ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
No Democrat can actually win their party's primary tomorrow. Florida moved up its date in violation of Democratic Party rules. So the DNC stripped the state of its delegates. Still, that hasn't stopped the leading Democratic candidates from trying.
NPR's Mara Liasson reports.
MARA LIASSON: In a Democratic race that has turned into trench warfare, the campaigns are now fighting over a state with no delegates at stake.
Hillary Clinton is casting herself as the candidate who really cares about Florida's disenfranchised Democrats.
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Presidential Candidate): Florida will once again be a battleground state, and I want the voters in Florida to know that I hear them. Hundreds of thousands of Floridians have already voted, so clearly they are taking this seriously, and they believe their voices are going to be heard and should be counted, and I agree with them
LIASSON: Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards all signed pledges not to campaign in Florida before the primary. But they are allowed to fundraise in the state. Clinton showed up for two fundraisers yesterday and one today. They were closed to the public and the press in accordance with the rules. But that didn't stop her from posing for pictures in front of a palm tree and getting plenty of media coverage.
Tomorrow night, she'll be back again after the polls close, holding what she says is an event to thank her supporters but what will probably morph into a, quote, "victory celebration."
Ms. JENNY BACKUS (Democratic strategist; Former Democratic National Committee Official): It's sort of like a sports team showing up at an arena three-quarters of the way into the game but the other team's not there.
LIASSON: That's Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist and former DNC official.
Ms. BACKUS: The Clinton campaign definitely is playing hardball in this presidential nomination.
LIASSON: For their part, the Obama campaign has placed ads on national cable television, which will also air in Florida. And on the ground, there is a vigorous shadow campaign for both candidates; Clinton has AFSCME, the public sector union, out in full force for her. And, says political scientist Susan McManus, Obama has a strong grassroots presence, too.
Ms. SUSAN McMANUS (Political Scientist): The Obama people are extremely well organized, particularly in highly urbanized areas, where you have college campuses and well-educated populations and large minority populations. And, of course, the whole bantering started last week when Obama put out a press release complaining that Hillary Clinton was going to rent the Miami Beach Convention Center and violate the rules. And then Hillary campaign started attacking Obama for running the CNN ad that reached the whole state. It's all in the voters' minds of Florida a facade that they are ignoring Florida because we don't really see a whole lot of signs that they are.
LIASSON: Still, McManus says, the result of the DNC sanctions on Florida was to freeze the race in Clinton's favor. Obama, who has shown he can go from single digits to victory in states where he actively campaigns, has been effectively shut out.
Ms. McMANUS: No question about it. The inability of Obama to actively campaign in a state which is very interested in his campaign has only helped Hillary Clinton maintain her double-digit lead in the polls.
LIASSON: And right now, Clinton is fighting hard for every advantage she can get — even in a state that awards no delegates at all. She is hoping that she can spin her showing there as a victory — something that will take the sting out of her big loss in South Carolina and give her at least the perception of momentum going into the big February 5th contest, where nearly 1,700 real delegates will be elected.
Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.