When Florida’s Democratic primary takes place there will be relatively little attention that will be paid to the state. This is due to the delegates being stripped from Florida by the National Democratic Party as punishment for the state due to moving its primary up to the 29th.
Republicans have stripped Florida of half of its delegates. The Democratic Party has also made a request that certain candidates refrain from campaigning in Florida. This request has been honored until recently after the results of the South Carolina primary.
After losing in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is stressing the importance of Florida’s vote. But it is not surprising as she has a strong lead in the state polls.
“We now turn our attention to the millions of Americans who will make their voices heard in Florida,” Clinton said in a statement on Saturday. She has vowed to seat Florida delegates if she is the nominee of the party.
So far, Obama’s campaign has downplayed Florida’s importance.
“…while the Clinton campaign will likely wave shiny baubles in front of the media to try to divert their focus to certain states – or non-events like Florida – we will stay focused on doing as well as we can in each of the 22 states on February 5th and preparing for the nine states that come in rapid succession in those following two weeks,” said David Plouffe, Obama campaign manager in a memo issued to reporters.
According to Mark Bubriski, the communications director for the Florida Democratic Party, the Democratic race is very much an event.
“More Democrats have already physically cast their ballots in Florida than did in Nevada, Iowa, or New Hampshire,” Bubriski said. He argues that the delegates are not important at this point in the primary calendar. However, he said that the television exposure of candidates makes up for it.
“At this point it’s about moment,” Bubriski explained. He adds: “And we are the final state to have a say before what is essentially a national primary.”
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