Opening the smokey room.

Just when I think I'm out of the blog business the Miami-Dade DEC pulls me back in. Do they think House of Cards is a documentary? Ha!

Rules? We don’t need no stinking rules. That appears to be the attitude when it comes to the upcoming Miami-Dade DEC elections this coming Tuesday. A short primer for those of you unfamiliar with the somewhat arcane process of electing officers in each county’s DEC (Democratic Executive Committee). Every 4 years, after the Presidential election, the local DEC dissolves and reorganizes itself. Officers are then elected at the first meeting, usually in the first two weeks of December. There are lots of pesky rules that determine how these elections are run. To run for office, you must have been elected as a precinct committee person. Those elections were held on August 30, 2016. If you’re not a precinct committee person, you cannot run for office at this first Organizational Meeting.

In addition to gaining responsibility for running the local party the Chair, Vice Chair, State Committeeman and State Committeewoman are eligible to run for Chair of the Florida Democratic Party. Subsequent to this first meeting any empty precincts are then filled by appointment by the local Chair with approval of the precinct committee people. Once appointed to that person gains all of the privileges of an elected precinct person, including running for any officer vacancies that may arise – remember this for later, it’s important.

This is where the fix comes in. For any good fix to work, you need the right players in the right positions involved and “persuaded” in the right way. First we have Stephen Bittel, a democratic donor and infamous subject of DNC staffers less than laudatory emails (see DNC emails WikiLeaks), who holds no position in the DEC including precinct committee person (has he even ever been to a DEC meeting?). Then you have Juan Cuba the (current/former???) DEC executive director. Our less prominent players are Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz, and vice-chair candidates, Dotie Joseph and Ruben Young.

Juan Cuba was running for state committeeman against Bret Berlin. It was going to be a close race and one of them would lose their coveted power. The state committee people, chair, and first vice-chair are the only members of the DEC who can vote for the Chair of the State Party. But the state committee people have more votes based on the number of Democrats in their county, giving them a lot of power to elect chair, and other party matter votes.

Of the many catastrophes of Donald Trump’s election win, one that is becoming more apparent is that rich, white men now think they can become political leaders by using their business acumen. So Stephen Bittel (rich, white businessman) decides he wants to become chair of the Florida state democratic party. And his credentials are… wait for it, “he can raise millions for the party” (he’ll probably fail to tell you that he reneged on his agreement to fully fund the DEC executive director position for a mere few thousand dollars, and Juan Cuba formed a consulting firm to funnel dollars to pay himself). He’ll also tell you that he was on the DNC and the vice-chair of finance.

Of course, none of those are elected positions and were appointments, by whom… DWS. But wait, Bittel is not a precinct committee person and cannot hold elected office in the DEC, so he’s not eligible. That’s where back room deals, arm twisting, generous offers, etc. come in. Bittel, Cuba, and no doubt members of the Florida Alliance (and who knows who else is involved), meet and the deal is made. Bittel gets two dupes to run for Vice Chair, since the rules are the chair and vice chair must be different genders he covers his bases with a male and female. Juan Cuba drops out of the race for state committee man to run for Chair. If he wins, a high probability, he coincidentally prevents the former Chair, Dwight Bullard, from running for Vice Chair (the gender thing).

Now Bullard did not do a good job while he was chair. He did not raise any money and he did not provide much guidance, direction or inspiration to the party. So on one hand, blocking him from running may just be an attempt to prevent a less than stellar candidate from holding an officer position. But, oh yeah, he does want to run for State Party chair, the position Bittel wants.

As the chess pieces fall into place, Berlin is now running unopposed because all these machinations were done right at the deadline (although yes, technically you can be nominated from the floor on Election Day, and if Cuba were to lose his bid for Chair, he can turn around and run for state committee man against Berlin, again!). So, what's the fix?

Bittel makes a deal with Cuba. In return for setting all the right players in place, the female vice chair resigns setting up a new ad hoc election where the gender rules do not apply. Bittel, who will conveniently be appointed to a vacant precinct position, can now run for Vice Chair. Assuming he wins (can you say rigged), he is now eligible to run for Chair of the state party. What did it take to arrange all this, oh nothing big, probably just promises of positions on the DNC, super-delegate status, and did you know Bittel wants to have a CEO and COO lead the state party. Hmmm, and if we need people to fill those well-paid positions, anyone come to mind?

