Thoughts.com Blogs - How Barack And Hillary Can Reclaim Florida

Lots of people are wondering whether there is any way that the Democrats can avoid divisive negativity and backroom political maneuvering that would alienate one candidate or the other. Well, there is a common enemy they can turn against, an even better target than John McCain.

Charlie Crist is governor of Florida. He promoted, and signed into law, the measure that caused the Democratic National Committee to strip Florida of its delegates by moving up the primary in clear violation of the DNC rules. Now, the instigators in Florida are delighted that their mischief has caused potentially grave harm to the Democratic Party. Their "best case scenario" was the potential to force the Democratic National Committee to deplete its treasury to pay for a new Florida Democratic Primary becuase that would leave the Democrats with little funding to campaign against John McCain (a strong ally of Governor Crist). Whether one view this situation as a "dirty trick," merely an opportunistic "free kick" at the democrats, or as a conspiracy to deny Floridians the right to have their votes elect delegates to the Democratic Primary, this is an issue that deserves a closer look.

Florida Republicans enacted this law against the opposition of the Florida Democrats, who are a minority in the legislature there. They knew that Florida voters would be placed in a position not to have their votes counted -- unless the Democratic National Committee somehow reversed their clearly stated rulings. They had every reason to believe that their passage of the law moving up the primary dates would deprive Democratic voters of the right to have their primary votes counted in a way that allowed them to allocate delegates to the Democratic Convention. Especially given the controversies over the counting of Democratic votes in recent elections in Florida, the Republican's high school prank deserves a stern rebuke, and perhaps more. Florida's Democrats should not be disenfranchised once again, by Florida Republicans.

Should the Florida taxpayers foot the bill for a new primary? Of course they should! Charlie Crist and the Florida Republican Party created this entire situation, as elected officials of the State of Florida and under clear color of state action. The State of Florida is responsible for this whole mess. Their actions prevented the political expression of Democrats in their state, supposedly a sacred right. There was no campaigning in the Democratic Florida Primary because no delegates were at stake and each candidate signed a pledge not to campaign, as per the Democratic National Committee's requirements.

Should the State of Florida be investigated for yet another attempt to rig an election? There is a prima facie case for massive manipulation and disenfranchisement of Florida Democrats. Any investigation should be persued at this time, unlike the 2000 election issue that was short-circuited by the State of Florida and the US Supreme Court. Is this something with which Clinton and Obama and the Democratic National Committee can all agree? Perhaps the Democrats can help unite the party while putting a stop to the latest voting rights violations perpetrated by the State of Florida. Attempts to disenfranchise American voters should not continue to slide under the radar.