Kevin Burns announces shift to FL Senate race

This was at Wednesday meeting of Democracy For America-Miami.

MORE INFO:  At the short Miami Herald article on this development. This points out that there now is a primary between Burns and Gwen Margolis for state Senate District 35. This is my district, now held by Dan Gelber, who's running for attorney general.

State Sen. Dan Gelber demands legal action to boost education

Dan Gelber is running for the Democratic nomination to be state attorney general, and he's advising the current attorney general how to do his job. Specifically, in education.

Is is possible that all this fresh competition for our statewide offices -- they are up for election in 2010 with no incumbents running -- may just lead to better government?

Gelber, my state senator, is demanding that Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican running for governor next year, assert his duty to force the governor (quitting-early Charlie Crist) and state legislature to abide by the state constitution, which happens to require that they provide the means for a quality public education.

Read the full text of his letter to McCollum on the Dan Gelber blog. I've posted a comment there suggesting that this is overdue, and it's a good idea to set a tone for having the constitution  also ban gerrymandering and require that health care and education be equal in priority -- fundamental values of the people of Florida.

Dave Aronberg, state senator from Greenacres, is running for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, too.

Text of Obama's schools message

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

Wow, this is so controversial. He says study hard and he once lived in Indonesia.

UPDATE: Here's a link to Dan Gelber's blog, with his post about the Obama talk to students. Gelber points out that it's routine for public officials to speak to schools. And never to get filtered, which is nonetheless what's happening at the school where Gelber's three kids go in Miami Beach. As he said, what's happening is "absurd and sad."

UPDATE 2: It's late Wednesday and maybe too late to add to this item, but I just learned that Noah Gray, our local youth videographer, did reporting from Palmetto Senior High, where students could opt out of listening to the president if they had a note from a parent. Here's a link to the report on Channel One News, a youth production that I hadn't seen before. Noah Gray appears in a later part of the segment. Hope the link lasts. Good show, Noah!

Dan Gelber announces for attorney general

Here it is from Youtube:



The state senator from Miami Beach (representing me, District 35) is the second entry in this race for attorney general, following state Sen. Dave Aronberg's announcement last week. Aronberg represents District 27, West Palm Beach. Both will have to resign from the state Senate at some point, according to state law.

Dave Aronberg announces for attorney general

Now we have one Democratic state senator announcing for attorney general and another saying he’ll announce in a few days. So, careful readers, that stuff from a few days ago about avoiding primaries and being all united as a happy family – no longer in effect. That car’s not in gear. That idea is inoperative, to borrow a 35-year-old usage made famous in the doomed administration of Richard Nixon.

We’re gonna be Democrats. Will we have slugfests like that between the 2006 candidates for governor, Jim Davis and Rod Smith? That will be up to Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres (District 27), who announced on Thursday, and Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach (District 35), who said in an email, “I expect to be making my own announcement of my intentions within a few days.”

Let us fervently wish that they don’t spend all their money and venom on each other for the primary to be held in August 2010, and that the winner will be in good shape to defeat a Republican in November next year.

UPDATE: Both would have to resign their Senate seats to run for attorney general, under Florida's so-called "resign to run" law, text at this link. The state law does not apply to the federal office that Gelber sought, the US Senate.

Meanwhile, there’s confirmation that Democratic U.S. Rep Corrine Brown of Jacksonville (FL-3) is considering a run for the U.S. Senate nomination. In that race, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami (FL-17) has a strong start, with North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns saying he likes primaries. Gelber said last weekend he was stepping back from his declared run for the nomination for senator to avoid the chance of a divisive primary.

Alex Sink, now the state chief financial officer, is the mainstream announced candidate for the governorship that Charlie Crist will not run again for, instead running for the U.S. Senate nomination against Marco Rubio, former speaker of the state House of Representatives.

If you think this story is getting cluttered with political names, be glad I’m not talking about those announced Democrats for Kendrick Meek’s seat. They number six already. You may click on this link to the Florida Division of Elections list of who is running for everything. Note that Charlie Crist also has six announced Republican contenders for the U.S. Senate nomination.
This looks like a good two years for political consultants. Something to think about for those whose jobs have gone south.

Here’s the text of Gelber’s email.

“A few days ago I receded from the U.S. Senate race in order to avoid the circular firing squad that has characterized too many past Democratic efforts. My hope was that with the opening up of every cabinet office (for the first time in 140 years) that Democratic hopefuls – like me -- would take a step back to give all of us time to reach a thoughtful judgment on how best to unify our party in a year when real change is finally within reach. In fact, over the last few weeks many of the potential candidates had been in dialogue with each other and with others hoping to avoid the type of divisions that damage our ability to present a winning slate in November. I am grateful to have heard that so many of you share my concern and were also hopeful that our party could break free of its past missteps. This afternoon my friend Dave Aronberg let me know that he was not waiting any longer and announced his candidacy for Attorney General. While I would have preferred a different timeline, I expect to be making my own announcement of my intentions within a few days. While part of me worries that this is déjà vu all over again, I am still optimistic that ultimately we will be able to deliver the change Floridians so desperately need.”