Now for the pièce de résistance. How does Bittel ensure he wins the election for State Party Chair? He attacks on 2 fronts. First, the Florida Alliance allegedly has informed the powers and non-powers that be that if Bittel does not win, no more donations from them. And on the second front, well let’s bring in that final player, DWS. As we learned from the WikiLeaks DNC emails, she is the master of the back room deal and arm twisting to her advantage.

She works it so she gets what she wants, which is usually about what benefits her (again read DNC staffers emails on WikiLeaks).  For DWS, this behind the scenes control off the state party (or national party) is nothing new to her. Just ask Alan Clendenin about what happened in 2012 (or even Bernie Sanders). So Bittel, who has now co-opted Cuba, Dotie and Ruben with his extravagant promises, gets DWS to control the rest of the state’s committeemen and committeewomen, gets his friends in the Florida Alliance to threaten to withhold money and “voila”, our new state chair.

If you’ve been in politics for any period of time, you’re probably thinking, duh, this is how it works. Back room deals have been going on since our Republic was formed. But aren’t you tired of the good ole boys being the ones who do the deals, hold the power, and benefit. What all these players really want is power and benefits. As the famous saying goes, “it’s all about me.” What about the true believers, the grassroots activists, those of us who believe the party can and must do better. Bittel thinks his “I’ll raise millions” is the answer. If he wants to raise millions, he can do it without bending and breaking the democratic party rules, or being chair of anything. Just do it! The grassroots Democrats will be disgusted and walk away from the party if we continue to see these backroom deals happen that are so unnecessary, and only serve to stroke the egos of billionaires. Didn't DWS raise a ton of money at the national level? And look where that got us. Do you really want the democratic party to continue to be the party that loses elections by thin margins, or do you want to see us get back to our core and start electing more Democrats who will support progressive issues?

When I first heard about all of this I thought, OMG, everyone is making a deal with the devil for their own benefit. I now realize it’s worse. Vote your values. Vote your conscience. It's time to stop selling out our party.

FDP fucks up again, 2 candidates in 25.

So today some unknown challenger from Broward who was an anti-union developer decided to run for Congress.

Why? She wanted to ward off challengers after the Women's Campaign Fund and Ruth's list got wind of a couple of big names being recruited by DCCC after Luis Garcia dropped out. She wanted to protect herself, since she has no history in running for office.

I can confirm based on sources in multiple states that the FDP acted without consulting with DC in co-releasing together with her the press release announcing her candidacy.

The big news today is the impending candidacy of Joe Garcia once again in district 25. Expect it in about two weeks. Without the Tea Party momentum and high levels of fundraising and name ID, I predict he will run and win over David Rivera. The biggest threat to him now is a primary challenge from the right on Rivera.

I'll update this story as more comes out.

Caramba

Thank you for the emails folks. One of them contained an interesting that inspired me to kick my monitor.

FL-25: Oy vey. Sometimes I just don't understand why things like this happen. Businesswoman Annette Taddeo-Goldstein, whom you'll remember from her run against GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in FL-18 in 2008 (minus the "-Goldstein" back then), is accusing state Rep. Luis Garcia of falsely claiming she'd endorsed his bid for Congress against troubled GOP freshman David Rivera. Garcia of course denies the charge, but seriously, wtf?

Well, if you have a particularly good memory (like ndrwmls10), you may recall that last June, Dave Catanese reported that Taddeo-Goldstein was going to launch a her own campaign against Rivera "in the next 30 to 60 days." Obviously that never came to pass, but it also explains why Garcia was so interested in claiming Taddeo-Goldstein's endorsement, and why—if she's still contemplating the race—she wouldn't want to give it. Nevertheless, this is an ugly, unnecessary mess, but it also makes me wonder: Whatever happened to Taddeo-Goldstein's planned bid?"

This story has two points that stick in my throat. 1) Why the heck is Louis Garcia using Annette's name? I'm not in fantasy land, all these politicians use everyone else's information from prior races against their opponents. The difference is not all of them outright say the name of the last candidates in the area. From talking to people I hear he's done the same with Joe Garcia. MEMO: STOP USING THEIR NAMES. If you're so incompetent you can't raise money against a guy with federal investigations over his head and tremendous disapproval ratings who hasn't done shit for the district, then give up and let someone else take over. Which is why I hear he's being dissuaded from continuing and is being pushed to switch over to city or county commission depending on who you ask. Good riddance. But this just shows how useless the DCCC is that they backed the wrong horse on this.

