If you are a Florida voter and have made up your mind, you don't have to wait for the January 29 primary election; as of now you can hie yourself to one of many special voting locations and cast your ballot right away.

Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina come next, as you know. But Florida, with the most votes so far, seems destined for the most attention. And it's a lot more pleasant campaigning in the Sunshine State than in the whistling chill of Detroit, I should think.

Rudy Giuliani may not necessarily agree. He apparently is the only candidate running TV ads in the state now, but he also is getting unseemly heckling from a traveling band of pro-life protesters.

In any event, Floridians would have reason if they were miffed at both national political parties, especially the Democrats, for trying to snub Florida for scheduling a primary at a time unauthorized by party officials in Washington, D.C. The Democratic National Committee is especially tough, planning to punish the state by refusing to seat its delegation at next summer's national convention. (The state's Republicans will lose only half of their delegation. Thus, the national GOP is behaving only half as badly as the DNC.) As of now, the top candidates on the Democratic side supposedly are not going campaign in the state--except for appearances to raise money, of course!

But, the whole presidential battle right now is mostly a beauty contest, anyhow. A hot property tax measure will be on the Florida ballot and that will assure a large turnout, regardless of what the national political parties want. You can be sure that the estimated one million Democratic primary votes that are expected in Florida--with eight candidates listed on the primary ballot--will warrant ample media comment.

Meanwhile, if I were a local or state party official in Florida (Republican or Democrat) I wouldn't take any abuse from the national party. I'd tell them, put up with our delegates at the national convention or don't expect us to put up with the national ticket in November. Florida is about to pass New York in population. Does the DNC (or the RNC) really want to be seen on national television next summer telling Florida to get lost?

And if I were a Florida primary voter in either party showing up to ask questions of presidential candidates this month (even if you can only see the Democrats at fund-raisers), I would demand to know whether they will pledge to ask their delegates from other states at next summer's convention to seat the full Florida delegation. Put them on the spot while you can, folks. Do they care more about the voters of Florida or the national party bureaucrats?

Wasn't the DNC in an uproar eight years ago November because of speculative assertions that maybe a couple hundred votes weren't counted for president? How about a million primary votes for president going uncounted by the DNC itself this year?

The Democrats and Republicans both should promise to reform the national nominating process for 2012. And they should stop beating up on Florida for allowing its citizens to vote on a primary schedule not approved by the national parties.