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STEVE BOUSQUETBy dropping poll plans, Florida Democrats get all nine presidential contenders to appear at their convention and raise money.
TAMPA - Bowing to national pressure, Florida Democrats on Sunday scrapped a presidential straw poll at their upcoming convention and, in return, won promises from all nine candidates to appear and raise money for the state party.
The decision by the 77-member party central committee was partly financial. But it also is a vote of confidence in Scott Maddox, the state party chairman who brokered the deal with the candidates and the Democratic National Committee.
In exchange for not holding a straw poll, Maddox said, the candidates will address 3,000 delegates at the three-day convention in December in Orlando, take part in town hall forums with delegates and attend fundraisers. The cash-strapped party hopes to raise up to $1-million in part by selling "delegate access packages" to candidates, such as charging a fee to send automated phone calls to activists. The money will be used for get-out-the vote efforts next fall.
Maddox said he had letters signed by all nine candidates pledging to show up. That ensures that the Florida event will draw plenty of national media attention.
"I think we'll have much higher interest," Maddox said. "You will see high energy and a lot of people at that convention. It's a unique opportunity that they have not had in the past."
Meeting Sunday morning at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, party leaders ratified Maddox's proposal after a half-hour of debate.
For some, it was a decision based mostly on money.
"This party needs money more than we need blood. Those are the facts," Mike Moskowitz, a party leader from Fort Lauderdale, said as he ticked off a now-familiar series of electoral losses for Florida Democrats. "Now is the time and place to build and rebuild our party."
A nonbinding straw poll is officially meaningless, but it would offer a revealing glimpse of public opinion about the field of contenders seeking to take on President Bush next year. A 1991 Florida straw poll helped catapult a little-known Bill Clinton to national prominence.
Supporters of a straw poll said it would excite grass roots activists at a time when many voters have not yet focused on the crowded field of contenders.
"We feel that a straw poll would spark interest of the presidential campaigns in Florida, in reaching out to the Latino community," said Millie Herrera of Miami, president of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida.
Despite Florida's importance in national politics and its 27 electoral votes, one-tenth the number needed to nominate a candidate, its March 9 presidential primary falls later than many other states. And Sen. Bob Graham's campaign had largely kept the other candidates away so far.
All nine candidates had signed a letter circulated by Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, agreeing to boycott the convention if a straw poll were held. But former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has been instructing Florida supporters on how to register as delegates, and at least one other campaign was polling delegates on their candidate preferences.
Maddox told activists that most candidates opposed the straw poll as a costly popularity contest that would be a political "death knell" to anyone who did poorly.
If Florida Democrats had insisted on a straw poll, "there is a chance that we will have one candidate or no candidates," Maddox said.
One party leader said scrapping the straw poll was a pivotal moment in establishing Maddox's credibility outside the state.
"If we nail the chair on this vote, they're not going to negotiate with him in the future," said Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, a member of the Democratic National Committee.
A week ago, Ausman was adamant in support of a straw poll, telling party members in an e-mail: "It allows us a voice." But he watched support slip away in the past few days.
On Sunday, Democratic leaders sought to dispel any appearance of a rift between the state and national parties. Maddox and McAuliffe had traded testy words during the straw poll debate, but the DNC sent vice chairman Lottie Shackelford to Tampa for a show of unity with the Florida leader.
"You are a hard negotiator," Shackelford told Maddox as they stood before cameras. "You stuck to your guns."
The state's convention Dec. 5-7 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort will feature an appearance by the Texas Democrats who fled the Legislature in a redistricting dispute with Republicans, speeches by the three Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate and a tribute to Graham, who will leave politics when his term ends in early 2005.
Eight candidates will appear in two four-candidate forums at lunch and dinner Saturday. The ninth candidate, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, will observe the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday and will address a Sunday brunch.