"I don't really want to stop the show,
But I thought that you might like to know," That the choice becomes clearer.
"So let me introduce to you
The one and only" Carole Kaye, Candidate for Florida House District 86
Local Election Days are upon us. For months now candidates for elected office have roamed their regions. Everyday people have had ample opportunity to meet, greet, and yes, even eat a meal with aspirants. Often, one challenger's name is better known. He or she may be an incumbent, or closely associated with one. Consider the Florida House race in District 86. Two very different Democratic candidates Carole Kaye and Lori Berman appear on the ballot. Who are these office seekers? What will they do for my community, commerce, our children, and me? Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and parts of Boca Raton constituents, who have not made politics their lives, search for answers as they travel to the polls.
Citizens are inundated with "information." Posters dot the landscape. Banners fly on Boulevards. Constituents don pins and place placards on their lawn. Windows and automobile bumpers have not escaped unscathed. Today, the message heard on avenue is "The time is now." Indeed, it is. Early voting began on August 9 and will continue through August 22, 2010. In Florida, while technically Primary Election Day is August 24, 2010, in reality it is today. In Palm Beach County House District 86, Primary Election Day is the final deciding date. Democrats with different styles compete for state House 86 seat. there is no Republican challenger in this race. The winner of the Primary will represent South Palm Beach County communities. Yet, many people do not feel equipped to decide. Whom might I cast a ballot for, the much lauded Lori Berman or the lesser known, highly qualified, Attorney, Educator, and person who for years has shared and cared for my backyard, Carole Penny Kaye.
In announcing his candidacy for Governor of Florida on Monday, Bill McCollum described how if elected his administration would demonstrate "a renewed commitment to our environment." It sure better be "renewed", given that in McCollum's last year in the U.S. House of Representatives, the estimable League of Conservation Voters gave him a dismal 26% lifetime environmental rating, gaining him infamous addition to their "Dirty Dozen" list of the most anti-environment members of Congress -- see http://tinyurl.com/q6aymn).
But that's not the only "Dirty Dozen" list that McCollum has been named to. No, in fact the venerable Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence put the then-congressman in its own hall of shame, citing him as having one of the "worst records on the issue of guns" of anyone in Congress -- see http://tinyurl.com/o5tybz. Of course, McCollum describes that status as nothing more than support of the constitutional right to bear arms.
What chilling examples these are of the kind of Herculean makeover campaign the McCollum team has already begun to mount, in hopes of finally getting him the kind of high profile statewide gig he has so longed for. His 2006 election as Attorney General just doesn't seem to have done enough to heal the wounds of unsuccessful U.S. Senate runs in 2000 and 2004. He is an ever-ambitious lifer in the grimy game of electoral politics, which usually means prioritizing one's own advancement over and above the positive impact one can have at any particular level of achievement, or responsibility.
While political pundits turn their -- and the public's -- attention to Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate run and a series of chain reaction announcements to follow from Florida pols like Alex Sink and Bill McCollum, it's worth taking one more look at what the state's Republican leadership "accomplished" by the time they finally passed a budget and adjourned last Friday.
Forget the spin coming out of self-congratulatory press conferences like the one on Friday afternoon that featured Crist, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp, Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul patting one another on the back for reaching compromise "agreements" and making "tough choices". The Governor's office immediately issued a long list of accomplishments in the new budget. Atwater and other Republican leaders went on their own media tour, desperately trying to re-frame the legislative session as some kind of a mixed-bag success. The economic crisis, of course, became the be-all, end-all explanation for their more glaring slaps across the faces of Florida's already reeling Middle Class and working families.
