Broadcasters in Florida won’t be getting a windfall from a new Democratic presidential primary. State party officials have dropped the idea of a mail-in election. The Democratic National Committee has refused to seat delegates elected in party primaries in Florida and Michigan because they held their elections earlier than party rules allowed. A decision on a possible Michigan do-over should come soon.
State party officials had asked Democrats throughout the state for feedback on whether or not they wanted a new vote. "While your reasons vary widely, the consensus is clear: Florida doesn’t want to vote again. So we won’t," Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Karen Thurman said in a statement.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) won the January 29th vote in both states, despite the fact that neither she nor Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) campaigned in either state. Neither did other Democrats who were in the race at that time. Obama’s name did not even appear on the Michigan ballot. With the contest so close, the Clinton campaign has been pushing for the Florida and Michigan delegates to be seated – and idea that, not surprisingly, is opposed by the Obama campaign. By the way, the Republican National Committee also punished Florida and Michigan for jumping the gun, but only by stripping them of half their delegates.
RBR/TVBR observation: Bob Prather apparently didn’t get enough people sending in cards and letters to back the idea of a re-vote – at least not in Florida. The Gray Television President had urged Wall Street analysts and investors, with a chuckle in his voice, to send in cards and letters to the Democratic Party decision makers during his conference call last week (3/14/08 TVBR #52). Gray has multiple stations in both states. Maybe he’ll have more success in Michigan.