2) Taddeo-Goldstein needs to be brought down a peg or 17. She might be brilliant as a businesswoman but let's be clear about this, she's not a political figure. Here she is busting someone's chops who's actually won and done something. I'm not Garcia's biggest fan, but he's in a hard as nails district and still wins. He's liked. He's been effective in positions before. Taddeo got her ass kicked by a well known political foe and then got steamrolled because she gave 40% effort on a small race she should have dominated. I've heard plenty of excuses for her behavior from friends. You don't put this out publicly. How does she expect to be treated seriously?

Annette; you seem to think Florida House or Senate is beneath you. Your hot shot friends have backed you and you can fundraise way too well for such a small race. I just want to point out you'll never get to Congress without being there and that representing Floridians and testing your legislative skills is an honor and a challenge to see if you'd be good. So far you are an egotist who thinks something is owed to her. You are owed nothing. You make your own headway in politics. If you want to be a sideline player keep doing what your doing. But if you want to get on the field, make some sacrifices and go help your state. That's if your ego doesn't get in the way. Also, stop doing stupid things like this which just cause resentment among the ground troops in the party.

It's been a long time

Your favorite blue blogger is back on a supremely inconsistent basis. Since my last post I've gone through marriage, the birth of my first child and the purchasing of my first property. So I my time is limited by waking up at 5 AM because my son decides he wants attention or that he couldn't sleep. Don't expect blogging masterpieces.

Having said that expect slow news drips. For those of you not familiar with this blog; read it.

I break news on the Democratic Party and make fun of the Republican party. If you're wondering what inspired my return it's having heard this was coming down two days ago.

I'd also like to send a special message to Senator Steinberg: You're an ass. Thank God it's a safely Democratic seat. I'm sure Democrats across the county will appreciate this stupidity.

The dozens of messages, sent over the course of more than three months last fall, were sent from a phone that used software to disguise the number.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/02/under-federal-inquiry-dem-rep-steinberg-admits-sending-sexxxy-stalker-type-emails-to-federal-prosecu.html#storylink=cpy

Nice job. Just resign ASAP before you do progressives actual harm moron.

Democracy gets kicked in the face

I have very little to add to this post as it communicates overwhelmingly my thoughts as to what happened in District 112. I have to say Rep. Luis Garcia has not always been my favorite Democrats but he has nailed this spot on.

Sandra Ruiz (Democrat-Doral) is now facing an uphill battle thanks to Johnny Farias (Douchebag) and Jeanette Nunez (Opportunist Republican). With the information I've received showing that Ruiz was leading the Republican in the race, she manipulated the neophyte that is Farias into joining her in a lawsuit that removed her from the ballot.

If I were...say Ana Rivas Logan, I'd be crapping my pants now.

But that's a separate issue. The issue at hand is that Johnny Farias, who has been running one of the dirtiest, behind the scenes campaigns one could imagine for over a year now, has finally found a way to beat Sandra Ruiz. Not at the ballot box where he'd have his ass handed to him.

I have to say that this win at any cost mentality may be good for Johnny's short term political legacy. It's bad for democracy, it's bad for the voters and I hope this sticks in the minds of local Democrats for a long time yet. When one of your own takes away your best opportunity at picking up a house seat and when they do it through these means...says volumes.

I think this matter is pathetic, and if through the stay, Mrs. Ruiz is allowed to be on the ballot and ultimately wins on appeal. I hope she crushes him. I'm glad that the underhanded tactics aren't working with Rep. Garcia or other high level Democrats. Former State Representative and now PSC commissioner Ron Brise pulled his endorsement from Farias after taking so many calls against Farias. When devoted Democrats like Joe Geller and Annette Taddeo stand up for you, it says plenty to me.

Johnny Farias may win the battle, but he'll lose the war, and inadvertently, he'll cost his wife the chance to win her seat as well.

Farias states:

"That's not a chance I am willing to take. We have to be unselfish. Did we want a democrat in the general election, yes or no? If she had been removed we would have had no democrat in the race. Whats better to have a Democrat or no Democrat?"

So let me ask him, when the David Rivera-esque charges about domestic violence come out against him in the general, is he ready for that? Hey, I'm just being unselfish and asking some questions that will be put to him.

Let me tell ya'll something else; to have a Democrat like that, I'd rather not have a Democrat in the race.

Is supporting Kendrick Meek viable?

I don't want folks to get me wrong here, I usually support the most progressive candidate in a race and usually in Miami it's our Democratic Party nominee. The reality though is that Kendrick Meek's half assed campaign, now about 18 months old, has failed the Democratic Party of Florida. He hasn't expanded his coalition, his field organizers are rarely seen and heard from. I see very few supporters that are non-establishment types. When Jeff Green, a former Republican with a whole resume that is bad for political purposes is picking up large numbers with his unprecedented and daunting $40 million its pretty telling. The primary is interesting. Check out this story from the Miami Herald. I don't like Green, but he's stronger than Meek for the general.

The latest poll from the Chamber of Commerce (who's polling I don't even remotely trust) is weird. I'm wondering if they're unsure of whom they are supporting so far. It's shows a blowout win for Charlie Crist but like every other poll shows about 15 points for Meek. What's sad here is that the reality is that Kendrick isn't even close to competitive. Crist is winning over Democrats. Every teacher in the state is going for him.

So I think the question I'll pose to my readers is this: Is it time to hedge our bets and support Sun Tan Charlie?

Critics "don't know the facts"

Just a quick blog post on President Obama's press conference today. As Politico headlines he actually said:

“Those who think that we were either slow in our responses or lacked urgency don’t know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred,” Obama said during a rare news conference in the White House East Room. “We understood from day one the potential enormity of this crisis and acted accordingly.”

I'm a supporter of the President. But his I'm smarter than you act is wearing thin on me. It was his Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel saying that those progressives who don't sit idly and go after Blanche Lincoln type Democrats were "fucking stupid". There are other examples but I'm too lazy to go google things for you, my dear reader.

Yes, the President is privy to information that we don't. That doesn't make him our intellectual superior or the average citizen an idiot. It makes him able to make judgements and come to a conclusion better than we can. But the country, already frustrated with the federal governments' slow response and terrible lack of following through on existing laws, doesn't need to be looked down on by our leader. It needs an efficient and good Commander in Chief who doesn't allow for hundreds of gallons of oil to spill and is to worried about not stepping on the neck of British Petroleum. Who cares about them? The damage they've caused has already altered our environment for decades.

Is anyone surprised by this?

A Gallup Poll released Thursday found that 53 percent of Americans rate Obama’s performance on the oil spill as “poor” or “very poor.” The federal government came out worse at 60 percent. And worse still was BP, at 73 percent “poor” or “very poor.”

As that article goes on to say:

No less a Democratic ally than James Carville, now living in his native Louisiana, bashed Obama Wednesday for what he called the “political stupidity” of his response to the Gulf crisis. “I have no idea of why their attitude was so hands off here,” Mr. Carville said Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

I'd say Carville knows a thing or two and isn't "stupid." What's more, he has nothing to gain by attacking or defending this administration.

Sometimes Mr. President, the public can see the Emperor's robes. We know when a mistake has been made, and this time it's your fault.

Why I support the AZ Law

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Guess who's back?

It has been quite a while hasn't it?

It did lead to more comments though...including one saying "whatever it is that took Blue In Miami out should be praised eternally."

I've been absorbing the political environment, you can't spill everything you hear and have to have your ear to the ground. We all knew about Joe Garcia announcing soon, that was the worst kept secret in Dade political history. We all knew Crist would go NPA after his party Lieberman'd his behind.

Today I'm picking on a smaller target. Recently a source of mine indicated that they'd received a flyer attacking Sandra Ruiz who is running in District 112 for State House. It was not sourced and was left at their front gate. Apparently the whole neighborhood received this little doozy claiming Ruiz said she "lived in Doral because other places were lower class."

Let's assume that this random, unsourced quote on an unsourced flyer with no one claiming responsibility for it was true. Why would she be stupid enough to say that out loud or in a room where she couldn't trust everyone? These type of flyers are dirty, have no ethics and frankly are disgusting. This could be the Republicans trying to hurt her and I'd love to accuse them of it. Unfortunately, her primary opponent, Johnny Farias has been so underhanded and dirty during the campaign that it is not out of the question that perhaps he did this.

I think Johnny's an alright person but is being manipulated by the GOP to run a campaign that is utterly negative. My sources see that he goes to many events and has tried to press flesh but that at fundraisers he is inappropriate and that has led to complaints from other candidates. One prominent local figure said that through "sheer harassment" they decided to endorse Farias. Another person told me that they were sent a YouTube video attacking Sandra Ruiz by one of his biggest supporters. Another complaint was that the campaign manager had said "fuck it, we can get nasty, we have plenty of dirt on her."

