Florida shakes up Election 2008

It's official: Florida's bid to shake up the 2008 elections -- which we first reported on in March -- is now reality.

Today, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a bill that moves Florida's presidential primary ahead of February's "Super Tuesday," drastically altering the road candidates must take to get nominated. As Stateline.org reports:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) fired the starting gun that could set off another mad dash of states jostling for early dates to choose nominees for the White House.

Crist May 21 signed the Florida Legislature's plan to move up the Sunshine State's 2008 presidential primary to Jan. 29, leapfrogging a critical mass of states gravitating to primaries on what's becoming known as "Super-Duper Tuesday" on Feb. 5.

If the current lineup holds, only Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and Wyoming would have earlier primaries than Florida -- although Stateline reports that Florida's move may be the "hole in the dike" the spurs other states to moving their elections, too.

If things weren't interesting enough, a staggering 23 states are now angling to be part of the "Super Tuesday" blow-out -- which in 2008 would take place on the last day of Mardi Gras:

In what is shaping up as the earliest start to a presidential election in history, 13 states already are on board to vote for presidential candidates or hold nominating caucuses on Feb. 5 - also Fat Tuesday, the final day of Mardi Gras. Three more - Colorado, Georgia and Illinois - are a governor's signature away from joining the stampede to the Feb. 5 date.

 

At least 23 states in all are angling for that date in what critics of the rush now are calling "Stupid Tuesday." That number far outpaces the 1984 "Super Tuesday" that involved 14 states.