May 1st marked the official end of the 60-day legislative session in Tallahassee. No balloons or ticker tape. No, you see, the one and only task that the legislature was actually required to accomplish by May Day was to pass the state budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1st. They couldn’t get it done. So now House and Senate “leaders”, Republicans like House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater, huddle over the weekend and try to come up with a final budget that the entire legislature can vote on next week. These are the same Republicans who had promised an open budget process last week -- just before making a mad dash for closed-door budget negotiations amongst themselves. Talk about an economic strategy echo chamber. After their secret meetings, they refused to reveal any details of what they’d discussed. But they did want to make an announcement: that the budget negotiation “will be an open process…a very, very open process.” Does that sound more than a little like the twisted double-talk that came out of the Bush administration for eight long years?
This, after weeks and weeks of the usual Florida legislative war dance -- the overwhelmingly Republican House vs. the less-overwhelmingly Republican Senate. How about a couple of examples? Well, Florida homeowners’ “insurer of last resort”, government-backed Citizens Insurance, wanted a rate hike. The state Senate approved a 5% hike. Then the House said no, that’s not enough. They wanted to give them increases of up to 20%. That's called chutzpah in Yiddish, cujones in Spanish, shameless in any language. Then there’s the Clean Energy bill, intended to force electric utilities to use more renewable energy sources, like wind and solar. Even our Republican Lite governor, Charlie Crist, is a big advocate of the legislation. But House Republicans blocked the bill throughout the session.
What are badly outnumbered Democrats to do? Some continue to fight for what's right. Others are just desperate for a win. In the case of the Clean Energy bill, at the last minute the Senate tacked on a ridiculous new feature that would allow nuclear power to also be classified as a renewable energy source. And that, folks, is the kind of wrong-headed cave-in that leaves so many principled citizens disgusted or disengaged with politics, and politicians.
However, it is important to note that there are in fact some hard-working, ethical, progressive Democrats in the state legislature, fighting the good fight against all odds -- people like Dan Gelber, Ted Deutch, Dave Aronberg, and others. But far too often, their hands are tied. There just aren’t enough of them. And that’s because of how successfully the Republicans have gerrymandered our legislative districts. The good news is, there's hope on the horizon. A vitally important new ballot referendum initiative called Fair District Florida may just be the beginning of a new day in state politics. Stay tuned for an upcoming article on this potentially game-changing new initiative.
St. Pete Times writer Steve Bousquet has two must read articles regarding Republican efforts in both the House and Senate in the Florida Legislature to change the rules to restrict voting.
From the 2000 recount, to the debacle over delegates, Florida has a long, painful history of problems during election season. Who’s to blame? The Republican-Led Florida Legislature.
I am running against the Majority Whip of the Florida House - the very person that secured the votes that got us into the latest delegate mess.
In the last term, my opponent:
- Voted for legislation that discredits evolution and opens the door to intelligent design in school curriculum.
- Violated a woman’s right to privacy by voting to make an ultrasound mandatory prior to exercising a woman’s right to choose.
- Supported legislation criminalizing embryonic stem cell research
- Voted specifically to exclude mental and physical disabilities and sexual orientation from enumerated categories of bullying in anti-bullying legislation.
- Voted to change Florida law to allow people to take their guns to work.
We may not all be Florida Democrats, but we all know the story: Voters disenfranchised and a primary in chaos.
On top of that, back in January, 2004, my opponent won the first election in America using black-box voting machines. The result – a contested election and a judge, not voters, choosing the winner.
It gets worse: She is also the Florida Co-Chair of the McCain for Florida campaign.
We may be a state in chaos… We may be a Democratic party in chaos… but we will win in November.
From our newsey friends at The Buzz, this just in: "Bathroom" Bob Allen is out. His resignation is effective February 15 (or when the Secretary of State can certify a replacement through a General Election). More after the jump.
The apparently insatiable Bush Political juggernaut is at it again, or has been at it since day one. Who could possibly tell anymore? It appears that Rove & Co. wrangled very senior Executive Branch appointees to do their political campaign work in 2006. I guess that's not actually a surprise, but God Almighty, shouldn't it be?
