And The Fight For Florida Begins

Last week, a Florida judge ruled in favor of Democrats who claimed that Ralph Nader was not eligible for the Florida ballot since the party he is running under, the Reform Party, does not qualify as a national party under Florida law. The judge agreed that the Reform Party is a party in name only, merely a shadow of its former self (remember Ross Perot?), and issued a temporary injunction preventing Nader from appearing on the ballot pending a hearing on whether that injunction should be permanent.

Sounds too good to be true? Probably is.

That hearing is scheduled to take place tomorrow, but Governor Jeb Bush's very own Division of Elections director, Dawn Roberts, appealed the injunction pre-emptively, automatically lifting it, allowing ballots to be printed with Nader's name on them (overseas absentee ballots must be mailed out by Saturday.) Ms. Roberts's reasoning? Hurricane Ivan puts in doubt whether this hearing will in fact take place on Wednesday.

The injunction could still be made permanent, of course, but in the meantime, Jeb and his cohorts are doing everything in their power to deliver Florida for his brother.