This is ridiculous. The Democratic candidates all pledged to not campaign in Florida because the state party moved its primary without being authorized by the DNC. But after being stomped in South Carolina, Senator Clinton mades some stops there anyway.
Like her rivals, Clinton has agreed to a pledge imposed by national party leaders not to publicly campaign in the state. But after South Carolina, Clinton was skating up against the edge of that agreement and trying to lend some credibility to the outcome Tuesday.
She arrived in Florida on Sunday for two events — both closed fundraisers, in keeping with the pledge not to campaign. She clearly winked at that pledge with her arrival, joking about the warm weather and positioning herself so photographers had a palm tree for a backdrop.
Seriously? She’s not “campaigning” but a photo-op in front of a palm tree? It depends on what the definition of campaigning is.
Senator Clinton is expected to “win” the Florida primary, but it’s not supposed to count. You can also bet that if it comes down to the convention, Senator Clinton will insist that Florida is counted. Oh wait — she’s already on it:
“I will try to persuade my delegates to seat the delegates from Michigan and Florida,” said Clinton. “Democrats have to win Michigan and have to try to win Florida and I intend to do that. The people of Florida deserve to be represented in the process of picking a candidate for president of the United States.”
Meanwhile, Senators Obama and Edwards are sticking with their pledge to stay out of the state. You know, because they’re honorable.
