So when will this end?

That is all there is to say about PA's Primary.

Florida Rally in Washington DC on April 30th, 2008

The cost is FREE, and it includes transportation, meals and lodging in DC, but you must reserve your seat TODAY.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida, the Florida Voter League, the Southern Leadership Coalition and other Democrat and civil rights organizations statewide have joined in coalition to rally in Washington DC on April 30th, 2008, in front of the DNC and ask them to Count Our Votes-Cuenten Nuestros Votos.

LULAC has obtained funding to pay for our transportation, meals and lodging in DC, and all we need is YOU, the citizen, the activist, who is tired of hearing "Florida's votes don't count"! I personally don't care if the Florida Legislature changed the primary date with or without the Democrat legislators' votes, I don't even care that political parties have the right to set their own primary rules. All I care about is that everyone's rights end where mine begin and I have not, nor will I ever give up the right to have my vote counted! As Dr. Eugene Poole, president of the Florida Voter League stated, this is a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and we need to stand up and demand that our civil rights be respected. And especially so as Democrats. How can we demand that our votes be counted from the Republicans (remember 2000?!!) if the DNC won't even honor our primary votes?!!!

South Florida has been allocated 4 buses for the Rally with up to 55 seats on each bus - that's 220 of us. The buses will be filled on a first come, first served basis. The buses will leave early morning (between 6 am and 7 am) on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008, from central locations in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, arriving in Washington DC that evening. The Count Our Votes-Cuenten Nuestros Votos Rally will begin at 10 am on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008, until 2 pm. And the buses will leave Washington DC to return to Florida at 8 am, Thursday, April 30th, 2008.

The cost is FREE, and it includes transportation, meals and lodging in DC, but you must reserve your seat TODAY.

If intrested, please contact, Millie Herrera, President, Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida, email: millie(at)flahispanicdems.org

5 days left to apply to be a Delegate to the DNCC

APPLY NOW

On May 17, 2008 the last 40 delegates from Florida to the Democratic National Convention in Denver will be elected, and 6 alternate Delegates. This delegate election is also where the Florida Democratic Party will try to meet its diversity goals developed by itself and the DNC.

Each State develops its own Diversity Goals, and Florida has set its up in such a way to help its delegation reflect its voter registration. The easiest math for this is that the party allows that 10% of democrats self identify as LGBT so 10% of our delegation will be LGBT. Also, our delegation has to be gendered balanced, 50/50 male and female. Because our super delegates have more men then women mixed in, we will be electing more women then men at this last round.

Here is a break down to take into consideration of the remaining diversity goals:

9 Hispanic delegates
1 Hispanic alternate
14 GLBT delegates
10 youth delegates
2 youth alternates
13 African Americans delegates
4 disabled delegates

We have met our goals on veterans, and these delegates can be elected pledged to Clinton or Obama, and one of the alternates elected to Edwards.

The gender break down is:

Senator Hillary Clinton
24 At-Large – 14F / 10M
3 At-Large Alternates – 1F / 2M

Senator John Edwards
1 At-Large Alternate – 1F

Senator Barack Obama
16 At-Large – 10F / 6M
2 At-Large Alternates – 1F / 1M

Read this over, and think of the people who you think should apply. The delegates are elected with a weighted vote, discussed earlier in this blog. Good luck, I hope you try, and I hope you get it... It is going to be a great convention!

www.demconvention.com
www.denverdnc2008.com
www.denverconvention2008.com (unofficial)

Super Delegates Vs. Pledged Delegates

Today I was researching the rules for Pledged delegates switching during the floor fight. It is my understanding that a pledged delegate has to vote for the person that she or he is pledged for during the initial vote, but in a floor fight, as the rounds of voting move forward, delegates can switch to help secure a nominee.

The argument here is that delegates are elected for their commitment to a candidate and would never switch.

