I must admit the recent controversy about the Confederate “battle” flag caught me slightly off-guard. As someone who has lived in Florida since 1979, and have been active in Democratic politics since the mid 1990’s, I simply accepted the flag as a symbol of southern regional pride and expression. Did the flag make me uncomfortable […]
Senator Marco Rubio has gone from April’s flavor of the month in the Republican primary field to being the seasonal blend of choice. At the same time many in the national punditry seem to be writing off Governor Jeb Bush’s chances to secure the GOP nomination. A set of swing-state polls released by Quinnipiac University […]
In 2001 Governor Jeb Bush very quietly removed a version of the Confederate Battle Flag from the row of flags outside the Florida Capitol. While in hindsight this might seem like an act of political courage, it is worth remembering Jeb Bush comes from a Connecticut Yankee family and into the mid 2000’s the majority […]
Elizabeth Warren famously talks about Larry Summers giving her advice early in her career in the Senate, telling her she could be an insider or an outsider. “Outsiders can say whatever they want. But people on the inside don’t listen to them. Insiders, however, get lots of access and a chance to push their ideas. […]
By Sean Phillippi No one can be an expert in absolutely everything. The world is too big, too complex, and evolves too quickly for any single person to keep up with every major issue that affects society. So, in order to create a comprehensive platform, any cause or entity needs a space where a diverse group […]
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% […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Florida Squeeze 