We already lost the governor's race to one of the worst people in political history--twice. Unlikable, criminal, and a colossal screw-up, Rick Scott should not of won. Yet he did, in an election that has had our lowest turnout in history. As I expected, our perpetually stupid state party took the wrong message from their defeat: AGAIN. Next time, they say, they'll run a conservative:
Former State Dem Chair Rod Smith:
"We simply cannot write off a quarter of a million votes, and have a chance," said Smith.Translation: For all the talk by Democratic strategists about the importance of driving up turnout among Democrats in South Florida — especially minorities — Democrats will never be successful if they don't also improve their standing among voters in North Florida, especially white voters.
What makes more sense: getting Democrats to the polls or convincing teabaggers to vote for you? Dumbass.
Continue....
Tampa Bay Mayor Bob Buckhorn, interviewed on Bay News 9 who said he "may already be the frontrunner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2018":
...we asked him why he did zero to help Crist this year and what Democrats need to do next time."Democrats have to have a candidate that can compete in areas other than the traditional Democratic areas. If you cannot compete, and if you don't have a compelling message, and if you aren't looked upon as someone who is pro-business, who is centrist, who is all about getting things done, north of Orlando you don't stand a chance," Buckhorn said.
You stupid. stupid. stupid people.
You think Alex Sink and Charlie Crist were raging liberals???
Alex Sink was the freaking president of Bank of America! Bank-friendly, wishy-washy, and a horrible campaigner: she embodied everything the FL Democratic Party looks for in a candidate. She campaigned more in the North than the Democratic base in the South. She was uncomfortable running in the minority areas of Miami. Enthusiasm was non-existent in an already tough midterm election, save for the drive to stop the worst fraudster in history from taking office. She failed. After her loss, she learned nothing and tried to get a Congressional seat earlier this year. Somehow, her Democratic strategists thought that attacking the president and running from ACA would be a winnable strategy. Not so much.
After her loss, my party gave up and said "F It, run a republican". So we ran Charlie Crist. Crist as is "centrist" as a politician can possibly be. He's run as a conservative, an independent, and a Democrat. No liberal activist has ever accused him of being a liberal.
So what's next, geniuses? Should we run Ted Cruz?
We did not lose over money. Scott ran ads 2-1. You will never match GOP funding-but you don't have to. What you DO have to do is run on a strong core message and stick to it. Most of all, you need a candidate who will RALLY THE BASE. That means running a GD progressive!
Try to run someone who will actually EXCITE our voters to the polls. Alan Grayson is such a person. He has the name recognition and the national presence to bring in necessary funds, and he will have an army of volunteers THROUGHOUT our state.
There are more Democrats than republicans, but they don't turn out for the Jim Davises, or Alex Sinks or the Charlie Crists. I PROMISE you the problem isn't having a candidate who will run from our platform and will be indistinguishable from the GOP candidate. In our leadership's small minds, this will make him "more acceptable" to white republicans, but they will vote for the candidate with the R beside his name anyway. WHO THE HELL CARES if they vote against our candidate hating him more or less?
I can go on about the failures of our leadership, but that's counterproductive. I would rather just have Alan Grayson run in the primary in 2018. I don't even care if the FL Dem leadership likes him or not--so far everyone they have opposed has been successful anyway.
Look, we tried it their way every single time. What's the definition of insanity again? Let's say this once, JUST ONCE, we try to run a Democrat. A Democrat that embodies our principles and fights for what he or she believes in.
And just see what happens.
As an Independent voter my main reservation about Grayson would be that if he runs for governor, he needs to stick by the facts when campaigning. Running against the GOP, those facts will be ugly enough as is. He'll need to avoid doing things like this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.factcheck.org/2010/09/patriotism-falsely-impugned/
I don't mind his bombastic style. But if you're going to speak loudly, you need to carry a big stick that doesn't break on contact with targets.