GOP leaders in South Carolina and Iowa are pushing national Republican leaders to yank next year’s convention from the Sunshine State unless lawmakers change the presidential preference primary date.

South Carolina GOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd sent a letter to members of the Republican National Committee this morning saying Florida is “thumbing its nose” at the committee’s rules, Politico http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52303.html today.

“Simply put, if Florida does not respect the process by which our primary calendar was set, the RNC should not be bound to the process by which the convention site was selected,” Floyd wrote.

Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn sent out a statement backing up Floyd.

Florida’s 2012 primary is currently set for Jan. 31, a violation of both parties’ rules requiring the primary to be held no earlier than in March.

Florida GOP leaders aren’t backing down. They say they’re doing what they can to ensure that Florida plays an integral role in the selection of the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

Get over it, Senate President Mike Haridopolos suggested in a statement. The Merritt Island Republican and U.S. Senate candidate wants the Sunshine State to be fifth in the primary lineup, after New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada.

Read Haridopolos’ and House Speaker Dean Cannon’s reactions after the jump.
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Remember how everything ends up in Florida? Post staff writer Bill DiPaolo reports from Hobe Sound this afternoon:

The wife of philandering South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is staying at the home her parents own in a gated community here, said a woman who answered the phone Wednesday.

The woman, who would not identify herself, said Jenny Sanford was staying in the home in Loblolly Bay but was not available. She took a message. Sanford did not return the call.

Security guards at Loblolly Bay said Sanford’s parents live in the community. When asked if Jenny Sanford had gone through the gates, they refused to comment. Several reporters kept vigil outside the gates.

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For anyone who’s been convinced that Florida is the weirdest state in the country (OK, that would be just about everybody), the past week’s drama with the vanishing-then-reappearing South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has certainly given the Sunshine State a run for our money.

What does Florida have that could possibly compete with Argentina-by-way-of-the-Appalachian-Trail? Hurricane insurance? Tri-Rail’s budget woes? Puh-lease.

And it’s nice to see that South Carolina has strong enough public records laws that The State newspaper has been able to get ahold of the e-mails between Sanford and his paramour, Maria. You can read the governor’s appreciation for Maria’s tan lines, his thoughts on the plot of The Thorn Birds (“I was always upset with Richard Chamberlain for not dropping his ambitions and running into Maggie’s arms”) and his ruminations on the place of the South Carolina governorship in the nation’s political hierarchy (“There are but 50 governors in my country and outside of the top spot, this is as high as you can go”).

Sometimes, things just speak for themselves. This appears to be one of those times.