But apparently it is just a pledge, not even an oath, and nothing is sacred. Doing a Yahoo search earlier today it appears that this time last month Senator Clinton's campaign basically announced that depending how things go during Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary, they plan to try to pull people off of Obama's pledged delegates, even before the first round of voting. Obama's campaign has denied a similar plan, but many people expect that Clinton campaign attacks, the Obama campaign may retaliate.

This would make regular delegates all equal to super delegates, who vote their conscience. There are some interesting articles out there, one, from what appears to be a conservative magazine, Investors Business Daily. The article by Roger Simon Even Delegates Now 'Pledged' Are Fair Game. The author has a good insight to what I think could happen. I am not sure what it will mean for the party, party loyalty, the 08 election, and for our country.

I understand that Florida Young Democrats President, Alan Brock, who was elected as a Congressional District Delegate for John Edwards. He has been contacted by the Clinton Campaign in an effort to start persuading him on where his next vote should go.

Party Leader Elected Official Delegates elected to the DNCC

Party Leader Elected Official Delegates were elected over the weekend. Miami Dade Young Democrats Vice President Florence Moss was elected! As was Brevard YD President Wes McCarville.

So was Jared Moskowitz, son of Mike Moskowitz, Broward County State Committeeman, who, along with the State Committeewoman, whose daughter was also elected, from Broward, has the largest weighted vote. (There are two State Committee people from each county in Florida, each gets a weighted vote based of their county's percentage of the Democratic Vote in Florida. Liberty County gets 1 vote for both the State Committeewoman and man, Broward has almost 60 votes each) That being said...



I don't think Jared has been that involved with the Broward Young Democrats yet, but he will be now... He is a vice mayor of Parkland , a decent sized city with around 15,000 residents. His bio has him interning for a year with YDA before working for the Vice President.

I am glad to have so many young people make the final slate. Thank you to the people who helped make it happen.

Also of important note: Congrats to Rhett Bullard and Judy Mount, both from rural north Florida! And Rhett an active Young Dem in Hamilton County!

On the next slate we need to make sure to get several Representatives from Gainesville and some more small county reps forward.

Congressional District Delegates Elected ~ Including 2 LCYD members!

Link in the title bar, and a little late, but I wanted to make sure that we posted it here. Delegates were elected this past weekend, and Corinne Rubin and Alan Brock were both elected as district level delegates, for Obama and Edwards respectively. Our congratulations go out to both of them, and we wish them luck in our state's efforts to have the delegation's votes returned.

On a side note regarding our state's delegate process has become another example of Charlie Crist the Waffler, Charlie Crist the Flip Flopper, and Charlie Crist the opportunist. Governor Crist has decided that he would support a re-do of the Democratic Primary in Florida. Howard Dean has said that this is "very helpful"... but from what his answer, is anything but...

As we all recall, it wasn't that long ago that, this past September, when the Governor vowed to veto any changes to the primary. This seems to be in his normal style of blowing with the political wind.

How to be a delegate for the DNCC

What is the DNCC? The Democratic National Committee Convention. www.demconvention.com The website has a lot great information regarding volunteering, becoming staff, and how they advise you to become a delegate.

YDA is working to try to help Young Democrats become delegates to the DNCC too. You can sign up at: www.yda.org/delegateform

Yesterday, Alison Morano, interviewed Leonard Joseph, the Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party on her radio show with Kenneth Quinnel. The interview covers the delegate caucuses scheduled for March 1, and, most importantly, Leonard lent his expertise on the whole election process, Florida's role in the next year, and the goals of the Florida Democratic Party.

I encourage you to listen to the show, and make plans to participate in the Delegate Caucuses around the state on March 1.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fpc/2008/02/07/Prime-Trime

Size Does Matter

IT'S OFFICIAL: WITH 5 DAYS TO GO, MORE DEMS HAVE VOTED IN FLORIDA THAN IN EACH OF THE EARLY CONTESTS IN IA, NH & NV

Despite five active Presidential campaigns, GOP turnout remains unremarkable

TALLAHASSEE - With Election Day still five days away, thousands more Democrats have cast their votes in the Florida Presidential Primary than in each of the early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire or Nevada. Additionally, early turnout among Democrats is already triple what it was in the 2004 Florida Presidential Primary.

