultures and too much history for all of that to be lost, and to deal with that good old boy syndrome that Rod Smith represents.”

The Panhandle strategy was a massive failure. It appears the Florida Democratic Party needs to lose a few more election cycles before they get serious about running 21 century campaigns.

DNC Releases Civil Rights Web Site

The Democratic National Committee has a new civil rights web site. John Aravosis has voiced his displeasure. There is nothing from the DNC about protecting the 14th amendment rights and citizenship of Hispanic children born in America. Nothing on gay marriage. Instead, the Democratic Party proposes civil unions. Courts will strike down civil unions for the same reason Jim Crow era "separate but equal" laws were ruled unconstitutional. All laws are to be imposed equally for all Americans. We can't create different laws for different groups of people. It is illegal and morally wrong.

Below is the DNC's new civil rights platform. I don't see this exciting the base.

* Strengthening the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to better protect voting rights;

* Enacting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which includes measures prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity;

* Ensuring full civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples;

* Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security;

* Ending racial, ethnic, and religious profiling; and

* Building a fair and more equitable criminal justice system that provides non-violent offenders a second chance at a rehabilitated life.

Meet the New GOP

The new DNC ad hightlights the Republican Party's problem. They don't have new stars on the horizon. Bobby Jindal crashed and burned with his State of the Union response. Jindal came on the national stage and automatically became a punchline.

FDP News

The Florida Democratic Party has selected its leadership.

Karen Thurman, Marion County, re-elected state party chair
Rhett Bullard, Hamilton County, Vice chair
Rick Boylan, Pinellas County, Secretary
Alma Gonzalez, Leon County, Treasurer

DNC Members:

Diane Glasser, Terry Brady, Joyce Cusack, Evelyn Garcia, Nancy Jacobson, Chuck Mohlke, Jon Ausman, Mitch Ceasar, Alan Clendenon, Tony Hill

Final Obama Fundraising Report

President-elect Barack Obama raised $745 million for his presidential campaign. John McCain came in a distant second with $320 million. Factor what the DNC and RNC raised for their canidates and )bama had a 4400 million advantage.

Quote of the Day

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners... You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline."

Phil Gramn, telling the Washington Times that Americans need not complain about the U.S. economy.

Update: Democratic National Committee spokesperson Karen Finney responds to Gramn's nonsense.

What John McCain, George Bush Phil Gramm just don't understand is that the American people aren't whining about the state of the economy, they are suffering under the weight of it -- the weight of eight years of Bush-enomics that John McCain and Phil Gramm have vowed to continue. How dare John McCain and his advisers so callously dismiss the challenges the American people face. no wonder voters feel John McCain is out of touch, he and his campaign don't even understand the everyday issues Americans are dealing with.

Can I get an amen?

DNC Hearts Obama

The Democratic National Committee posted this image on their website. It is clear that the party is officially behind Barack Obama.

Howard Dean on Meet the Press

Howard Dean answers questions about the Florida and Michigan delegate situation on Meet the Press.

"You've got to keep order, and that's part of my job is to keep order," Dean said on Meet the Press. "It's understandable that the folks you call out because they think they're more important than everybody else are going to be upset about that. We did keep order, we do have an orderly process. I'll defend the process."

But Dean said he believes politics - not the voters - are to blame.

"The voters of Michigan and Florida were not the people that screwed this all up, it was politicians," Dean said, later adding, "I believe Michigan and Florida should be seated in some way because ...their voters did not cause this problem. This was caused by a political problem, not the voters' problem."

The problems with Florida and Michigan were political. Both states' Democratic party leaders moved up their primaries against repeated warnings from Dean and the Democratic National Committee. The problem with settling the delegate seating is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have too much sway in the process. Candidates for the presidency can't be unbiased about how the delegates are seated.

The DNC's duty is too get Democrats elected. Not play election officials. Florida and Michigan party leaders placed a task on the DNC they weren't meant to handle. A few state party leaders moved up the primaries to curry favor with the candidates. The voters and party have suffered because of their aggorance.

Straight Talk Redstate.com Doesn't Want You to Hear

Redstate.com sent an email out attempting to spin John McCain's statement that the Maverick is fine if America stays another 100 years in Iraq.

Today, RedState sent an email alert to readers to further push the point ... making a, shall we say, novel argument (emphasis added): "Clearly McCain was talking about a peace time standing presence ... Someone should ask the Democrats if they think we're still at war with the confederacy, the Germans, and the Japanese given all the standing American armies in the South, Germany, and Japan." As I said in my previous post, 'Claiming a 100-year occupation in Iraq would be like Germany or Korea reveals an immense lack of foreign policy knowledge, judgment and vision.'

Nice try. Watch the video made the the Democratic National Committee and judge for yourself. Redstate.com knows the statement is a loser for the Republican Party. A recent Gallup poll shows 63 percent of Americans believe the Iraq war is a mistake. Barack Obama would be foolish not to pounce on McCain for his continued support of the war.

Update: The RNC calls the ad a "complete distortion of Senator McCain’s comments and record." That's funny.

DNC To Florida Democrats: Piss Off

The Democratic National Committee told Florida Democrats they can not release candidates from the no campaign pledge, since Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina made the candidate sing the pledge. That is a correct reading from the DNC's part. Alex Sink, Ted Deutch and Dan Gelber made a valient attempt to end the boycott.

Florida's Democratic leadership needs to convince the early states to release Clinton, Obama and Edwards. (Gravel and Kucinich do not matter.) There are only six days left until the primary. The Florida Democratic Party and Bill Nelson's blame game and refusal to compromise pissed off national Democrats. The Sunshine State's Democrats are now resorting to begging. Great strategy, gang.

The pathetic part is Nelson and state Democrats won't admit that they fucked up. Despite repeated warnings from Howard Dean and the early states, Democrats voting to move up the primary, then blame Republicans for this madness. The reason the Democrats are the Florida minority is because of a lack of political courageousness.

Blame Bill Nelson

In news that will shock no one: Judge Robert Hinkle threw Bill Nelson's lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee out of court.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle took all of an hour to rule against Sen. Bill Nelson’s lawsuit against the DNC for stripping Florida of its 210 delegates to next summer’s nominating convention.

The DNC and RNC makes the rules about delegate selection for the national conventions. The 1981 Supreme Court decision Democratic Party of U.S. v. Wisconsin, 450 U.S. 107 makes that absolute.

The State has a substantial interest in the manner in which its elections are conducted, and the National Party has a substantial interest in the manner in which the delegates to its National Convention are selected. But these interests are not incompatible, and to the limited extent they clash in this case, both interests can be preserved. The National Party rules do not forbid Wisconsin to conduct an open primary. But if Wisconsin does open its primary, it cannot require that Wisconsin delegates to the National Party Convention vote there in accordance with the primary results, if to do so would violate Party rules. Since the Wisconsin Supreme Court has declared that the National Party cannot disqualify delegates who are bound to vote in accordance with the results of the Wisconsin open primary, its judgment is reversed.

It is so ordered.

Hinkle isn't about to turn over a Supreme Court precedent. It is not for the courts to decide rules made up by the party. Florida Democrats are not going to have delegates because Nelson blew off Howard Dean.

MIAMI, Fla.-Florida Democrats have embraced an early primary on Jan. 29 despite the national party's threat to penalize them by taking away half their delegates to the national convention.

Karen Thurman, the party chairwoman, and Sen. Bill Nelson said Monday that the leadership had voted unanimously to accept the date. The state party has to submit a plan to the Democratic National Committee by Friday

Nelson had the audacity to dishonestly lay the blame on Republicans for a primary date he voted to support.

"It says Florida's earlier primary — set by the Republican Legislature and governor — would affect the sequence of contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina."

The Florida Democratic Party has final say over when their party's primary is held. That is why Nelson and Thurman voted on the matter (and ignored Howard Dean's warnings.) If their was any justice Nelson and Thurman would be kicked out of the FDP. Following the lame brain idea of Crist and the Republican legislature is stupidity. Not a valid excuse.

What has alway bugged me about Nelson's grandstanding is he can not be man enough to admit he fucked voters over with his arrogance. Nelsom's lawsuit wasn't about protecting voter rights. Nelson is covering his ass.

Another Snub For Florida Democrats

The Democratic National Convention Committee reserved no hotel rooms for Florida delegates. The reason is because the DNC is punished Florida for moving the primary to Jan. 29th.

