Florida Primary

John, maybe I can clear up a few things for you. Primaries are a way for the members of a party to decide which candidate they wish to represent them in the General Election. The rules for each state are different and the party for that state can make different rules. Many states have a "Beauty Contest" that list the candidates names that a voter would prefer to be on the ballot in November. But the thing that counts more is to elect delegates to the national party convention, which is held in the summer. It is at that convention that the nominees for that party are selected as well as the "party planks" that represent the parts of the party's "platform" or program they wish to support. The rules that each of the two major political parties use differ, they get to write their own rules, parties are just affiliations of people who hold somewhat the same ideas, they are not creations of the federal government. Most states allow you to declare yourself a member of that party by voting in that party's primary, you can get a card from them if you donate to their party. In Illinois, for example, you are considered a Republican for two years if you vote in a Republican primary, you lose that affiliation the day before the next primary so you are free to vote in whatever party you wish the next time. But you have to tell them which ballot to give you, or "declare" your affiliation. You cannot vote for a party you are not willing to put your name on. It does happen sometimes that a Democrat will vote in a Republican primary to act as a spoiler and vote for a loser to make the Democrat candidate seem stronger in the general election, (or vice versa) but not often.

Each party gets to make their own rules about how they manage their convention. The Democrats, for example, have hundreds of "Super Candidates" that get to attend without being elected in the primary due to their being governors, or senators or the like. The ones we get to send represent us at the convention and are obligated to support the person we sent them there for. In some cases they only have to vote for that person in the first vote, but can be swayed later. It is called "politicking". In some states the conventioneers are sent in a winner take all, in some they are sent in a proportionate way. If 20% vote for Mike Hukabee, then in some states 20% of the conventioneers are obligated to him in others the whole bunch go for one person.

The caucus and primary season has been creeping forward. Iowa starts in December and New Hampshire soon after. Many stated have selected the first Tuesday in February. This means we have an election season that takes up almost an entire year, boring many people and costing millions of dollars. The National Democratic Party decided that they would support this Feb limit. They told states other than Iowa and New Hampshire that they would get to send NO delegates to the national convention if they went earlier. The Florida Democratic Party decided to hold theirs early anyway in violation of those rules. So Florida democrats can have a "beauty contest" if they like but will not be represented at the national. It was a way to try and slow this election season creep. These rules are those of the National Democratic Party, not those of the state, or of the federal government.