Vote on Jan. 29: Your vote will count

Sometimes we can be so pessimistic. Vote on Jan. 29? Heck no, it won't count ... will it?

Wait a minute. Yes, Florida has some problems with votes not counting. But that doesn't mean you should give up just because of a Republican-engineered flip of the finger at party rules.

The Florida Democratic Party made it official Sunday at a news conference in Pembroke Pines with Chairwoman Karen Thurman : Yes, vote on Jan. 29 "and make it count."

"The nation will be paying attention on Jan. 29, and Florida Democrats will have a major impact in determining who the next president of the United States of America will be," she said.

A score or more of state and local Democratic leaders stood with her as she made the announcement and fielded questions from a skeptical bunch of media reps who seemed to have swallowed the Rovian line that the vote wouldn't count, the delegates wouldn't be seated, the candidates will ignore all of poor Florida's desperate needs, and the sky will fall.

After Thurman declined to answer the third or fourth iteration of that list, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) stepped in and said she would urge all to vote for the nominee of their choice. "We will make sure they count," she said, and the Florida Democratic Party expects the state's delegates to be seated at the Denver convention next summer.

Sen. Bill Nelson said in the party's written statement that the vote will certainly count, and "On Jan. 29, there will be multiple elections and other important issues on the ballot in Florida, whether the DNC recognizes the vote or not."

Miami-Dade Chairman Joe Garcia said, "Florida elects presidents. On Jan. 29 we will have a bigger impact than any caucus or small-state primary. The eventual nominee will seat our 210 delegates next year and our voice will be heard."

One of the keys to this, my friends, is to cease fighting among each other over the whole affair, and proceed to get out the vote. One way or another, the vote will count.