"We're just following the directions by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee," Natalie Wyeth, an event spokeswoman, said from Denver on Tuesday.

If the Florida Democratic Party and Democrats in the legislature followed the rules this disaster would never have happen. A recent Mason-Dixon poll shows the controversy could help swing the state for Republicans in 2008. I'm aware a poll this early has little meaning. The point is Florida Democrats continue to shoot themselves in the foot. It is getting old.

Latest Florida Mason-Dixon Poll

The latest Mason-Dixon poll has the top tier Republican presidential candidates beating Hillary Clinton in the Florida general ection.

Giuliani - 50
Clinton - 43

Romney - 46
Clinton - 45

Thompson - 48
Clinton - 44

The poll shows one in five voters will not vote for a Democrat because of the candidate boycott and the DNC stripping Florida of delegates. Ouch.

Nelson and Hastings Sue DNC

Alcee Hastings and Bill Nelson are suing the Democratic National Committee. They seek to stop the DNC from not allowing Florida delegates to vote in the Democratic National Convention. This suit is pointless. A 1981 Supreme Court decision states:

The State has a substantial interest in the manner in which its elections are conducted, and the National Party has a substantial interest in the manner in which the delegates to its National Convention are selected. But these interests are not incompatible, and to the limited extent they clash in this case, both interests can be preserved. The National Party rules do not forbid Wisconsin to conduct an open primary. But if Wisconsin does open its primary, it cannot require that Wisconsin delegates to the National Party Convention vote there in accordance with the primary results, if to do so would violate Party rules. Since the Wisconsin Supreme Court has declared that the National Party cannot disqualify delegates who are bound to vote in accordance with the results of the Wisconsin open primary, its judgment is reversed.

It is so ordered.

Short answer: the state party agrees to abide by the national party's rule when they join the party. The national party decides who and how they nominate a candidate. What makes matters worse is Florida Democrats backed moving the primary to Jan. 29th. They can't break the rules and then decide to sue someone because they don't like the penalty.

I'm not the only person that thinks the suit won't stand up in court.

But Thomas E. Mann, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, said the national Democratic Party had no choice but to resist Florida's decision to move the primary date in violation of party rules.

"Once one state decides to act on its own, others would follow ... and then it's Katie bar the door," Mann said. "The suit is whether the national party committee has the authority to set the rules of the game for the selection of delegates to the national party convention."

Mann described the suit as "weak" and said, "It's hard for me to believe that this is going to reverse the decision of the DNC. I can't imagine the court would overturn it."

Florida was given the opportunity in 2006 to move the primary to January. Both state parties shot the idea down. Then the Florida legislature votes along bipartisan lines to move the primary up without debate and consulting with the national parties. But then the legislature never debates anything. That is why the property tax amendment was shot down in court. The blame for the primary mess goes to the incompetence of the Florida legislature and a Governor that only cared about an election reform bill that would garner him the national spotlight.

It's Lawsuit Time

Political consultant Vic DiMaio and Social Security attorney Mike Steinberg filed a lawsuit against the DNC. They want a federal judge to rule if the DNC can sanction the Florida Democratic Party. The DNC responds.

“It is well-established that political parties have a constitutionally protected right to determine the method of selection of delegates to their national nominating conventions; that the states do not have the power to require the parties to recognize the results of state-run primaries in the selection of delegates”; and that individual voters don’t have the right to dictate the method of delegate selection, the response says.

The Supreme Count ruled in Democratic Party of U.S. v. Wisconsin that the national party has final say over the delegate selection process. I don't see Florida Democrat activists winning in the courts.

Tough Guy Bill Nelson

Bill Nelson threatened to open a can of whoop ass on the Democratic National Committee. He then wrote a letter to the stating that the DNC "could not be bound by state law to simply ratify the results of the violating Jan. 29, 2008 state government primary..." Nelson is back to channeling his inner-Clint Eastwood.

"We’re disappointed in Gov. Dean’s response,'' Nelson said in a written statement. "He’s rejected at least three compromise solutions. Now there is no choice. I’m preparing a lawsuit.”

There is a choice. Nelson can stay out of the fray and let the DNC and Florida Democratic Party handle the matter. Nelson is only making matters worse. He should stick to his full-time job of being a Senator. Last time I checked, he wasn't doing that task too well.