House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, returned fire from party critics who have blasted his call to set Jan. 31 as the date for Florida’s presidential primary. The Republican National Committee has vowed to slice the size of Florida’s delegation to the 2012 convention in half if the state breaks the rules, which calls for a primary no earlier than March 6.
The RNC is worried that the move will cause traditional early states like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to move their dates up, and several establishment Florida Republicans have said a commission selected to set the date should follow the rules.
“I think most of the people saying those things are people who might not have their seat on the floor, and that’s probably what they may be more worried about,” Cannon said.
Paul Senft, a national committeeman from Florida, knocked the move in an online column and said it could amount to an embarrassment for the state given that the GOP convention will be in Tampa.
“Republican National Committee Co-Chair & Florida’s National Committeewoman Sharon Day and I will now be embarrassed for our state as we host the convention from the back row and have a hotel 30/40 miles away,” Senft wrote. “It will also be sad that we will not have the guest passes we would normally have, even if the nominee does give us a few.”
Cannon shot back: “If he’s worried about his commute from the hotel, then he’s clearly not focused on what’s most important, which is maximizing Florida’s voter’s voices in this process.”