I noted that one fundraiser was thrown for him in Doral, Sandra's backyard, by an interesting group of non-primary voters...Republicans on the city council. The GOP does know elections and stupid it is not. They sense the opportunity to take a candidate that is clean in Ruiz and drag her name through the mud by opening a divisive and contentious Democratic primary. That way she'll have to spend and compete in a primary, perhaps even go negative herself, something that would raise her unfavorable numbers and weaken her for the general election. Farias' anger as one local heavyweight told me is based on the contention that Ruiz waited until he jumped in the race and then went to his donors and told them why she was a better candidate.

I believe that's called "retail politics" and if Farias takes offense to that he's not fit for office, as that is a minor transgression at best. I've seen him speak and he is neither eloquent nor impressive, consistently failing to tailor the message to the room he is in. Yet he continues to drive a negative narrative towards Ruiz who is ultimately our best chance in November. I have been in a room when he attacked her and she did not respond with fire. I think our candidates in that race should look at the numbers and realize they need to go after the Republicans in the race, not each other. Sandra got the memo, when will Johnny?

And one final thing, a female supporter of his who donated a small but significant sum of money told me: "I was on board with him, I'm his friend and I love his family but I won't donate again to someone hosting an event at Hooters, that's disgusting." The Democratic Party is often ridiculed and called the "mommy party" because women voters are so crucial. He's running against a woman, so already demographics in his district are against him. There is an 8,000 registered voter difference that favors the GOP in the district. The single largest constituency are female Hispanics, so turning them off is stupid politics. According to fundraising reports, he's raised $9,000 and spent $7,000 with election day four months off. That's also stupid politics. Come on Johnny, shape up and if you can't play fair in the big leagues, run for a small council and then make a run for a bigger office. That would be smart politics.

On a brighter note, thank you to Rudy Moise for being the first candidate of the 2010 cycle to add my email to their press list. Minor miracle! And he's raised over half a million so far which is worth applauding in that messy District 17 race where three quarters of the district is running.

My email as always: blueinmiami@gmail.com

It's been a while

So the bill has passed with many flaws and no public option, because doing what's right is a little harder than we'd like. But at least they've gotten something done through the skin of their teeth. There's nothing I can add to the Health Care debate that hasn't been said already.

But there are these two little nuggets: The Republican candidate for Governor is going to sue the United States and even those on the right think it's stupid.

Andrew Cohen in the Atlantic talks at length about the Doctrine of Interposition a discredited legal theory last really used to try to sustain racist Jim Crow practices in the South. It makes for a great read.

Also from the reasonable right (I just came up with someone's campaign slogan) is David Frum wondering where the GOP goes from now. There are some very good ideas in that piece too that I think Democrats should consider. Ambinder looks at a GOP in dissarray with its November strategy now shot to pieces in what makes for another good read until the final three paragraphs.

Meanwhile, over at Slate (the inside DC types most overrated columns) we see how this could now turn into a huge boost for Democrats in November as the GOP claims (Death PANELS!) are proven false and Americans feel the good elements of this bill.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart retires. [FL-21]

One of the last big names in Miami politics made a huge splash today. Lincoln Diaz-Balart retired today setting off a huge domino effect in Republican ranks.

Here's the National Journal's take on it:

The district is heavily Hispanic, thanks to Miami's large Cuban population. 73% of district residents call themselves Hispanic, while just 16% are white. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) won a narrow 51%-49% victory in the seat.

The reaction from his brother came fast, saying that he'd run to replace Lincoln. But it is the Washington Post that gives us the first part of a nice little scoop:

Mario Diaz-Balart announced this afternoon that he will run for his brother's now open seat, vacating his 25th district -- a seat where McCain won only 50 percent in 2008 and where Mario Diaz-Balart won only 53 percent against Miami-Dade County Democratic Chairman Joe Garcia.

Garcia is reportedly interested in running again and would give Democrats a genuine pickup opportunity in the 25th if he did decide to make the contest. One complicating factor for Garcia is that he is currently working in an appointed post in the Obama Administration. Another Democrat mentioned is Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson who recently announced she would not seek re-election to her current post.

If Mario Diaz-Balart does leave the 25th, Republicans may well look to state Rep. David Rivera whose current state House seat shares significant population with the U.S. House seat.

Mario apparently called it a "natural move" because he had represented the communities in the district before and because there would be redistricting in two years. I used to think it was natural to run for re-election in the district you already represent, especially if you're running unopposed, but I guess that's not true if your poll numbers are slipping and there's something more politically convenient. His brother spoke of honor at representing the 21st district, but apparently the 25th, not so much.

But anyways the Herald continues:

Joe Garcia is in Washington for the Obama administration as Director of the Office of Minority Economic Impact at the Department of Energy -- but friends say it may be inticing for him to be up here as a member of Congress.

