Napolitano looking smarter on decision about presidential primary

August 25th, 2007, 4:58 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar

Gov. Janet NapolitanoJust days after Gov. Janet Napolitano decided not to risk the anger of the national Democratic Party by moving Arizona’s presidential primary earlier than Feb. 5, Florida Democrats have been told such defiance will carry a heavier price than previously thought.Both the Democratic and Republican parties had sought to retain control over the primary calendar by threatening to withdraw some delegate seats at their national conventions if any state held elections earlier than Feb. 5 without permission. This strategy is meant to protect the unique roles of Iowa and New Hampshire in the nominating process, while the Democratic Party also gave a nod to Nevada and South Carolina to move into January to create more geographic and demographic balance among the earliest states.This threat didn’t stop the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and Republican governor from moving up that state’s primary to Jan. 29. Many states are tired of Iowa and New Hampshire having so much say about which candidates become the party nominees, and all of the personal campaigning and media attention that goes with being the first two states to vote. Florida politicians figured they can grab more of the election spotlight, in a positive way, by jumping in early.Florida Democrats originally argued against the Jan. 29 primary, but agreed to participate once it was clear their Republican counterparts were going ahead. An alternative Democrat event later in February has been predicted to draw far fewer voters. That certainly has been true in the past in Arizona when either Democrats or Republicans have held a nominating caucus or convention some time after this state’s official presidential primary.However, on Saturday, the rules committee of the Democratic National Committee turned up the heat. The Associated Press reported the committee voted to reject ALL of Florida’s delegate votes if state Democrats don’t move back into February. The full DNC still would have to approve the change, and the AP said it’s still likely Florida delegates would wind up at the 2008 convention in Denver. Otherwise, the Democratic Party would risk angering a whole lot of people in Florida by saying their votes don’t count, especially if the Republican Party doesn’t issue similar penalties to its Florida delegation.But the fear now is Democrat candidates will avoid campaigning in Florida out of concern they will waste time and money on a state that might not contribute to winning the party nomination.I wrote on this blog Wednesday that Napolitano made the safest bet by picking Feb. 5 for Arizona’s presidential primary, although it will be only one among a couple of dozen states to vote that day. The Tribune Editorial Board said a bolder move would have been to move into January like Florida. But we hadn’t counted on either party raising the stakes for such a gamble.