Eyes on the Primary Schedule

From the Associated Press:

Congressional Democrats from Florida have sued their own party, hoping to restore the national convention delegates that were stripped from the state because itscheduled an early presidential primary.

The lawsuit claims the party violated the Constitution andfederal voting laws by taking away Florida Democrats' ability tohave a say in choosing the presidential nominee.

The national party's rules committee voted to take away Florida's 210 delegates after the state party chose to go alongwith a January 29th primary. Party rules say states cannot hold their 2008 primary contests before February 5th, except for Iowa,Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Meanwhile, South Carolina Democrats will decide within two weekswhether to ask national party leaders to move the state's primaryto January 19th and make it the party's first contest in the South.

Associated Press Poll-Clinton Ahead

A new national poll suggests Hillary RodhamClinton is moving even farther ahead of her ahead of her rivals forthe Democratic presidential nomination. The AP-Ipsos numbers put her ahead of Barack Obama by more than20 points. The poll gives Clinton 46 percent support, compared to25 percent for Obama. The rest of the Democratic field is down in the single digits. John Edwards pulls in 9 percent, while New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Delaware Senator Joe Biden each have 2 percent.Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd has 1 percent. The race appears much closer in Iowa. There, Clinton, Obama andEdwards are in a tight three-way contest.