2008 Woodie Awards
Exclusion of Delegates Impacts Florida's Primaries
Fatema Karmelli
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Opinions
On January 29th, millions of Florida residents went to the polls in order to cast their votes in the Presidential primary. The Democrats in particular, it seems, headed out in full force and with the hope of making a difference.
According to the party's state website, this year's number of voters, more than one and a half million, "surpassed the total combined vote in the first four 'early states'" and "shattered the previous state record for turnout in a Democratic Presidential Primary".
Florida's democratic primary hasn't always been in January. The date was actually moved up just last year, against party rules, in the hope of increasing Florida's effect on the election. In response, the Democratic Party stripped Florida of all two hundred and ten of her delegates to the national convention. (The Republican National Committee, in contrast, halved Florida's delegates to fifty seven.) And these delegates, not directly the people, are technically the ones selecting the Democratic nominee.
So why did the voters bother going out at all? In a message urging state Democrats to vote, Karen Thurman, Chair of the Florida Democraticuence that the Florida vote has (even with no delegates to show for it) on the election through the broadcasting of results by the media. It's a kind of groupthink: Candidates with strong numbers early on are more likely to garner support from later voting states, as voters begin to form ideas about which candidates actually have a chance of succeeding in the election.
This is clearly the same stance that has been taken by Hillary Clinton, who won both here and in Michigan, another state whose delegates have been taken away for the same reason. In her Florida primary speech, Clinton said she was "…convinced that, with this resounding vote, with the millions of Americans who will vote next Tuesday, we will send a clear message that America is back…."
And also, apparently, that Hillary is a worthy opponent and is still going strong.
According to the party's state website, this year's number of voters, more than one and a half million, "surpassed the total combined vote in the first four 'early states'" and "shattered the previous state record for turnout in a Democratic Presidential Primary".
Florida's democratic primary hasn't always been in January. The date was actually moved up just last year, against party rules, in the hope of increasing Florida's effect on the election. In response, the Democratic Party stripped Florida of all two hundred and ten of her delegates to the national convention. (The Republican National Committee, in contrast, halved Florida's delegates to fifty seven.) And these delegates, not directly the people, are technically the ones selecting the Democratic nominee.
So why did the voters bother going out at all? In a message urging state Democrats to vote, Karen Thurman, Chair of the Florida Democraticuence that the Florida vote has (even with no delegates to show for it) on the election through the broadcasting of results by the media. It's a kind of groupthink: Candidates with strong numbers early on are more likely to garner support from later voting states, as voters begin to form ideas about which candidates actually have a chance of succeeding in the election.
This is clearly the same stance that has been taken by Hillary Clinton, who won both here and in Michigan, another state whose delegates have been taken away for the same reason. In her Florida primary speech, Clinton said she was "…convinced that, with this resounding vote, with the millions of Americans who will vote next Tuesday, we will send a clear message that America is back…."
And also, apparently, that Hillary is a worthy opponent and is still going strong.
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