DNC rules co-chair: Florida Democratic Party refused to hold alternate primary
I have been telling you guys for months that it is wrong for the Florida Democratic Party to continue to assert that the issues with voters in their state was due to Republican intervention. James Roosevelt, co-chair of the DNC Rules Committee, said that officials in Florida knew very well that them voting in the presidential race on January 29 would result in a violation of the rules. He said that the DNC told the Florida Democratic Party last year that they could hold their own, state-sponsored primary, on February 5 or after, and the DNC was willing to pay for it. But the Florida Democratic Party did NOTHING. In March 2008, the same offer was made, but THEN the Florida Democratic Party said it was too late to do such a thing. Now, the Clinton camps crows and crows about paying for such a primary NOW, and that the Obama camp has blocked their efforts. But if these same folks actually cared about this issue LAST YEAR, then they should have spoken up. They should have put their money on the table last year. Like I said, Clinton didn’t know that she would need these delegates to catch up to Obama. Now that she needs them, she wants them. Let me reiterate: the Florida Democratic Party could have easily decided almost A YEAR AGO to hold their own primary. But THEY chose not to. So enough with the blaming of the Democrats. Had they spent March 2007 to February 5, 2008 planning for their own event, the voters in the state would not have been disenfranchised. And let me reiterate that a number of other states held a GOP primary on one day, and a Democratic on another. This is why I have refused to bend on the issue of the need for Democrats to stop putting all the blame on Florida Republicans. It also should be on them.









