Floridians vote today in a tight GOP race while no Democratic party delegates are at stake.
CNN is showing Senator John McCain of Arizona and former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts appear to be neck-and-neck, with a McCain win sure to cement his status as the national front-runner.
Democrats, meantime, pledged not to campaign in the Sunshine state as the party stripped Florida's delegates over scheduling. Senator Hillary Clinton continues to stress the state's importance calling it the "next battlefront" after she lost South Carolina to Senator Barack Obama. Clinton's campaign says the Senator will be in Florida tonight.
BlogHer's Catherine Morgan points out the early voting in Florida,
"This could throw a real monkey wrench into the outcome of our primary. Talk about a pollster and pundit nightmare."
According to the Florida Secretary of State, nearly 1 million voters have already cast their ballot prior to today-rivaling the 1.3 million TOTAL voters who participated in the state's 2000 primary.
Anne at BackYard Conservative weighs in on the latest poll numbers from Florida, while Lauren Kirchner at 23/6 ponders who will get ex-candidate Fred Thompson's votes.
Join us as we watch Florida results, leave your links, comments, and posts as the Sunshine State weighs in on Election '08. Don't forget to use the Mr. Linky Widget at the bottom of this post, it's an easy way to leave your link!
Comments
Disenfranchised voter here
By: Denise Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoI voted.
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
I'm another disenfranchised voter...
By: Catherine Morgan Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoI wrote about my experience of being a disenfranchised voter here.
Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog
You tell 'em Catherine
By: Denise Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoGood post. I'm with you, even if you didn't vote for Hillary. ;-)
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
The Suspense!
By: Mary Katharine Ham Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoAbout a week's worth of early votes for Fred Thompson will still go to Fred Thompson. Wonder how many, and whether they'll prove to be a spoiler for Mitt. Rudy's still counting on early votes pulling him out, but he's also hedging his bets, saying the winner in Florida will be the nominee, and that he plans to make a decision about the race Wednesday morning. And, so, the outsized influence of Florida on our national elections continues unabated. What do people think about Hillary breaking her pledge not to campaign in Florida?
They're all campaigning here
By: Denise Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoHillary isn't campaigning any more than Obama is. She's not arriving in Florida until after the polls close tonight. And, I'd much rather all three democrats stand up for my vote than say I don't count because my electorals don't count.
If Obama happens to win the nomination, I'll have a very VERY hard time voting for him for President. I'm a conservative democrat anyway... he should think about that just a little more than he seems to be.
Dana, the republican might vote democrat in the end... and this democrat might find herself voting republican. Wouldn't that be a strange strange thing?
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
Is Obama in Florida?
By: Erin Kotecki Vest Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoTonight or otherwise? I haven't seen yet-
-my mom called from the Tampa area livid they didn't resolve this before today, and shes undecided.
Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain
No, not in Florida
By: Karoli Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoBut if the DNC should decide to restore the delegates your mom should vote today as if they count, in my opinion. I think it would be wrong to do it that way, but for safety's sake I'd make sure I had my vote in just in case.
karoli (odd time signatures)
Not yet
By: Denise Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoI keep waiting for him to say he's coming, but so far --- nothing.
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
He is in Kansas today
By: Karoli Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agothe situation in Florida is such a mess...For the DNC to strip Florida of its delegates entirely for moving the primary seems wrong to me, but restoring them after their decision seems more wrong. It creates a no-win situation for all the candidates. If HRC had won SC, I doubt she would've spent as much time in Florida as she has. BHO has to then roll the dice and guess on whether or not Florida delegates will come into play after the fact and how to allocate resources to them in the face of a 22-state primary race next week. What a mess.
karoli (Political Blog: (bang the drum)
Oy! Denise! If we
By: Dana J. Tuszke Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoOy! Denise! If we flip-flop the party lines, I will buy you dinner at BlogHer '08 come July. That would be just the cat's pajama's. Or some clever saying like that. :)
Even though I find Ron Paul really annoying, I'm biting the bullet and taking a closer look at his campaign. I doubt I'll like him, though.
Painful as it is to say this, I'm leaning towards Obama, but I've got an open letter to the senator in the works as I type this. I can't decide whether to post it at BlogHer or on my own blog. We'll see...
Depends what your definition of "campaigning" is ;)
By: Erin Kotecki Vest Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoThe entire Clinton Michigan/Florida thing smacked of SMARMY when I first heard. Although some Florida voters have made it a point to note they are glad *someone* is speaking up for them.
Personally I'd like to see Clinton take on the state DNC, instead of attempts to count delegates that were deemed null and void. I want to see Clinton (and the other candidates for that matter) push for rescheduling both states, not just an attempt to pick up the delegates on the sly.
Clinton's tactics on this really rubbed me the wrong way and I'd like to see everyone honor their agreements and work together to have a *fair* fight in both Florida and Michigan -not just for the sake of their own campaigns either, but for the voters in both states who do deserve to be heard.
Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain
Partially agree
By: Denise Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoWe should never have been disenfranchised in the first place. (Michigan either)
All of the candidates should have fought the DNC.
All of the candidates should BE fighting the DNC.
And I still say I'd give Obama (and Edwards) more props and consideration if they said SOMETHING that indicated they wanted my vote to count. Either the one I made today - or the one I might make in the future.
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
With Denise on Delegates (Mostly)
By: Mary Katharine Ham Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoI'm with you on the candidates fighting the parties on this. I know a lot of Republicans were glad to see that the candidates were coming to talk to them regardless of the RNC's rulings. Democrats would have done well to make the opposite pledge from the one they made, and just gone ahead and campaigned, I think. When you're competing to be the candidate of change, why come across like an establishment wussy by just taking what the DNC gives you and stiffing the people of Fla.?
Hillary's shifting rhetoric on this, though, when just last week she was batting at Obama for campaigning in Florida, is a symptom of her loss in SC and not terribly becoming.
Update from my Mom
By: Erin Kotecki Vest Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoShe voted, and said she's confused. And my Dad was mad he couldn't vote on either side since he's registered Independent. I told him to move here ;)
Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain
How do we give the DNC less power to do what they did
By: Jill Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoIs there an argument to be made that the DNC shouldn't have such a power, or that the ability to strip has to be decided with more, ahem, democracy in mind as opposed to rule-following?
I just don't know a lot about how the DNC works or is expected to work, but I would have hoped there's be some kind of override ability that gives the states the ultimate say so.
Jill
Writes Like She Talks
I worked at the DNC briefly
By: Morra Aarons Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agostate v national party enmity is a long, old story, and it poisons so many things, as we see here.
I agree with Denise: wish Obama and Edwards had shown more spine and respected the voters of Florida more than the idiots who are delegates, electors and State party officials.
This is one more reason I don't think Obama is as anti-Establishment as he positions himself to be, you know?
Interesting!
By: Jill Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoI wished I'd been following that more closely when it was happening - being in Ohio and knowing we weren't changing, I kind of let it slide. Curious to know what the consequences might have been if they did have the spine as you say.
Jill
Writes Like She Talks
I need guidance...
By: JenInShanghai Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoCan someone point me to a website that will explain exactly why the Democrats don't matter in this primary in Florida (or why Michigan didn't count either) I still don't understand and the best I can make of the articles I have read is that it had something to do with dates switching and the DNC not liking that.... Thanks! I have to rely on the internet (sites that are not blocked) to get all my news and I am getting lost in a maze on this one.
Have a great evening!
Jen (in SNOWY! Shanghai)
try this piece from Kate Phillips
By: Morra Aarons Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agohttp://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/floridas-democratic-delega...
MSNBC & Keith Olbermann are infuriating me...
By: Catherine Morgan Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoMSNBC & Keith Olbermann are infuriating me...(I really wanted to say "pissing me off" but I didn't think that would be nice in the title).
Keith Olbermann won't call the Democratic primary in FL, a primary...he keeps saying he doesn't know what to call it. Like we're just a silly little fly in his pundit pudding, he can't be bothered. I'm really starting to not like him.
Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog
That is why I won't do MSNBC
By: Denise Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoI will not even load their site if I can help it. I don't like Olbermann.
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
CNN calls Florida for Hillary
By: Kim Pearson Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoand has McCain with a slight lead over Romney. About 20 % of the precincts have reported on both sides.
Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|
Thanks for the update Kim...
By: Catherine Morgan Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoThanks for the update Kim...I'm switching over to CNN. :)
Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog
Are they in an airplane hangar???
By: Catherine Morgan Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoWere are they??? It looks like CNN in covering the debate from an airplane hangar??? What's that about???
Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog
Good chart to follow the returns
By: Jill Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoCheck here.
Jill
Writes Like She Talks
Wrist Slaps
By: TW Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoOk, you folks often wonder about TW being a Republican and I think that this whole disenfranchisement thing embodies the issues I have with the Democratic party. The Democrats (as a party) tend to have these broad moralistic punishments of the "baddies". Republicans wrist slap and let God sort the baddies out.
~TW
Retro-Food
explain more...
By: Morra Aarons Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoI'm willing to believe you TW, the DNC can be incredily sall-minded. Except... I think perhaps the RNC was motivated not to enforce punishment because they have less skin in the game right now...their favorites aren't up there....there is no equivalent of a Clinton, a de facto head of the Democratic Party. motivating the RNC's actions.
but I don't know much about Republican Party politics- is it true the RNC cared less about unruly state party officials?
CNN Projection : McCain Wins Florida
By: Catherine Morgan Posted: 15 weeks 3 days agoContributing Editor Catherine Morgan
CatherineBlogs, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog