In Florida, Some Rules May Be Worth Breaking

The bells of politics are ringing through the internet, other media, street corners, bars, churches, activist organizations, school campuses and entire communities in every state, county and city all fueled by dialogue and debate that has led to a level of political engagement unlike anything witnessed in recent history.  

 There is a pronounced collective thirst for change and new leadership, largely the result of eight years of what many call a failed Republican White House and administration that has led to national malaise, partly the result of a nightmare called Iraq and an economy on the brinks of recession.  Across the nation, voters are heading to polls in record numbers holding tight to the core belief that every person’s vote will count and effect the direction this nation takes in the future.

 No doubt, our convoluted current system of selecting delegates to party conventions is confusing and flawed.   But as it stands now, it’s the closest thing we can come up with in selecting the best candidates for the more important contest in November.  

And, despite rules over when those votes were cast, any attempt to disenfranchise a voter, much less an entire state, regardless of what party officials point to as guidelines, is fundamentally wrong. Such a move threatens the very spirit of our democracy unless there is a tangible and workable solution that gives every voter a voice in the selection process.

According to a March 1, press release from the Florida Democratic Party, the state’s Party Chairwoman said “the party continues to move ahead with our delegate selection process, and we’re looking forward to our delegation being seated in Denver.”

The press release said the diversity of its delegation would be strong, representing the diversity that Florida is a delegation of multiple ethnicities, incomes, sexual orientations and genders.

And as Florida well knows, there have been questionable tactics and behaviors that have led to some of the country’s greatest scars in electoral history.

The hope is that in August, the elected delegates of Florida’s Democratic Party will be seated, and with them, the almost two million voices of Florida voters who went to the polls in January because that’s when their state’s officials told them they should go, will be heard.   And, while some say that recognition of Florida’s delegates might threaten national party unity, there are still others who warn there are more important values within the concept Democracy itself that trump political aspiration and party cohesion. In the end,

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