See also: FL Dems scrub inconvenient FAQ from "Make It Count" website by jethropalerobber.
There have been numerous diaries discussing the Florida primary debacle but I've yet to see one that includes video and audio of what actually transpired during this time. Florida's Democrats, supported by the Florida Democratic Party leadership, have consistently maintained they were steamrollered by the Florida GOP into setting the primary date on January 29, 2008, violating the primary schedule created by the DNC and resulting in the loss of Convention delegates. I've commented in several of these diaries that my state's Democratic legislators, rather than make an honest - albeit sure to fail, given they're in the minority - attempt to keep the primary date at Feb. 5, were instead equally complicit in creating this mess.
I was spurred to write this diary when I received an email on Monday from FDP leader Karen Thurman stating, in part, the following:
For a year now, the Florida Democratic Party has tried to comply with the Delegate Selection Rules of the Democratic National Committee.
We researched every potential alternative process - from caucuses to county conventions to mail-in elections - but no plan could come anywhere close to being viable in Florida.
We made a detailed case to the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, but we were denied.
Our Democratic legislators in Tallahassee tried to set the Florida primary on Feb. 5, instead of Jan. 29, but of course, their proposed amendment to House Bill 537 was greeted with laughter and derision from the Republicans who control the state government. [audio link]
The audio link is from the House vote on H537 on March 21, 2007, which passed by a vote of 115-1. You will hear Dem Minority Leader Dan Gelber and Dem Leader Pro Tempore Joyce Cusack (my Rep) offer an amendment to set the primary date to Feb. 5. The amendment failed by voice vote with no debate.
Here, now, is a video link to the related Senate debate on April 26, 2007, in which Democratic Minority Leader Steven Geller and and Minority Leader Pro-Tempore Frederica Wilson introduce an amendment to S960 to set the primary date to Feb 5. The relevant portion of the video begins at 6:22:22 minutes in. You should be able to use your media player's scroll bar to advance to that time, if you don't wish to watch the entire session. Just like their House counterparts, Geller and Wilson request no debate on the amendment and it fails on a voice vote. Geller doesn't seem too upset that Senate Repubs are "laughing derisively"; in fact, he has a few chuckles himself. He's heard to comment something to the effect of the only purpose of his and Wilson's amendment is to show the DNC the Dems tried to stop the primary date from being set early.
Florida's Democratic legislators have been defended in some circles as having no choice but to vote for the primary bill due to the paper ballot provision. However, there's more to that story than the Florida Dems and the FDP want to be known. S960 was originally a separate general elections bill containing the paper trail provision, but with no mention of primary date. On Feb. 9, 2007, S960 was referred to the Ethics and Elections Committee, which contains three Democrats and five Republicans. On April 17, this committee voted to merge S1010, the primary date bill, into S960 by a vote of 7-0. I haven't been able to determine which member didn't vote and why, but even if it was a Dem, it still means that two Dems on this committee voted in favor of merging the paper ballot bill with the primary bill. The merged bill then became S960.
It's worth remembering, also, that the original S1010 - the bill to set the primary date - was solely sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Ring (D-FL-32). Additionally, Senator Ring is reported to have said in the relevant committee meetings that the early primary date was worth the risk of the national parties imposing sanctions, as the loss of delegates was less valuable than Florida having a say in the Dem Party's nominee. (So, Senator, how's that working out for you?)
Why, when Florida's Dems claim they made every effort to stop the GOP from moving the primary date to Jan. 29, did they not exercise vigorous debate on these amendments? Why did so few vote in favor of the amendments at all? Since both were unrecorded voice votes, there's no way to tell who voted Yea and Nay.
The prevailing sentiment seems to be that the nationwide primary schedule is a mess and should be fixed anyway. I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on that matter one way or the other. However, it's also an entirely separate matter from the one at hand. Florida's legislators on both sides of the aisle colluded to screw Florida's voters; it's hurting Democratic voters more than Republicans, although no one could have predicted (gee, where have I heard that before?) the situation we find ourselves in now. The sad irony is, had Florida held its primary on or after Feb. 5 in keeping with the primary schedule previously agreed upon, the state probably would have had a major impact on the choice of Presidential nominee.
In my opinion, none of the documented actions by my state's Democrats display the slightest evidence of any serious attempt to stop the Presidential Primary date from being moved to Jan. 29. But I encourage you to watch, listen, read, and decide for yourselves.