Florida Dems: Give Candidates A Break On Early State Pledge

Florida Dems: Give Candidates A Break On Early State Pledge

A Florida Democratic official has contacted DNC Chair Howard Dean and the four official early states, in an effort to get the presidential candidates to visit Florida before next Tuesday's primary.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the top elected Democrat in state government, said the voluntary ban on campaigning in Florida and Michigan signed by the top six Democratic candidates on Aug. 31 will have achieved its purpose after the polls close in South Carolina Saturday.

“There’s nothing left to be gained by permitting Republican candidates to barnstorm through our state unchallenged, allowing them to monopolize the airwaves and dominate the news coverage,” Sink said.

The Iowa Democratic Party has not yet commented on the request. A spokesman for the South Carolina Democratic Party said that even though the state parties in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina asked for the pledge, they aren't responsible for enforcing it or for saying whether it's time to release it.

In July 2006, the DNC scheduled the four states in an "early window" and said other states could not hold primaries or caucuses before Feb. 5 of his year. Florida and Michigan broke these rules and the DNC has, for now, stripped the two states of all their national convention delegates. Most observers think the eventual nominee will have the delegates seated anyway.

This week, the Hillary Clinton campaign accused Barack Obama of breaking the pledge with a national cable ad buy.