The Democratic Party is in the midst of a power struggle that may help determine who will win the nomination to take on President Bush in 2004.

Many leaders of the Florida Democratic Party want to hold a straw poll at their Dec. 6 convention. The informal poll would be held before the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, and it would finally give Florida a much-needed voice in candidate selection. Florida's uneventful primary is usually held after the candidate selection process is finished, and voters are often confronted with a ballot full of candidates who have already dropped out. In 2000, for example, John McCain had already ended his presidential campaign by the time Florida held its primary. Next year, Florida will hold its primary on March 9, and it's a safe bet that the Democratic nominee will have already emerged by then.

But the Democratic National Committee is trying to prevent Florida from holding a straw poll. Earlier this month, the committee sent all nine campaigns a letter calling on each to align with DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe in opposing a Florida straw poll. The letter said it would contribute to a "media dominated 'horse-race' culture." Last week, all nine candidates signed a letter saying they would not participate in a Florida straw poll.

But don't underestimate the seductive lure of a straw poll. One of the most dangerous places to be is between a presidential candidate and a television camera, and that's exactly where McAuliffe seems to be standing. Even though the candidates have jumped on the anti-straw-poll bandwagon, the attraction of the media coverage that would follow a straw poll may be too much to resist.

These guys are trying to win, after all. It seems like there would be great incentive to break with the pack, disavow their pledge and show up in Florida to campaign for the straw poll anyway. Chances are any candidate who arrives at the convention to shake some hands and kiss some babies would get more support in the poll than those who stay in New Hampshire.

The criticism of the horse race mentality of political campaigns, however, is valid. Media attention is often focused on who's winning, who's behind, who's gaining, who's wearing earth tones, who's wearing boxers and who's wearing briefs. In the midst of all this silliness, buried deep under this mountain of fluff, are the issues. But those take so much time and effort to explain, and talking about John Kerry's hair is so much more fun. So, unfortunately, campaigns are often covered like horse races.

But the premise of DNC's objection to a Florida straw poll is flawed. Does McAuliffe think that the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary aren't media-dominated horse races? Would the addition of a Florida straw poll suddenly inject a media-dominated horse-race mentality into an otherwise issue-oriented campaign? No, and it's ridiculous for the DNC to suggest that it would.

"Given Florida's size, importance and the 2000 hangover, anything the Sunshine State does has political significance," said University of Virginia professor Larry J. Sabato. "Despite the DNC's frowning upon it, the straw poll, if held, will get a great deal of media and candidate attention."

Iowa and New Hampshire have been hogging the spotlight for too long. Even voters there understand that their states have a disproportionate influence. Florida is a much better representation of multicultural voter trends. And as Election 2000 showed: As goes Florida, so goes the nation.

When Democratic Party officials meet on Nov. 16, they will decide whether of not to have the straw poll. Party Chairman Scott Maddox said last week that support for the straw poll was "overwhelming." So unless McAuliffe and Maddox come to a compromise, Florida might be spreading a little sunshine into the presidential election.

Straws won't actually be used, of course. And nobody is quite sure when folks stopped using straws at straw polls, but one bit of straw poll history may be relevant to the current debate: Bill Clinton won the Florida straw poll in 1991, and he often cited his success in Florida during the campaign, which he won.