No surprise here: The Republican National Committee on Monday officially yanked half of Florida's 114 delegates to next summer's presidential nominating convention for holding its primary election a week earlier than allowed.

RNC rules adopted in 2004 forbid any state from holding a primary before Feb. 5. That put Florida and four other states - South Carolina, Wyoming, Michigan, and a cold, rocky entitled-feeling state near Vermont, New something-or-other -- out of the window. All five will forfeit half their delegates.

“We spent a lot of time over the past year educating our states as to what the rules were. This will come as no surprise," RNC Chairman Mike Duncan said. "All these states were on notice.”

The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, has stripped Florida of all 210 of its delegates to its national convention, prompting a bitter battle between the state and national party officials. What's more, the four early decision states - Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada - forced the major Democratic candidates to boycott Florida until after the primary, except for fund-raising.

Compare that to the generally pleasant tone taken by Florida Republicans. Jim Greer, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, issued a low-key statement Monday saying he was disappointed with the RNC decision but that "this is a disagreement among friends." And neither he nor Duncan expect the candidates to avoid Florida.