An incredible 295,932 Florida Democrats have voted so far (125,126 absentee and 170,806 early through 1/23/08), and this does not include more than 100,000 Democratic absentee ballots that have yet to be returned. By Tuesday, overall early turnout could quadruple 2004's numbers in which only 97,741 Democrats voted early or absentee.

"The enthusiasm among Democrats is palpable," Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen L. Thurman said. "Despite all the fuss over delegates, Democrats are going to the polls and making their voices heard in this open election. The votes will be counted, and the nation is going to be watching on Tuesday night to find out who Florida Democrats want as their nominee."

As the final early state primary before the potentially decisive Feb. 5th contests in 24 states, Florida could have an enormous impact on both the Democratic and Republican races. This early excitement in spite of the primary controversy bodes extremely well for the November general election.

Another good sign for November: Democratic absentee voting is proportionally higher than in any recent election, and more Democrats than Republicans have voted early. Republicans have traditionally held a large advantage with absentee voters, however, Democrats have significantly cut into their lead in 2008.

Moreover, Democratic absentee requests have climbed to more than 75% of their totals in the 2006 general election while Republicans have only reached 60% of their 2006 total - a marked decline that could illustrate low interest in their primary.

The total Democratic votes cast in the Iowa caucuses have been estimated at 239,000. In New Hampshire, almost 288,000 people voted in the open Democratic primary. In Nevada, 120,000 caucused for Democrats.

In Florida's 2004 Presidential Primary, according to the Secretary of State, 93,909 Democrats voted absentee and 3,832 voted early (it was not until the 2004 general election that early voting was standardized statewide.) for a total of 97,741 votes cast prior to the actual day of the primary.

A sampling of recent news stories on Democratic enthusiasm in Florida:

Jerusalem Post: Dems Skip Florida, But Jewish Voters Still Engaged
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070769786&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

WESH 2 News Orlando: Dems Say They Will Vote in Fla. Primary
http://www.wesh.com/politics/15123813/detail.html

USA Today: Florida Democrats Eager to Vote Despite Candidates' Boycott
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-01-16-florida_N.htm

The Atlantic: Absentee Explosion in Florida
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/01/florida_primary_turnout_as_of.php

Associated Press: Early Voting Crucial To Campaigns Needing Boost From Fla. Primary
http://www.wftv.com/elections/15102140/detail.html

St. Pete Times: Early Vote May Be Decisive in Florida
http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/25/State/Early_vote_may_be_dec.shtml

Miami Herald: Democrats Campaigning - On Paper
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/v-print/story/392916.html

Today Sen. Nelson & Rep. Hastings to try to help Florida count

OrlandoSentinel.com
State Dems take presidential-primary dispute to court
By John Kennedy ~ TALLAHASSEE BUREAU CHIEF

TALLAHASSEE — The state's top congressional Democrats will make one final attempt today to breathe life into the party's all-but-ignored Florida presidential primary by pressing a federal lawsuit against national party leaders.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, chairman of Florida's congressional delegation, accuse the Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, of violating the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by stripping the state of all 210 delegates to next year's national convention.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

By contrast, the Republican presidential contenders will gather Sunday in Miami for a debate hosted by Univision, the Spanish-language network. It will mark the third time in six weeks that the Republican field has flocked to Florida for a nationally televised debate.

"I think it's a huge advantage to us," said Florida U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. "Their candidates are not being known in Florida. They're not here.

"They're really kowtowing to New Hampshire at the expense of Florida," Martinez added.

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Full Article posted in comments. But, again, with the 4 state pledge, I don't think this matters.