This is a fairly complex story, and to my great sadness I doubt it'll get much play, but my hope is that someone will pay attention, for a couple of reasons. One, it is (yet another) perfect, sickening example of how this abjectly political administration will cynically manipulate anyone and anything for gain, and two, I used to work in the Drug Czar's office under the Clinton Administration, so it hits home for me.
What makes it all the worse is that -- at least according to the quote of their spokesman in today's Post -- they will just go ahead and "shrug off" the Hatch Act.
There are lots of encouraging signs in Florida that make me believe this swing state is turning blue in 2008. What, pray tell, gives me that idea?
Well, for starters, the recent DFA training in Tampa had to be capped due to there being more people wanting to sign up than the venue allowed. There's the fact that the progressive blogosphere in Florida is getting organized. Sites like the Florida Progressive Coalition, Florida Kossacks and Florida Netroots are working on projects like Blog Florida Blue, creating a Florida Netroots Coalition within the state party, the creation of a Florida Progressive Radio Show, and organizing events such as the Netroots luncheon at the Jefferson-Jackson Weekend and a series of Netroots panels at the upcoming state convention.
The other "innovation" to come out of the SD3 special election for me other than than using Streets and Trips for canvassing, was decentralizing our GOTV system.
This was a test of a get out the vote system which we would like to try and use for 2008, when more precincts and volunteers are in play.
One of the big lessons I've learned for the Senate District 3 special election (which occurs on Tuesday), is the need for the Democratic Party, particularly local DECs to push absentee voting as early as humanly possible.
Republicans typically "out request" Democrats by around a 2 to 1 margin (sometimes even 3 to 1 or higher) in the absentee ballot column. At least this is the story in Marion County and most of North and Central Florida. This means that our Democratic candidates go into Election day with a vote deficit, which has to be overcome by both Early Voting (another area where Republicans tend to beat Democrats) and regular Election Day voting at the polls. And we wonder why we lose.
However, this was common knowledge in the Democratic activist community long before this special election - so why hasn't anything really changed? For starters, things have changed a bit in targeted races.
Sarasota County will have new voting machines by November, and the company that sold the county its controversial touch-screen system will not provide them, county commissioners decided Wednesday.
County leaders unanimously voted to begin negotiating with North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold for new optical scan voting machines.
Diebold has suffered from controversies. The company's former CEO, Wally O'Dell, was a fundraiser for President Bush's 2004 campaign and said he was committed 'to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President.' O'Dell later resigned.
I certainly don't get to say this often, but there's a great bill moving through Congress these days, the Fair Elections Now Act. Unfortunately, I have to run to class, so I can't write a whole lot about it. Besides, Adam B over at Daily Kos has the best rundown.
We need a similar measure here in Florida for any state-level election.
The Senate Ethics & Elections Committee in the Florida Legislature is asking for written comments on election reform. Please email them at: 2006election@flsenate.gov.
I hope this message finds you in good health and good spirits. I am writing to update you all on the happenings at the Florida Democratic Party. We're busy working toward victory in 2008.
Please read my entry to learn more.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Congresswoman Karen Thurman
Chair, Florida Democratic Party
(Redistricting reform should be the #1 issue for Florida progressives. You can't win elections if the districts are rigged. Obviously, through my 2008 State House races diary, we can make progress, but a majority is still a long shot. Should it be, though? No. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida. Our state legislative and congressional districts simply don't reflect this reality. - promoted by Ray_Seaman)
The way the districts are drawn up in Florida is broken. The process is undemocratic and it supresses the will of the people. The results from this year's election are a clear example.
In Congressional races, the overall results were some of the best we've had in recent years. Two seats changed hands (and a third probably did as well, but the electronic voting machines have fouled it up). One of those, though, only changed hands because of the Mark Foley sex scandal. Five incumbents faced no opposition at all. Another incumbent faced only a write-in candidate. Of the remaining races, incumbents or favored challengers in open seats won 15 races with at least 55.9%. That meant there were only four competitive races out of 25.
