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WASHINGTON – Florida Sen. Bill Nelson predicts a “train wreck” for the Democratic Party if Florida and Michigan delegates are not seated at the party’s presidential nominating convention in August.
In remarks on the Senate floor today, Nelson urged his Senate colleagues and others to “try to find a compromise,” but he also rejected the idea of re-doing Florida’s Jan. 29 Democratic presidential primary.
“You can’t undo an election with a caucus, and especially you can’t undo an election where 1.7 million Florida Democrats have voted in a secret ballot and replace it with a caucus that maybe 50,000 people would show up,” said Nelson.
“It’s a basic constitutional right to vote and to have that vote counted,” said Nelson, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama.
Clinton defeated Obama in the Jan. 29 primary vote 50 percent to 33 percent. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who has since dropped out of the race, got 14 percent.
But what Clinton-backer Nelson never did mention today in his floor speech is that Obama argues that the Jan. 29 Florida vote results were skewed.
As Obama sees it, the results don’t matter because he, Clinton and Edwards had all pledged not to actively campaign in the state after the national party ruled that Florida had violated the party’s primary calendar rules.
For now, the position of the Democratic National Committee continues to be that both Florida and Michigan will not see their delegates seated at the convention because the two states scheduled their primary contests prior to Feb. 5.
According to Nelson, that leaves troubling storm clouds looming on the horizon.
If neither Clinton nor Obama emerge as the party’s clear front-runner by the final state primary in South Dakota on June 3, “then we go into a period during June, July and all the way to the end of August, a period of enormous uncertainty and turmoil,” said Nelson.
He said that turmoil would involve questions and focus on un-pledged “Super Delegates” and their roles in helping to decide the nominee “in the backrooms,” as well as questions about what will happen to Florida and Michigan’s delegations?
“Now, why is this important?” Nelson asked.
“Well, it’s certainly important to this senator because in fact not only did Florida turn out on Jan. 29 in the primary – they turned out in record numbers,” he said. “Over 1.7 million Florida Democrats turned out to vote, and they expressed their will.”
Based on the vote – and if the delegates counted -- 105 state delegates would go to Clinton, 67 to Obama, and 13 would have gone to Edwards, who has since dropped out of the race.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com or at 1 (202) 662-7673.
In remarks on the Senate floor today, Nelson urged his Senate colleagues and others to “try to find a compromise,” but he also rejected the idea of re-doing Florida’s Jan. 29 Democratic presidential primary.
“You can’t undo an election with a caucus, and especially you can’t undo an election where 1.7 million Florida Democrats have voted in a secret ballot and replace it with a caucus that maybe 50,000 people would show up,” said Nelson.
“It’s a basic constitutional right to vote and to have that vote counted,” said Nelson, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama.
Clinton defeated Obama in the Jan. 29 primary vote 50 percent to 33 percent. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who has since dropped out of the race, got 14 percent.
But what Clinton-backer Nelson never did mention today in his floor speech is that Obama argues that the Jan. 29 Florida vote results were skewed.
As Obama sees it, the results don’t matter because he, Clinton and Edwards had all pledged not to actively campaign in the state after the national party ruled that Florida had violated the party’s primary calendar rules.
For now, the position of the Democratic National Committee continues to be that both Florida and Michigan will not see their delegates seated at the convention because the two states scheduled their primary contests prior to Feb. 5.
According to Nelson, that leaves troubling storm clouds looming on the horizon.
If neither Clinton nor Obama emerge as the party’s clear front-runner by the final state primary in South Dakota on June 3, “then we go into a period during June, July and all the way to the end of August, a period of enormous uncertainty and turmoil,” said Nelson.
He said that turmoil would involve questions and focus on un-pledged “Super Delegates” and their roles in helping to decide the nominee “in the backrooms,” as well as questions about what will happen to Florida and Michigan’s delegations?
“Now, why is this important?” Nelson asked.
“Well, it’s certainly important to this senator because in fact not only did Florida turn out on Jan. 29 in the primary – they turned out in record numbers,” he said. “Over 1.7 million Florida Democrats turned out to vote, and they expressed their will.”
Based on the vote – and if the delegates counted -- 105 state delegates would go to Clinton, 67 to Obama, and 13 would have gone to Edwards, who has since dropped out of the race.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com or at 1 (202) 662-7673.