Word: florida
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...Which is perhaps why the Obama campaign seems resigned to the DNC decision that Florida's primary results, like Michigan's, will not count. It issued a statement this month assuring supporters that "neither the Florida nor Michigan primaries are playing any role in deciding the Democratic nominee." Obama's Florida campaign chairman, U.S. Representative Robert Wexler says, "I too detest the DNC ruling" and that he believes that "whoever the presumptive nominee is will seat the delegation from Florida." But he insists that those delegates would simply be there to declare their backing of an already anointed nominee...
...Others blast the DNC ruling for what they call its hypocrisy: it still allows candidates to attend fund raisers in Florida, essentially telling the state that while the party won't take Florida's delegates, it's more than happy to take its cash. Clinton herself was scheduled to hold two such events in Miami Beach on Sunday, one of them a $2,300-a-head reception hosted by a developer, though neither is open to the press or public...
...Making matters potentially worse for Democrats in Florida is that the Republican National Committee, while also sanctioning the Florida G.O.P. for the state's primary move, has not been nearly as harsh in its punishment. As a result, Republican candidates have descended on Florida and held a nationally televised debate at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton last week. That's why many fear the Democrats' no-campaign-in-Florida pledge may hurt the party in November, especially among the state's large cohort of independents. The candidates' primary absence could "end up costing the Democrats 1% of the vote...
...Florida's Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, who has spent his first year in office building bridges with Democrats, told TIME the DNC decision "just doesn't make any sense. Why would you thwart your eventual nominee's opportunity for any campaign activity, especially in a large state like Florida and especially when you're talking about electing the next leader of the free world? It doesn't send voters a very good message." Since Florida is such a bellwether for the nation as a whole, former Florida G.O.P. chairman Al Cardenas calls it "great news" for Republicans...
...November effect, Wexler's confident that precisely because Florida is so important, the Democratic candidates will come to stump there soon after Super Tuesday and more than make up for the primary void. "Florida is not a state the candidates will ignore," he says. Mark Brubiski, Florida Democratic Party spokesman, says that while "there has been concern on our side that this would have a long lasting impact, we've worked really hard to fight back...