The Florida Democratic Party is soliciting input from Florida Democrats today and today only on the proposal for a revote; as most folks here probably know, the plan drawn up by Karen Thurman and others would be a mail-in primary supplemented with 50 regional centers where voters could vote in person. The process would be completed on June 3rd, the date that the final states have set their primary.
I urge all Florida Democrats to go to the website today to register your thoughts and opinions.
You can read the state Party memo to leading Democrats here (pdf).
There is a summary press release here.
Below the fold is a summary of the comments I submitted.
Shorter (okay, not so shorter) sdf: All of the revote plans are fraught with difficulties. But not having a revote, and the potential of a fight over seating the delegates in August, would be a disaster. The opposition voiced by leading Florida Democrats over the last several days is extremely discouraging: they should be finding solutions, not simply offering objections. While a mail-in would have the potential for confusion, fraud, and inequity (especially given our state's track record), there are ways to minimize these dangers. The state Party should know that they would receive very generous donations in support of this. They could bring in elections officials from Oregon, legal experts on election issues, etc. I also noted that the apparent conventional wisdom that caucuses are inherently unsuitable to Florida because of its size and diversity is balderdash -- one need only look at Texas. Yes, setting up caucuses on short notice in a large state with no experience of them would be problematic, but hard work and outside help could help minimize these problems.
Shortest sdf: The perfect is the enemy of the good, and the opposition of Congresswoman Wasserman-Schulz, Congressman Wexler, and my own otherwise very good Congresswoman, Corrine Brown, is very disappointing. They should be working to find a solution to this rather than simply raising objections.
A potential fight over seating the delegates in August should be considered BY FAR the least desirable alternative. Any of the other imperfect alternatives available are far more preferable.
-- Stu