By pledging not to campaign in some states that flout the Democratic National Committee's presidential nominating calendar, Democratic candidates are ceding ground in a pivotal general election state, Florida Democrats and political observers said yesterday.

"My only message to folks in New Hampshire and these other states is: 'Let's not shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again,' " said Rep. Dan Gelber, the Florida House Democratic leader. "I think we're all thinking a little provincially is we're forgetting that winning in November and advancing our party's principles has to be most important.

"These guys are looking at us and they're laughing," Gelber said of Republicans. "They realize we're handing them a competitive advantage."

After defying DNC rules and voting to move up their presidential primaries to January 2008, Florida and Michigan lawmakers may lose the very thing that prompted them to push up their contests: Access to candidates. On Friday, Democratic leaders in New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina - which the DNC designated to hold early primaries or caucuses - called on candidates to forgo campaigning in other states that schedule their contests for before Feb. 5, 2008. Democratic candidates signed the pledge.

How are Florida and Michigan Democrats taking the news?

From Michigan, the tone was defiant. The pledge inspired a sharp rebuke from U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who has attempted for years to leapfrog New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary. "We are determined that Michigan not be bound by rules that are not effectively enforced against other states," Levin and Michigan DNC member Debbie Dingell wrote to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, according to the Detroit News.

In the letter, Levin and Dingell suggest that New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner prompted Michigan's decision to push up the primary, and they criticize the DNC for failing to penalize New Hampshire. Last month, Gardner attended a press conference with South Carolina's Republican Party chairman, who announced the date of his party's primary: Jan. 19, 2008. Under state law, Gardner must set the primary at least one week before any similar election, which would push New Hampshire's contest to, at latest, Jan. 12, 2008. The DNC set New Hampshire's primary for Jan. 22, and any earlier date would place New Hampshire in defiance of the DNC calendar.

Although several states are considering earlier primary or caucus dates, Levin singled out New Hampshire. "Those of us who fought hard to loosen the stranglehold of New Hampshire on the process saw you stand by silently," Levin and Dingell wrote.

Yesterday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill moving that state's presidential primary to Jan. 15. If Florida is any indication, Michigan is now at risk of losing all their national convention delegates. Last month, DNC officials said that Florida Democrats would lose all their national convention delegates if the Florida primary takes place on its scheduled date of Jan. 29.

Despite tough talk, "there's a very good chance that the Michigan Democrats will ultimately back down," said Paul Abramson, a political science professor at Michigan State University. "An early Michigan vote not only wouldn't elect delegates, but it wouldn't be very important."

From Florida Democrats, the response seemed more worried than angry.

The early primary was the brainchild of the Republican House Speaker, not Democrats, several Democrats said. And Republican majorities in the Florida House and Senate meant that Democratic opposition would have been futile, they said.

"It was never a priority of mine," Gelber said. But Gelber said he wouldn't tell other Democrats to vote against a politically popular measure. The proposal passed the Florida House with Republican and Democratic support.

"Since the Republican-controlled Legislature started to make the push to move the primary up, we've been discussing our options with our Democratic leaders, activists, officials around the state in an attempt to figure out what's the best course for the people of Florida," said Florida Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski.

But Florida Democratic leaders were fully aware of the consequences of voting for the early primary, said Daniel Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida. They were "thinking that they were going to be able to, with Florida's clout, outmaneuver the DNC."

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