With every state party wanting to be one of the first and deciding states, the DNC has decided to disenfranchise the Florida delegates to the national convention in Denver next year if Florida doesn’t go back to its original primary date.

The Democratic Party has taken a swipe at the nation’s fourth biggest state, stripping Florida of all of its ‘08 delegates as punishment for jumping the gun with its Jan. 29 primary. Florida’s early date could force other states to move up and up to stay at the front of the pack.

Under a nearly unanimous vote taken moments ago by a powerful committee of the Democratic National Committee, if things don’t change, Florida’s primary will be a “beauty contest” — the delegates won’t count toward the party’s presidential nomination.

Florida officials complained that the DNC was going to “disenfranchise voters,” as it says on the state party’s home page. The DNC pushed back strongly against that contention, since it has rules that Florida decided not to follow.

This is the party’s way of trying to stop the crazy domino effect of states moving their nominating contests earlier and earlier, which causes OTHER states to go earlier and earlier.

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted nearly unanimously that Florida’s plan is noncompliant with party rules, and gave the state 30 days to fix it. Otherwise, the state will lose 100 percent of its delegates.

“The ayes clearly have it,” RBC co-chair James Roosevelt Jr. (FDR’s grandson) said, when only one clear voice on the 30-member committee said “no.”

UPDATE: Florida party officials say they’re going to confer before deciding what to do. They clearly realize that Dems back home aren’t going to like the idea of their votes not counting.

This outcome would mean that the candidates — while not being penalized by the DNC for campaigning in the Sunshine State, since no delegates would be at stake — would be likely to spend less time and money there.

Karen Thurman, a former congresswoman from Florida who is the State Party Chair, said during the meeting: “We have continued and spent time and more time on this particular issue than getting the state of Florida prepared for the ‘08 election.”