March 10, 2008
Sharpton threatens Florida law suit
Race baiting preacher Al Sharpton is threatening a lawsuit if the Democratic party seats Florida's delegates at the convention based on the primary held last January:
Laying the groundwork for a court battle that could divide the Democratic Party, the Reverend Al Sharpton is threatening to sue the Democratic National Committee if it counts Florida's primary results in the official presidential delegates tally.Since it is only a remote possibility that such a scenario would take place, Sharpton's move has the effect of focusing Democrat's attention on what can be done to undo the damage done by the national committee when they stripped Florida and Michigan of their delegates to the convention as a result of those state's holding primaries before the officially sanctioned date of February 5.
Rev. Sharpton is traveling to Florida today to compile lists of residents who skipped the January contest because they thought their votes would not count. He plans to have those residents sign affidavits saying they would be disenfranchised by the seating of the Florida delegation, in the event the Democratic Party allowed that to happen.
The party had promised to exclude Florida and Michigan from the nomination process after the states scheduled their primaries in January, earlier than party rules had allowed, but the close contest between senators Clinton and Obama has turned attention toward those primaries, prompting debate between the campaigns and party leaders over how to handle the lockout.
Mrs. Clinton's campaign has said it wants the Florida and Michigan primaries to count, while Mr. Obama's campaign has said it will support the Democratic National Committee's rules.
Several plans are being floated including some kind of "mail in" primary and contests funded by private donations. It is unlikely any of those plans will see the light of day.
We have 6 long weeks of this back and forth on Florida and Michigan. And right now, all sides are far, far apart with no indication that they will ever get any closer to agreement.