Threats Don't Mean Much In Florida

Ignoring the threats of sanctions from both the Democratic and Republican Parties, and trying to become relevant in the nations debate over who should lead it, the Florida legislature has voted to change the Florida Primary to January 29, 2008. Florida becomes one of the top five states whose primaries are the earliest. The Florida primary now will likely have a major impact on who is the nominee of each of the major political parties. Florida has the largest population of the swing states.

Florida's move may cause other states to move their primaries. But there is risk in what Florida is doing. “This is kind of like the track touts trying to figure out what’s going to happen at the Kentucky Derby,” William Gavin, the Massachusetts Secretary of State told the NYT.

That kind of talk doesn't seem to bother the Republican speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Mark Rubio, who, it appears, clearly understands the nature of the current hard-ball politics. He told the NYT that at when all is said and done, “the truth of the matter is that the nominee of either party is going to want to make sure they have not offended the big donors and the biggest activists in the most important state in the country that is electorally available.”

If the slogan, "follow the money," has any meaning in politics, the change in the Florida primary likely will pour quite a bit of extra cash into the state's economy. The candidates may be spending a good part of their winter and their cash campaigning in Florida. So by the time all the snow birds get back to Key West they'll be just in time to open their wallets and greet their favorite potential president.