One word: FLORIDA.
The state’s Republican Party quietly approved the new delegate allocation rules Saturday night, while the political world’s attention was focused on Iowa and the 11 Republican presidential hopefuls stumping there.
But the Florida decision, another attempt by the state GOP to boost the Sunshine State’s relevance in the party’s nomination process, is the far more consequential event because of the size of the prize: 99 delegates. It could even turn Florida’s primary into a climactic battle between two native sons, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio.
“The winner-take-all nature of this gives them the inside track but it also raises the stakes,” said Brian Ballard, a Tallahassee-based Republican operative. “Whoever wins that one moves on, but I think it probably eliminates the other one.”
So yeah… that happened.
Even if we picked something civilized — say a version of the Iowa caucus? — that would end in a convention anyhow (just like Iowa), the game is pretty much over by mid-March.
