GOP Dream Theme: Sharpton may sue DNC and a percentage of 1.7 million Florida Democrats are going to be highly annoyed

Al Sharpton’s threatening the Democratic National Committee with a lawsuit. If Hillary Clinton doesn’t win the nomination in a manner Sharpton approves, he told Bill O’Reilly on Fox News he may even leave the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, Florida is toying with the idea of a mail-in revote for the primary Sen. Hillary Clinton won in January. Sen. Bill Nelson has worked hard to try to inject reason into a very conflicted situation. The revote would be paid for by private donations. Either way, some (many?) of the 1.7 million Democratic voters in The Sunshine State will be annoyed. Florida voted in a completely legal primary, following other states by moving its primary ahead. Florida’s legislature voted to move the date ahead. That’s how New Hampshire gets to go first—their legislature voted on it.

New Hampshire is really special. Dig this statement from Seacoast Online (part of Ottaway Newspapers): In 1977, the state legislature sanctioned the primary’s first in the nation status by enacting a law that "eliminates any possible future encroachment on the state’s being first" by being held "on the Tuesday at least seven days immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election, whichever is earlier." Over the years, primary date (sic) has changed from early March to various dates in February and finally into January in the 2004 primary.

So New Hampshire called dibs on being first in the primaries in '77 when Jimmy Carter was president. And since then, their date has changed several times, they've got first position in a headlock and they didn't expect to be called on it? Some might say Florida and Michigan did a good thing (following California, New York and others who've done the same thing.)

GOP strategists have to be enjoying this. It’s a ‘dream theme’ for the campaign once (when?) a Dem nominee is finally decided.

Meanwhile, would somebody please explain to me where in the constitution it says New Hampshire can tell the rest of the United States when to hold a primary? Doesn't that sound sort of UN-democratic to you?

You can push through the first part of this; interview with Sharpton comes after O'Reilly talks.

Sphere: Related Content