Monthly Archives: June 2015
LEAD report, North Florida, “swing voters” and Latino/Hispanics
We’ve discussed time and again the comfort zone that many Democratic operatives and party insiders have with campaigning in North Florida. Days after the 2014 election debacle, many Democratic insiders were already pointing to Charlie Crist’s “under-performance” in North Florida as the cause of his defeat. Never mind that fact that Hispanics which represented 17% […]
LEAD Task Force report underwhelming and disappointing
It took over seven months of meetings and planning, but late last week the report from the Florida Democratic Party’s LEAD Task Force was released. The report is itself a combination of obvious conclusions and less obvious ones that are based on faulty assumptions. Quite frankly, the report and the entire work of the task […]
What are our values as Florida Democrats?
Reading “Will the Florida Democratic Party Return To Relevance,” while getting settled-in at the Florida Democratic Party Leadership Blue Conference, it leapt out at me that the root of what ails us as a party are issues of trust and credibility. And, these problems stem from our inability to assert a consistent value set, which […]
Flashback Friday: Florida’s first female member of Congress
Many political nuts do not know that William Jennings Bryan, one of the most significant politicians of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s relocated to the Miami area in the later part of his life. The three-time Democratic nominee moved the party towards economic populism and social conservatism. Bryan was the most feared man in […]
Will the Florida Democratic Party return to relevance?
Florida’s Democrats have had a brutal 15 months. Beginning with Alex Sink’s Special Election loss in March 2014, continuing through a disastrous Election Day in November 2014 and culminating in defeat last month in Jacksonville’s high-profile Mayor’s Race. Certainly not everything that has gone wrong can be blamed on the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) but […]
Ft Lauderdale Strikers update – Sponsorships, supporters, toxic atmosphere and staff changes
Time for us to check in on our friends with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers professional soccer club. The Strikers despite assembling a very impressive squad which is deeper and more talented than the one that reached last year’s NASL Soccer Bowl final, are sitting level on points at the bottom of the league table currently. […]
Op-Ed column in response to “5 LIES THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEEDS TO STOP TELLING”
By Dr Rachel Pienta In response to Brook Hines’s blog-post, “5 LIES THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEEDS TO STOP TELLING”… The blog post title is click bait…and, I admit, it got me. I wanted to know if Hines had anything original to say. A few of the points made had merit, others were oversimplified or […]
5 Lies the Florida Democratic Party Needs to Stop Telling
The LEAD (Leadership Expansion to Advance Democrats) Task Force Report led by Former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings and US Senator Bill Nelson is about to come out, so there’s going to be some discussion about how the party does stuff going forward. Few rational people expect a sanctioned report by party insiders will tell […]
Flashback Friday: Florida’s first African-American member of Congress
Republican Josiah T. Walls was Florida’s first African-American Congressman, and a powerful symbol of the Reconstruction era in the state. Walls was born into slavery in Virginia and captured by the Union Army during the Peninsula Campaign. Eventually he was discharged in Florida after the Battle of Olustee and settled in the Gainesville area. Following […]
Democrats in Florida, being “progressive,” access and cash
Many Democrats in Florida like to believe they are on the right side of the issues. Public polling and basic compassion confirms that in fact the Democrats are right on the issues and that a majority of Floridians are ready to support Democrats that act like electorate would expect them to. With this in mind, […]
The Florida Squeeze 