Off topic: Florida Democrats have more power than they realize

Today, Democratic party officials from Florida and Michigan are in the nation's capitol to present their cases the National Democratic Party brass in an effort get delegates from both states seated.

The 2007 Legislature moved the Florida's presidential primary from March 11 to Jan. 29, and the Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of all 211 delegate votes for jumping ahead of the Feb. 5 date allowed by party rules. Michigan voted Jan. 15 and is in the same situation — stripped of its 156 delegates. Both states are appealing to the DNC in back-to-back hearings, offering compromises to seat at least half their delegations and divide them between Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Florida Democratic Chairwoman Karen Thurman said she expects to come home with a half-delegation. Whether its 211 delegates with a half-vote each, or the party has to cull its already chosen delegate lists and tell half to stay home, she said, "I just don't know."

Mrs. Thurman is clearly at the mercy of DNC boss Howard Dean as to the fate of the delegates.

More power than they realize
Mrs. Thurman's position is one of weakness. If Florida Democratic Party leaders went into today's meeting and told Howard Dean & Company either you seat all of the Florida delegates, with full votes, or we'll keep the party's nominee of the state ballot. They'd back Mr. Dean so far into a corner it wouldn't be funny. Just the threat alone would force Mr. Dean to sing a new tune, and to be a little more open to negotiating fairly with Florida Democrats.

National Democrats could not afford to have its party's nominee kept off the ballot of the nation's third largest state.

From hanging chads to potentially half delegates Florida always seems to find itself at the center of some election crisis. This one could be averted.