Tampa activist lawsuit against DNC to be appealed in Atlanta appeals court

[madfloridian]

This is an interesting article about why the Tampa judge dismissed the case, and it also goes into the Nelson/Hastings lawsuit as well. Kendall Coffey of Bush v Gore fame or infamy, whichever, is quoted.

Kendall Coffey to challenge DNC..."Echoes of 2000"

He is the pro bono lawyer for Nelson and Hastings.

More about the lawsuits here.

Judge Rules DNC, Florida Clash Is 'Intra-Party Dispute'

TAMPA - The first legal challenge to the Democratic National Committee's refusal to seat Florida's delegates to the party's national convention next year was thrown out of federal court Friday.

Calling the matter "an intra-party dispute," U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara concluded the arguments made by Tampa-based Democratic voter and political consultant Victor DiMaio contained no legal basis for challenging the national party. Lazzara wrote, "The Supreme Court has consistently recognized that national political parties have a constitutionally protected right to manage and conduct their own internal affairs, including the enforcement of delegate-selection rules and the decision as to which state delegates it will recognize … ."

Lazzara added a footnote at the end of the decision saying he was aware of the Nelson/Hastings lawsuit. He made it clear he was going by the wording of the DiMaio lawsuit only.

DiMaio made it clear this was only the beginning, "the first inning", "the first bite of the apple"....so maybe they will continue on to the Supreme Court which stood with the DNC in 1981.

In response, DiMaio said he and his lawyer are working on an appeal, which they plan to file with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

"I am obviously disappointed for the millions of Democratic voters here in Florida," DiMaio said. "But this is only the first inning and first bite of the apple … ."

A statement released by the DNC said, "We are certainly pleased by the federal District Court ruling today that strongly reaffirms the right of the national parties to enforce their own rules for selection of delegates to their national conventions."

There is a lot more in the article about the basis for the Nelson/Hastings suit.

More about the dismissed Tampa lawsuit at this link

More interesting is the way Howard Dean is treated when coming to Florida for two fundraisers the last week. They are very defensive toward the chairman of the party who bailed them out with $200,000 in 05 and provides from the DNC about $350,000 for six paid Florida staffers.

I never did hear how he was treated in Destin last week.

But he is going to Tallahassee this next week, and the email sent out was defensive in nature while trying to be conciliatory. I think Florida Democrats know they have pushed this too far, but they can't seem to just leave it alone or have a mea culpa moment.

Dean coming to Tallahassee

It's not often that an invitation to a political fund-raising event starts out, "Yes, but we can explain..."

But that's the tone of a note sent to local Democrats last week by Rick Minor, the Leon County Democratic Party chairman, inviting them to pay $100 to meet Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. The DNC chief will be at Highpoint Center 5 p.m. Tuesday for a reception at the Akerman Senterfitt law firm.

..."Some of you may be wondering why we should support the DNC after its Rules Committee voted to strip Florida of its 210 delegates to the national convention," Minor wrote, with some understatement.

..."I've been as angry at the DNC as anyone," Minor wrote. "But as difficult as it may be, there comes a time when we must be magnanimous, bury the hatchet and move on."

Yep.

[madfloridian]

1. Interesting comment from a blogger...Florida, stop grandstanding.

http://pushingrope.blogspot.com/2007/10/dimaio-lawsuit-thrown-out.html

"The ruling is not surprising. The courts don't want to deal with intra-party issues. Lazzara told DiMaio, in his ruling, "the party's national convention, and not a court, is the proper forum for determining this intra-party dispute with regard to the seating of the State of Florida's delegates." That doesn't deal with the issue of the DNC has no intention of allowing Florida Democrats to seat delegates at the convention. Suing the DNC isn't going to win them over, either.

This is a novel idea for the Florida Democratic Party. How about admitting they were wrong about going along with Republicans to move up the primary. Humility and less grandstanding is called for. With Bush's and the GOP's unpopularity. The DNC knows they can win the general election without Florida. A map I have seen of Hillary vs. Romney shows her easily beating him. Romney still picked up Florida. Even under the best conditions Florida is tough to pick up for a Democratic presidential candidate. The reason is because the Florida Democratic Party can't win anything. Former FDP Chairman Scott Maddox's claim to fame was getting office space and computers."

I do think a Republican will win here. I really do. The Republicans have way too much control here in ways we do not even understand.

[madfloridian]

2. I resent Nelson's lawsuit using race as the basis.

They know from the past that the minority vote was suppressed, and they have had plenty of time to fix it or at least work on it. The Florida photo ID law will I think be heard by the Supreme Court later.

But the Florida DNC thing is NOT about race at all. It is about a state deliberately breaking the rules and then blaming the national party. I resent their playing this card.

http://www.voteforflorida.org/article_detail.aspx?id=I1610558402

"A refusal by the Democratic National Committee to seat Florida's delegates to the national convention next year would be an act of discrimination against black voters, a lawsuit filed Wednesday contends.

The insertion of race into the fight between Florida Democrats and their national party may be the most incendiary aspect of legal papers filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee by Florida's Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings of Miramar."

The Tampa man who filed the lawsuit in Tampa, whose case was dismissed but will be appealed....(just the first bite of the apple) had something to say about Nelson's suit.

"The Nelson-Hastings lawsuit isn't the only legal action Floridians have launched against the DNC. That could lead to questions over which case should be given preference by the courts or whether they should be consolidated.

Tampa-based political consultant Victor DiMaio complained Thursday that Nelson's and Hastings' legal papers only "regurgitate" what his lawsuit filed in federal court in Tampa asserts.

State Sen. Steve Geller also has said he is considering filing another lawsuit."

Well if they only regurgiate his lawsuit...maybe it will be thrown out also and just appealed and appealed and appealed. Taking money that could be used for the 50 state plan. Especially since Florida tried to hurt party fundraising.

[mia]

3. "...Nelson and Hastings are making are long shots, at best. "

"Richard Hasen, an expert on election law at Loyola Law School Los Angeles, said the constitutional and voting rights arguments that Nelson and Hastings are making are long shots, at best."


At worst, Nelson and Hastings are attempting to brand fellow Democrats as racists. Shame on them.

Is there a PR firm behind this propaganda or it "just politics as usual"?

[madfloridian]

4. Read this. Florida Dems were on board in March 2006

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3586757&mesg_id=3586757

And they are pretending they were caught off guard.

[AZ Criminal JD]

5. Have you read the suit?

You keep on posting that the "Supreme Court ruled for the DNC" in 1981. That they did but the Nelson suit alleges violation of the Voting Rights Act. The 1981 case involved Wisconsin which did not fall under the Voting Rights Act. Florida does come under that act. Completely different cases.

[madfloridian]

6. He is suing on a racism basis.

Which is not at all what this situation is about.

This is about whether we have a national organization or whether a candidate takes over and handles it all.

I think more of that side of it will come out.

Nelson really scrambled on that one, but I surely disagree with his using race when it is not about that at all.

I think if I posted the sky was blue, you would castigate me and say I did not know what I was talking about.

:think:

[AZ Criminal JD]

7. Only if a Hurricane was passing over Florida :)

[IndianaGreen]

8. NBC News is reporting that Iowa is moving their caucus to January 3

Will this leave the door open for a compromise with Florida and Michigan, or will Chairman Dean continue with his crusade against Democratic voters in those two states?