Commenter Terrapin asks:
Karen – You dedicated a large amount of digital ink to the DNC as they attempted to bring order to the chaotic primary schedule. Here is what the RNC is up to.
Funny how the RNC is characterized as ‘laying down the law’ while the DNC gets a bunch of ‘what are they doing?’ What do you see as the differences? Discuss.
The difference is a bad headline on CNN’s part. The law that is being laid down is no law at all. While the DNC and the Democratic state parties in the early-primary states are trying to bring something that resembles discipline back to the campaign calendar, the Republican campaigns that I talk to say they believe–at least as things stand now–that any talk of sanctions from their party is a joke. All the top contenders will be campaigning in Florida, and an early win Michigan is an important part of Romney’s strategy.
In fact, the CNN story notes:
The Republican official did acknowledge that the eventual Republican nominee for president could intervene to help restore the stripped delegates to these renegade states. But the official added that because of the complexity in doing so, it is more likely the nominee would probably seek other accommodations to allow the disqualified delegates to attend the convention in an unofficial capacity.
In other words, assume Florida and Michigan go ahead with their early primaries. Once the party has an official nominee, he is going to demand that their delegates–all of them–be seated. The last thing the party will want, given the shrinking amount of time that the networks are giving the conventions, are long cutaway shots of empty chairs. Especially when they are there to represent crucial swing states.