| Jeb Bush's flirtation with the idea of running for the US Senate in Florida has set the world of political junkies abuzz. Many Republicans see Jeb's candidacy as a way for their beleaguered party to regroup and start a comeback.
Democrats are riffling through their deck of players trying to decide who their "strongest" candidate would be facing the putatively popular former governor. The convention wisdom is that Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is the one to do the job.
I love Alex Sink and look forward to having her elected governor in 2014 after Crist steps down. But, I don't think she's the "strongest" Democratic candidate for US Senate any more than Hillary Clinton was for the Democratic nomination for president. That's an old-fashioned type of opinion that the successful Obama campaign has swept aside.
Let me just point out one brutally obvious fact. Sink is a middle-aged white woman with a Southern accent. Do you really think she can mobilize the turnout in the Black community needed to beat someone like Jeb, especially in an off-year election?
Personally, I was exceedingly heartened to hear that Miami congressman Kendrick Meek is seriously considering entering the race. He has a history of tweaking Jeb's nose, what with his sit-in over affirmative action changes, his drive to register hundreds of thousands of new voters for the 2000 election (which is why it was so close), and especially with the passage of the class-size amendment. This last item so infuriated Jeb he spent the rest of his time in office trying to get it overturned.
Everyone's been wondering what will become of Obama's army of volunteers now that he's been elected. Well, here in Florida, the obvious solution will be that we all need to switch over to the Meek For US Senate campaign.
Now, all of this is very simplified, and any statewide race here in Florida would be expensive and difficult. But, if the Florida Democratic Party can put together a progressive slate of Good Government candidates for the five statewide offices (US Senator, Governor, Chief Financial Officer, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner) up for grabs in 2010, then things could get very interesting.
A unified slate that campaigned together would be an effective counter to Jeb's celebrity. But, the party would definitely have to recruit an Hispanic, someone like Joe Garcia (who unsuccessfully challenged Mario Diaz-Balart for congress), to run for one of the five offices in order to counter Jeb's fluency in Spanish and progressive immigration policy.
And a Democratic slate that contained Meek, Sink running for re-election, and Garcia, would be a real-life counterpoint to Jeb's remark that the Republican Party can't afford to be "The Old White Guy Party."
It's interesting to note that Meek was initially a Hillary Clinton supporter. But, like many of us, this election cycle changed him and allowed him (along with the rest of us) to really come into his own in regards to being positively involved in the political process. A Meek candidacy would continue this consolidation of bringing new voters into a constructive relationship with their government and their politicians.
And as for his chances, clearly, all the pieces will be there to again make possible The Audacity of Hope.
If Al Franken is finally declared victorious in Minnesota, the senate race here in 2010 will take on momentous proportions. If a Democrat wins, that will create the magic, veto-proof 60 seat majority in the Senate, allowing a President Obama to fully implement an agenda of Change.
And if all of it comes about by an energetic, young Black congressman beating a mean-spirited, arrogant politician with the reviled last name Bush, well, that just makes it more the sweeter.
Run, Kendrick, Run! |
