Florida Democrats Ask National Democratic Committee for Permission to Use January 29 Primary

Posted on by June 11, 2007
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On June 10, the Florida Democratic Party Central Committee voted unanimously to use the presidential primary to choose delegates to the national convention. The legislature earlier this year moved the primary to January 29.

The Democratic National Committee rules provide severe punishment for any state Democratic Party (other than the New Hampshire and South Carolina Democratic Parties) that uses a presidential primary to choose delegates, if that primary is earlier than January 29. The national rules say Florida would lose all its super delegates and half its regular delegates. Furthermore, any Democratic presidential candidate who campaigns in Florida would lose all his or her delegates from Florida. The state party will ask for an exemption.

The state party’s other alternative would have been to choose delegates at a caucus, but the state party has rejected that idea. The Florida Democratic Party will lean heavily on the fact that since it is in the minority in both houses of the legislature, and since the Governor is a Republican, there is nothing to party could do to stop the primary from being moved to January 29. Thanks to Tony Roza for this news.

Hillary Clinton Gives a Somewhat Favorable Response to Expanded General Election Debate

Posted on by June 10, 2007
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On June 9, Hillary Clinton was appearing at a campaign event near Ames, Iowa. The exact location was the Prairie Moon Winery. Larry Reinsch was able to be recognized for a question, and he asked if she would participate in a general election presidential debate (if she is the Democratic nominee) that includes all presidential candidates who are on the ballot in enough states to theoretically win the election.

She said, “Well, I would certainly be open to doing it. I…you know, I might, uh…there might be a couple of people that I would be a little bit reluctant about, but, you know, I am generally open to that. You know in New York we have a lot of parties; we don’t just have the Democratic and Republican Party, we have a lot of other parties. And, you, I believe in…in free and open debate. Uh, so I will certainly consider it. I’m not going to make a 100% commitment, because it’s a hypothetical, and I try to stay away from hypotheticals. But I take your point and I think that it’s a very important one that we need to get as many people involved as possible, and that means having a lot of opinions out there that people can respond to.”

Larry Reinsch’s excellent activism is exactly what Rock the Debates is hoping to encourage. It is hoped that Reinsch and other activists will be able to the other Republican and Democratic contenders the same question.

Thanks to Some of You, COFOE Raises Enough Money for Proposed New North Carolina Lawsuit

Posted on by June 10, 2007
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Last month, this site appealed for donations to COFOE (Coalition for Free & Open Elections) to help pay for a proposed new ballot access lawsuit. North Carolina ballot access restrictions for independent candidates for U.S. House are so restrictive, no independent candidate for that office has ever appeared on a government-printed ballot in that state. The proposed lawsuit will challenge the petition requirement, which is 4% of the number of registered voters in the district, or approximately 13,000 to 14,000 signatures. The law also requires a large filing fee.

Some of you responded to that appeal, and enough money has now been raised for the proposed North Carolina lawsuit. COFOE received one donation for $250, the largest single donation ever made to COFOE. Thank you!

Cases now pending that have received some financial help for COFOE are: (1) Schaefer v Lamone, now pending in the 4th circuit, which challenges Maryland’s law on the order of candidates on the ballot; (2) Wasson v Bradbury, which challenge’s Oregon’s law making it illegal for a primary voter to sign an independent candidate petition; (3) State of Washington v Washington Republican, Democratic, Libertarian Parties, over the “top-two” primary.

Additional contributions to COFOE will be put to good use. There is a need for additional resources for the Pennsylvania ballot access case. If you are willing to help, please send a check to COFOE and mail it to PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147.

Republican Nationwide Poll Released June 9

Posted on by June 9, 2007
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On June 9, Opinion Dynamics released a nationwide poll of registered voters who expect to vote in Republican presidential primaries. It was a telephone poll with 900 respondents. The results: Rudy Giuliani 22%, John McCain 15%, Fred Thompson 13%, Mitt Romney 10%, Newt Gingrich 8%, Mike Huckabee 3%, Ron Paul 2%, Tommy Thompson 2%, Tom Tancredo 1%, Chuck Hagel 1%, Duncan Hunter 1%. Under 1% were Sam Brownback and Jim Gilmore. Undecided and other are 21%.