Defiant Florida Republicans

From the Orlando Sentinel-

Florida Republicans voted to defy the party's national committee Saturday by voting to send a full complement of 114 delegates to the nominating convention next summer in Minneapolis.

"We'll fight until the last soldier is standing," said state party Chairman Jim Greer at the group's quarterly meeting at the Rosen Centre in Orlando.

The Republican National Committee had warned Florida it would lose half it's delegates after state lawmakers decided to move the presidential primary from March 4 to Jan. 29.

Legislators said an earlier primary would give Florida more clout in selecting nominees.

The RNC contends the earlier primary violate Republican Party rules, which prohibit some states from selecting delegates before Feb. 5. Greer, however, contends that Florida is not choosing delegates on Jan. 29, just a candidate. That won't happen until the party caucus, which begins on Feb. 6.

The last bit, is just a bit of legerdemain. I don't expect the RNC to be fooled by it.

Will the RNC risk alienating Florida voters by going through with their threat to take away half the state's delegates at the National convention? Then I ask, does what happen at the convention make any difference? When was the last time a party nominee was not all but locked up before the convention? Wasn't it the 50's?(If its been more recent, let me know)While I'm not too keen on any of the major Republican contenders in 2008, I will bet $20 one of them will have the nomination sewed up before Minneapolis.

So the threats are meaningless. That doesn't mean RNC Chairman Mel Martinez still isn't a knucklehead. The Senator's allegiance should be to Florida, not the RNC.

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