Kate Sheppard talks to state party representatives and finds frustration over the status of Florida's delegates, compounded by reminders of the 2000 election:
While much of the coverage of the Florida question has focused on the back-and-forth between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Democrats in the state like [Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen] Thurman have a host of concerns stemming from the delegate debacle. But other than flat-out rejecting another vote, consensus in the state is not clear on what they'd like to see happen.Foremost among their shared concerns are the record 1.7 million Democrats that came out to vote in January -- more than quadruple the total the number that voted in the 2004 primary – which most state Democrats feel shouldn't be ignored by the national party. Any attempts to vote again would produce nowhere near that level of turnout, and it would expend financial resources better spent on ensuring this coveted state doesn't go red once again in November. More importantly, the Florida Democrats' firm stance on upholding their January vote forces the DNC to make a decision on how to deal with states that buck the primary scheme -- an issue that's bound to come up again. ...Ana Cruz, a Clinton adviser for the state of Florida and the volunteer chair of Florida for Hillary, says that the ongoing debate over the delegates is exceptionally frustrating for Democrats who worked on the 2000 election in the state. Cruz knows those frustrations well, having served as the executive director of the state party and the deputy finance chair for Gore's presidential campaign."A lot of us fought so hard in 2000 to win this state. And then for the DNC to turn around and treat us like the red-headed stepchild once again, it's just not fair, and it's just not right," said Cruz."People want their vote to be heard, regardless of what the DNC says," Cruz continued. "They've been disenfranchised since 2000, and they're not going to tolerate it."
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--The Editors