Giancarlo Sopo, a political analyst at Bendixen & Amandi in Miami and a former advisor to Garcia's 2008 congressional campaign, says he hasn't talked to Garcia -- but says he wouldn't be surprised if Garcia was being recruited to run again for the district now held by Mario Diaz-Balart -- who is likely to move over to the more Republican-leaning congressional district being vacated by his brother.

"Mario's being run out of the district because it's changing," Sopo said.

Garcia gave Mario Diaz-Balart the strongest challenge of his congressional life in 2008, coming within a few points of winning the seat.

Well, it seems to me that if the DCCC ponied up some cash, say 2 Million (or more not less), split it among all three congressional raises, you'd be able to get Garcia (whom I love) or Katy Sorenson to run in the 25th, in the 21st I've heard two or three names but a decent candidate with a good amount of fund-raising would be needed, though not necessarily a Hispanic, and someone (Taddeo or even Shriver?) in the 18th and you could give the local GOP a heart attack and win 1 or 2 of the seats.

Step up DCCC, FDP, and Miami-Dade DEC.

One of my favorite songs

Goes a little something like this:

Feel I'm goin' back to Massachusetts,
Something's telling me I must go home.
And the lights all went down in Massachusetts
The day I left her standing on her own.

Tried to hitch a ride to San Francisco,
Gotta do the things I wanna do.
And the lights all went down in Massachusetts
They brought me back to see my way with you

There's more obviously, but I am thrilled now by Scott Brown's election. One well placed source on the Hill from a non-Florida politician told me that the House caucus has basically fallen in love with the video of Obama destroying the GOP from last Friday.

But, it's more than that, as some MSNBC pundits have been saying it seems like this is a new Obama. The House senses it too, Pelosi has been working lately to make sure her caucuses stand by her and is emboldened. She's been pushing Reid with Reconciliation. This strikes me as a potential goldmine for progressives. A President who is calling out his critics right back and saying: "I've adopted your ideas!" but you've abandoned me when I agree with you! essentially. He now sounds a little angry and is forcing the GOP to stop swinging and start ducking.

And the Democrats do seem to have regained some pep in their step, even on newer challenges like the Citizens United vs. FEC ruling. Donna Edwards filed a bill on this today and the Senate too is moving on this issue according to Sen. Schumer.

While they may be polling in a nervous frenzy, you still get the feeling that with some tracking polls, Obama's SOTU speech combined with the Friday Q & A, a speech in the NH-1's district with Carol Shea-Porter being challenged by Frank Guinta , that Democrats are preparing to go on the offensive. I think the DC establishment has had enough of the crazies in the Republican party (check out this insane poll of GOP'ers) and is prepared to combat them. Now, does this mean they'll hold to the middle the closer it gets to election time or will they go to the left for their base?

That's the true question and the DADT stuff is an interesting move by Obama at this time. The Democrats have better money and a bit more trust at this time. Even freshmen Congressional Representatives are faring well in the money stakes for example Nye in VA-02. Gonna be an interesting ride through the end of this year folks but it seems like Mass. was in fact the catalyst that set off this year into campaign mode. And maybe it'll be back in Massachusetts where Democrats will find they have to go home. They have to go to their base and please them as much as independents.

Fillibuster Proof Majority!

Perhaps the words the NSCC and Majority Leader like to hear the most. I'm not sure what to say after Scott Brown won last week in Massachusetts. (he'll lose, easily in 2012 when he has to run as the same time as the President's race, or he'll lose the backing of the GOP trying to survive in Mass.)

But here's my two part approach to this blog post.

1] The bad news: The DC establishment will now try to move Democrats further to the right, making the competition and legislation a battle of Crazy Right (The GOP) and to the right (Dems). I would read this as, if you'd passed the legislation Obama ran on, had gotten it out of the way and were focused on the economy, you'd never have been in this position. Whenever Democrats try to run as Republican-lite they lose. That's where the Howard Dean's and Paul Wellstone's come in have to take charge and say "No, here's what we believe in." The Democrats don't have anyone like that. The best leader they have is Nancy Pelosi. Obama has continually proven that he will waffle and concede territory on any issue. He has not stamped his foot down on any legislation and has managed to spit in the face of the left, alienate the middle and as usual annoy the right by being a Democrat. He hasn't brought change that the country wanted. Harry Reid is fighting for his political life and won't be that person either. You need a progressive/liberal leader to step up.