In the state senate, the picture was even worse. There were 20 seats up for election and two seats changed hands, with no net change in the overall composition of the senate. Seven candidates faced no opposition at all. Four candidates faced only write-in candidates and three only faced third-party candidates. Three more won by at least 59.6%. That means that there were only three competitive races.
The reason our elections actually aren't elections is the way our districting lines are drawn. It's undemocratic and anti-American and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible if Florida is going to become the great state it has the potential to be instead of the constant punchline in national jokes it so often is.
Next time around, I'm going to take a look at the State House races.
UPDATE (by Ray): Virginia is headed in the right direction on redistricting. From one of my favorite blogs, Raising Kaine.
UPDATE 2 (by Ray): Iowa has a nonpartisan redistricting process. This is Iowa's congressional map:
No divided counties or municipalities. No ridiculous mile-wide arms stretching into pockets of voters of one party or another. This is how it should be.
Although Florida was mostly behind the curve when it came to the Democratic wave over a week ago, Democrats gained a respectable 7 seats in the Florida House. The new makeup of the house will be as follows (the previous legislature's makeup is in parenthesis):
Florida House of Representatives Republicans 78 (85) Democrats 42 (35)
2008 presents good opportunities for Democrats to continue to gain in the Florida House. Republicans also have a few opportunities.
(We made progress in Florida, and we are headed in the right direction, yet quinnelk is right, we were still behind the curve compared to the rest of the country. We have our work cut out for us. - promoted by Ray_Seaman)
Florida largely missed the boat on the Democratic wave that overwhelmed America Tuesday. Sure, Dems gained 3 seats in Congress, 7 in the legislature and one in the cabinet, but that limited success is behind what much of the rest of the country experienced. Why? Because the Florida Progressive Coalition isn't fully functional yet. There is no progressive infrastructure in the state. There is no progressive communication in the state. There is no progressive fundraising base in the state. There are few progressive bloggers actually blogging about Florida and our media doesn't get the job done. That's why we need your help. We're trying to change things in Florida. Florida has the 2nd most conservative policy in the country (after South Dakota), most of our elected officials are Republicans -- many of them total whackjobs. And we just ironically passed a law by 58% that requires 60% of the population to pass further laws. Something is wrong in the Sunshine State. We think we have a plan to fix it. Join us. Check out our blog. Check out our Wiki. Check out our mission. And then join us. Florida is a blue state, it just doesn't know it yet. Leave a comment or e-mail me at quinnelk@hotmail.com.
(Let's help out Jim anyway we can. As you all well know, this race will have deep ramifications for the Presidential race in 2008, as well as redistricting in 2010 or earlier - promoted by Ray_Seaman)
The big push to get out the vote for Jim Davis and Daryl Jones is now in full swing. The major effort is going to be this weekend, but it will continue right up until the polls close on Tuesday.
If you are ever going to do something to help get Jim and Daryl across the finish line to victory, now is the time. This election is going to be close. Your efforts on behalf of Team Davis / Jones could definitely make a difference.
As of 8/21/10: We're fooling around with Tumblr; any suggestions? Check out this book.
Immediately below, in the "Candidates" section, are links to select candidates' Twitter, Facebook and contribution pages.
These are not paid ads.
The campaign web sites of select candidates; click on "FB" to check them out on FaceBook, "T" to follow them on twitter, and "$" to donate. These are not paid ads.
- At "After All, He Is Black", we look at the inability of Florida "conservatives" to deal with racial issues.
- "Take this job ..." is a compendium of some of the things Florida employers are permitted to do to their employees.
Please leave comments or e-mail us with additional material for these projects.
About Our Feeds
Our collection of RSS feeds includes our selection of continuously updated Florida Netroots posts and Florida newspaper company "blog" posts, as well as a "Crist Watch" feed.
One of the big lessons I've learned for the Senate District 3 special election (which occurs on Tuesday), is the need for the Democratic Party, particularly local DECs to push absentee voting as early as humanly possible.
