By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 25, 2007

Florida lawmakers angrily assailed the Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, saying he is threatening to "disenfranchise" the state's voters by considering a plan to invalidate the state's presidential primary.

The DNC's rules committee is to vote today whether to sanction Florida for violating party rules by moving its primary up to Jan. 29 and violating a party rule against holding a primary before Feb. 5. The action would deny Florida its delegates at the party's national convention next year and prohibit Democratic presidential candidates from campaigning in the state before the primary.

In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said the DNC "is poised to assault the basic right of a person to vote at its meeting tomorrow." He threatened to sue the national party to prevent the sanctions from being imposed.

"I hope that cooler heads are going to prevail tomorrow," an exasperated Nelson said. "If they don't, and if the full DNC were to then take that position, then certainly we will have to assert what we think are important rights."

The extraordinary clash between a national party and one of the nation's biggest -- and most politically important -- states is the latest evidence that the decades-old system of picking presidential nominees is in crisis. Republican leaders, too, are struggling to maintain control over the schedule of voting and could similarly sanction Florida's Republican Party.

Florida's decision to move its primary has sparked moves by other states, threatening the tradition of presidential campaigning beginning in Iowa and New Hampshire. Desperate to maintain their place at the front of the process, the two states have vowed to vote even earlier, possibly even in December.

"You now see the end of a system that we've been living with since the 1970s," said Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's campaign in 2000 and is a member of the DNC rules committee. "It fell apart in the last cycle, but we kept it together with very interesting glue and duct tape. Unfortunately, this is really out of control."

Nelson and other Florida Democrats yesterday laid the blame for the standoff squarely at Dean's feet. They noted Democrats are following the lead of a Republican legislature and governor who moved the state's primary to Jan. 29 by law, but vowed to stand up for their state's right to have a say in the nominating process.

"There is no elected official that is going to allow their voters to become irrelevant," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

But national party officials shot back, accusing Florida Democrats of standing by idly while the state's Republican legislature acted. Stacie Paxton, a spokeswoman for Dean, said Florida Democratic leaders are to blame for their own bleak situation.

"They could have done something. They have made this decision for their voters," Paxton said. "Did these leaders do anything to prevent passage of legislation they knew was in violation of the rules?"

Dean was not made available to comment on the situation. Paxton said that if Florida insists on having a statewide primary on Jan. 29, the rules require that it must hold a caucus or convention after Feb. 5 to choose delegates.

"We've spent months working with the Florida Democratic Party to come up with an alternative process and comply with the national rules they voted for," Paxton said. "In the end, we hope Florida will do the right thing."

Under DNC rules, which were adopted more than a year ago, Florida's decision to vote earlier than Feb. 5 will automatically trigger a loss of half of the state's delegates. But DNC officials appear likely to increase that penalty to 100 percent of the delegates, a move that could leave the Florida section of the convention floor vacant.

The state could appeal the sanction after the convention begins, but party officials said there is no precedent for seating delegates from a state that has been banned. In a letter to Dean this week, the Democratic members of Florida's congressional delegation said they would push the issue.

"We would recommend to the chairman and leadership of the Florida Democratic Party that they send the party's entire delegation to the national convention in Denver next year anyway," the members said in the letter.

If the DNC committee allows Florida to award some delegates on Jan. 29, its rules would ban presidential candidates from actively campaigning there. Candidates who disobeyed the ban would lose delegates they might earn in the primary.

But no one appears to know for certain what that means, as the national party rules do not explicitly define "campaigning."

On its face, the rule would appear to prohibit rallies, meet-and-greet gatherings, house parties, speeches to interest groups and campaign bus tours.

The rules say that fundraising is usually considered part of campaigning and would be banned. But it is silent about events that have already been scheduled, such as a Democratic debate set for early September, officials said. And it is equally unclear whether candidates can e-mail video clips of themselves to supporters or engage in long-distance telephone interviews with Florida radio hosts.

In the end, the candidates could ignore the ban and campaign in Florida, anyway -- not for the delegates, but for the sense of momentum that would come from winning such a large, pivotal state.

The 2000 general election was decided in Florida by 537 votes. Said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.): "Knowing how important Florida is, I bet every one of them will beat a fast retreat" to the state this year.