The only good thing I can say about the fact that Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman will be in Washington tomorrow lobbying the national Democratic Party to not punish Florida Dems because the Republican-controlled Florida legislature moved the presidential primary to Jan. 29 is that she won’t be at the Barak Obama fundraiser in Miami. I bought tickets to see Obama and was not looking forward to having to listen to Thurman if she was participating in the event.

Instead, she’s going to be arguing her case before the Democratic National Committee, which holds the keys to whether Florida’s primary counts and whether candidates will be punished for campaigning in the state. As co-editor Trish admitted in an e-mail yesterday, the very thought of the defense of Florida’s electoral fate falling to Thurman made her feel queasy. Thurman sent an e-mail today asking Florida Dems to write messages explaining why their party should not be punished for something it — as the minority in the state legislature — could not have stopped.

As an Independent, I don’t get to vote in the presidential primary, and I have no plans (as my wife does) to switch to the Democrats just so I can. But the potential smack-down by the national Democratic Party could have far graver repercussions than just screwing up Florida’s primary. If candidates face punishment for campaigning in Florida, it’s likely some will just skip the state, which would help the Republicans. Worse, if the national party takes away delegate seats, it could mean that once again Floridians’ votes won’t count. But I’m not really worried — Karen Thurman is on the case. Yikes, I’m feeling a mite queasy myself.

Actually, the only thing that makes me feel optimistic about Thurman’s task tomorrow is that I don’t believe the national Democratic Party would be stupid enough to fault Florida Dems for breaking rules that they could not in any way not violate. It’s simply not the Fla. Dems’ fault that the Republican-dominated Florida legislature moved the primary date (Although one could argue that in a way it is, because the Florida Democratic Party is, as we Crackers say, useless as teats on a boar hog, and has, therefore, through its ineffectiveness ceded power to the Repugs).

So maybe this trip to Washington is just a formality, and it won’t really come down to how well Karen Thurman can make her case before Howard Dean, et al. Then maybe Trish will get over her queasiness and the Democratic Party won’t shoot itself in the foot and blow the presidential election.

Yeah, and the Army Corps of Engineers will fix the Everglades, Charlie Crist will admit to being the father of a love child and the Miami city administration will go a month without having a corruption scandal. Oh, and pigs will fly, too.

Connect: