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Thurman Holds Conference Call With Delegation On Primary

Posted Aug 27, 2007 by William March

Updated Aug 27, 2007 at 08:13 PM

According to U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, the message from the Florida Democratic congressional delegation to state Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman regarding the Florida presidential primary in a conference call Monday was, “Stay the course.”

The national Democratic Party has given Florida Democrats 30 days to change their selection plan for Democratic National Convention delegates to one that doesn’t depend on the results of the Jan. 29 state presidential primary. The alternative, the national party says, is elimination of the state’s convention delegation. The reason, of course, is that the Jan. 29 date is too early and violates the primary schedule established by the national party.

Florida Democrats have refused, saying the primary must decide the delegates—otherwise, the primary is moot and meaningless, and Florida Democrats’ votes, in effect, won’t be counted.

Castor said every congressional Democrat except Tim Mahoney was either on the call or represented by a top staff member.

In a conference call Monday with the delegation, congressional Democrats including Sen. Bill Nelson advised Thurman not to back down, Castor said.

“Everybody said full speed ahead, we’re not going to mess around with caucuses, we’re going to have the vote and make sure it’s counted,” Castor said.
“You just can’t ignore Florida. We could ultimately decide the next president.”

Castor said Thurman asked for the conference call “to get a reaction from everyone, to see if anyone had different thoughts on moving ahead,” and didn’t tell the delegation how she thinks the state party will react to the 30-day ultimatum.