And the economy still sucks. Obama now has to focus on this, but of course after giving away stimulus money with no strings attached and his policies as one of my friends says "being run by Goldman Sachs" it doesn't bring too much hope to the forefront.

Health Care Reform is probably dead. The "small, popular pieces" mentioned in this politico article is the best Democrats will do now.

2] The Good News: Democrats have no buffer real or imagined anymore. Maybe this loss will be the kick up their ass they need to get their shit straight. Either the House will vote for this travesty of a bill [unlikely to pass] or their going to have to use reconciliation [likelier]. What comes out of that would probably be more liberal, seeing as how only 50 votes are needed for it to pass [Biden would be 51]. Perhaps this will focus Democrats, take out their arrogance and force them to work on policies. Maybe they'll learn they can't expect their base to be revved up to go if they call them "foolish" or "stupid". Maybe it'll get 'em to pass what they said they'd pass in Republican style "we have what we have and we'll jam it down your throats".

The problem is there's more bad news that is concrete than there is good news. Everything in the good news column is hope. And last time that didn't turn out too well.

Can't wait for the SOTU.

Orlando Sentinel rips Sink a new one

OUCH.
You know I got this link emailed to me by a friend of mine saying this article was on the mark. Sadly, it is.

I don't know much about Mike Thomas other than that he wrote this article. Remember my last blogpost (back in 2009 I gave her The Katherine Harris Total Failure to Inspire as a candidate award.) In that article I stated:

"No one likes a candidate who's too spineless to make a stand on an issue such as health care reform. No one really wants to support Alex Sink. We just see Bill McCollum on the other side and go...SINK 2010"

Well guess what ladies and gents the article goes on to complain (largely from a journalists point of view) how she has been ducking the media and being irresponsibly non committal about her positions. As Eye In Miami (who's acronym EIM is nowhere near as good as BIM, but are better at everything else) has covered before, she seems to not know what audience she's talking to. I don't know if she's taking SoFla for granted but she's been almost entirely unavailable down here and I've seen very little campaigning by her. Whereas the Gelber/Meek campaign have small resources down here expecting to cruise and State Sen. Aaronberg's campaign is having representatives go to meetings in the area, Alex Sink has rarely come down here, has no discernible staff down here.

What kind of crap campaign is this? And after seeing the New Jersey debacle why are the Florida Dem Party so high on a banker?

While I don't get paid to write this, don't get the media emails for any campaign and am generally left in the dust by campaigns (damn you) I have enough sources and friends in the state to keep me in the loop. They ALL complain she's just not reaching out to the media or for that matter, voters nearly enough.

It's gonna be a long slog.

P.S. Help out Haiti!

Update: The Sink campaign updated the website the day after the article came out knocking them for not updating. Wow.

My Annual Awards

As I do every year I plan on handing out awards. The more astute observers of this blog will say "I've never seen you give awards before". That would be true. Anyhow, these awards are prestigious, merited a lot of thought from the committee, really drove emotions through the hearts of many (mostly laughter, embarrassment and anger). Enjoy.

The Toby Flenderson- Get The Hell out of my Office Award
To the undesirable Rahm Emmanuel. You made a hard job seem like something that a manipulative ex on the rampage would be great for. You have used your powerful office to blast and ignore political opponents (Howard Dean for one) and you have used your incredible responsibility to destroy the most meaningful legislation in 50 years piece by piece until it fits the mold of your ideology- the DLC so that it helps the health care companies.

You have one of the greatest leaders in the world, a man who just became President and have made him the laughing stock and partial villain of the left and the right in America. You're essentially the George Bush of Chief of Staffs. You listened to Pres. Obama well by uniting the country and bridging the gaps between blue states and red states. Against him.

Your political malpractice took a guy with approval numbers in the 70's and 60s and he's now in the 40's. If all goes well in 3 more years he'll be in the 7's and 6s. Gotta love the Rahmster.

The Ann Coulter I'm just saying shit to sell books Award
To the beautiful, sultry, intellectually deficient, effectively in a vegetative mental state former Governor of Alaska. Sarah, you are my hero. No one else would have thought that in one year alone you would go from the biggest political threat to Democrats to the biggest political threat to Republicans. No one would have thought you'd have quit elected office to take a 2 to 7 million dollar paycheck for writing a book, where you exposed personal grudges, aired laundry publicly...... Shit, has she met Rahm Emmanuel? If she does, goodbye Todd.

But seriously she said to Newsweek[Money quote ahead!]

Being a voracious reader, I read a lot today and have read a lot growing up. And having that journalism degree, all of that, will be a great assistance for me in writing this book, talking about the challenges and the joys, balancing the work and parenting, and, in my case, work means running the state.

Yes, Sarah of 6 years to get a journalism degree at 10 universities is such a voracious reader that as we all remember from THE Katie Couric Interview she couldn't name a single darn newspaper she read. The Miami New Times [who linked to my blog this year- yeah I don't forget Kyle!] explains that while she knows "real America" she doesn't know "Latin America" which for an avid reader is interesting. She in another interview talked about wanting to relate to America without a filter. Because really, who didn't run a state and for VP of the country.

The Hillary Clinton I killed my campaign a year before the election award

This goes to Charlie Crist.
August: 25 point gap.
December: Tied

I'd write more but I'd fear I'd be held liable for the Crist staffers who are committing mass suicide or homicide or both.

The Dumb Ass Award for Democrat who stepped in the most Crap

If the Olympics are seen as the triumph of will, strength and years of hard work and dedication, then BJ Chiszar would win a gold medal and forever be an Olympian. For being a dumbass.

You know whether it was in January or March he set forth on an unmistakably erroneous path. Whether it was not allowing Democratic candidates access to the VAN, pissing off every individual he met, playing favorites with campaigns [see the March post again] or attacking local groups of college Democrats and the Florida Democratic Party and involving everyone he could think of in the dumbest chess move by a political figure in Florida since the Spaniards owned this territory you really have to hand it to him. And by "it" I mean the award for being a dumbass. I will miss him though. Really helped traffic to the site.

The Mumia Abu Jamal Award for journalist most likely to be framed and convicted for speaking truth to power award.
Matt Taibbi is either the smartest man alive or one insane writer. His blog The Smirking Chimp is clever, witty and basically all things good. The antithesis of this one. Check out his articles there on the economic collapse. This Rolling Stone Magazine writer has really ripped into major corporations, the right, the left and anyone else in between by using facts, intelligence, humor and a dose of morality. No wonder he's not in office!

Whether it be his fantastic story on Wall Street insiders or health care reform and how it was being screwed or how Obama's a huge sell out the man is fantastic.

Read the last one about Obama. Then read the first two paragraphs. Yeah, he's THAT damn good.

The Howard Dean- Politician who Says the Truth Award
Alan Grayson over the course of the last year...
1] Told Dick Cheney to Shut the Fuck Up on Hardball
2] Called Sen. Coburn Delusional
3] Called a lobbyist a K-Street Whore than provided the worst apology ever.
4] Revealed the Republican Health Care Plan
Oh and he accused his Republican opponent of being hired from Hooters and that his staff spent all their time flicking pins and watching porn, called Rush Limbaugh a has been and said VP Cheney liked to shoot old men in the face.

And that's just really the last 6 months.

The Blue Dog Democrats Knife in the Back Award
They say in politics you keep your enemy close and your friends closer. But you definitely want to handcuff the Blue Dogs and have a mirror in front of you around them at all times. The same may apply to Chairman Lydecker of the Miami Dade DEC around those that were on the emails calling for his ousting after his appointment by the Florida Democratic Party. 7 minutes after he was appointed. That might be an exaggeration. There were so many individual agendas flying around that they could have started an Office Depot. Just Taking Care of Business.

The Katherine Harris Total Failure to Inspire as a candidate award
I love Alex Sink as much as the next person (ok no one loves her other than her family and friends..and Karen Thurman) but really it's kind of hard to get behind someone with all the enthusiasm of Eeyore. No one likes a candidate who's too spineless to make a stand on an issue such as health care reform. No one really wants to support Alex Sink. We just see Bill McCollum on the other side and go...SINK 2010. If Shriver and others are out there really going to give it a go...maybe now would be a good time to jump in folks. I've talked to DEC members and leaders from across the state, and with the exception of one county, no one is actually happy about her. Activists just kind of roll their eyes. Sounds like a winning ticket.

The George Bush Katrina Level Management Award
This monumental Award goes to Harry Reid for making the Senate Democratic Caucus into a joke of a joke. Whether it be being shaken down by Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu he really has made himself and the party look like incredibly incompetent assholes who can't figure out diddly squat. And that's without talking about Sen. Lieberman (hey you have to spell LIE! to spell his name!) and the hostage situation that occurs whenever Joe-mentum decides to change course or not like a policy. But hey he's still chair of his committee.

I imagine that Sen. Reid's staff all look like this whenever a bill is being discussed.











Thank you all and I hope 2010 is a great year!