By Democrats.
This is one of the most bizzare stories I've ever heard about electoral politics, and I want to keep it handy for all of the numbskulls who continue to bleat that black voters were screwed by the GOP.
When the Florida legislature voted last spring to move up the Florida primary from March to Jan. 29th, in violation of national party rules, the Democratic National Committee reacted harshly.
To punish Florida, it stripped the state of all 210 of its convention delegates. In order to appease the four approved earlier primary states, the Democratic presidential candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida. All they were allowed to do here was to quickly sneak in and out of private fund-raisers.
While the Republicans also punished Florida, they were much gentler. The national GOP took away half the Florida delegates – leaving a still generous 57 up for grabs – but allowed the Republican candidates to campaign freely here, and as it turned out, without opposition.
A lot of local Democrats thought allowing that to happen was just plain nuts. And two very prominent Democrats even hauled their own national party into federal court.
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings argued that in taking away Florida's delegates, and rendering the primary election little more than a beauty contest, the Democratic National Committee was disenfranchising Florida voters. Hastings claimed the real victims are the people he calls "Joe and Jane Lunch Bucket." Ultimately, they lost that federal case, but the bitter sentiment still resonates.
So what does it mean? It means that the Democrats have 210 delegates in its pocket which it can arbitrarily use at its convention without any regard for the way people actually voted in Florida. Think about that for a while.