And here’s a link to Aronberg’s campaign site, which was under construction a few days ago but now is well populated with content. He plans to talk a lot about consumer protection in his campaign.

Footnote: Nixon was the first president I covered in my years with Associated Press. Does that make me a big-deal White House correspondent? No, my first AP job was in Philadelphia, and Nixon came there (probably 1971) to give a speech on education; the AP traveling White House staffer was generous and let me write the second-cycle story on the speech.

Meek/Burns/Gelber US Senate politics at JJ meeting

Dan Gelber is stepping back. Kevin Burns is not. Kendrick Meek is confident of the Democratic nomination to run against whomever the Republicans put up for the US Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez.

UPDATE: Just learning at midnight Monday about a new entry in the US Senate race: Corrine Brown, U.S. Rep. from Jacksonville (FL-3) says she's considering a race for this seat.
ALSO: The Gelber campaign used my video of Gelber (see below) in a message to people in the Gelber Facebook group. Cool to be linked. It's also on the Broward New Times blog, where you also can see a snip on Corrine Brown.

That’s a bunch of names, and even more will enter the picture. Aside from the jockeying personalities and ambitions, the thing that stands out is a drive by many Florida Democrats to avoid divisive primaries in the 2010 elections – midterms in the presidential cycle but the year to elect the governor and the three other state cabinet officers. No incumbents seek re-election for the first time in over 130 years. Democrats are ambitious to grab all four so-called statewide offices – they only hold one now – and elect a Democrat to the US Senate.

This would be a tremendous state coup for Democrats on the heels of taking Florida’s 27 electoral votes for Barack Obama last November. But it goes against the typical history of midterm losses by the president’s party, and may not be possible anyhow unless the national economy brightens and makes voters more happy with Democrats. The Republicans, after all, also are trying to avoid tough primaries, though Marco Rubio, the deeply conservative former State House speaker, shows no sign of leaving the Senate field to Gov. Charlie Crist, the empty suit.

What do I know about the Republicans, anyway?

Here’s the way this played out among Democrats in public Saturday at the day of training and campaigning that was part of the Florida Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Day in the luxe venue of the newly renovated Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach.

Dan Gelber, 48, my state senator (District 35), said he had walked a few hundred yards to the meeting from his Miami Beach home. Finding coffee at the GLBT Caucus room, he told this blogger he was likely to step back from the US Senate race and was talking to people about running for state attorney general. He’s a former federal prosecutor, one highlight in a busy resume of politics and public service, but his ambition in this direction runs up against another rising Democrat, state Sen. Dave Aronberg (FL-27), 38, who’s perhaps even more in need of a bigger job than Gelber. Gelber is early in his first state Senate term, while Aronberg is in his second and last. Term limits, Ta DA!

Some say Florida Democrats don’t have a deep bench of candidates. Gelber and Aronberg are evidence for the other view: that talent is abundant. Unfortunately, attorney general is a natural office for each of them.

Now I’ve mixed the race for state attorney general in with the US Senate. Let’s go back to the senatorial possibilities.

The hapless Mel Martinez announced last year, after being cashiered as head of the Republican Party, that he wouldn’t run for re-election to US Senate. The Democratic scramble started back in December when Gelber said he was thinking of the Senate. A month later Meek, 42, in his fourth term in the US House (FL-17), made the first official step into the race, and Gelber officially announced for US Senate soon thereafter. In February Kevin Burns, mayor of North Miami, launched his bid. This made the Democratic race an entirely Miami-Dade County affair, though the three are a diverse set, Meek being African-American, Gelber Jewish, and Burns gay, in a 26-year relationship and having an adopted, charming daughter. Hey, we’re Democrats. So what if it’s Florida and some parts of the state are still in the Deep South. I can’t help but think … Anyway. Get over it.

All three showed up at the Netroots Coalition training session Saturday morning and spoke briefly, setting wheels in motion. Here are video links to clips of their talks. Text summaries soon thereafter.

Key words from Gelber:

• “Every time we get involved with divisive primaries, we lose.”
• In recent election cycles, “there’s really only been one (Democratic) candidate who’s won, Alex Sink. Guess what – she didn’t have a primary. … I’m in this US Senate race. But I will likely be taking sort of a step back in this race….”
• “I do think this cycle is going to be (about) how disciplined we are going to be as Democrats. Whether we can put together a group that delivers change, really changes the face of our state.”

Kevin Burns was the only enthusiastic proponent of primaries. “I love primaries,” he told the Netroots crowd, while cautioning that a primary should be “responsible.” He contrasted a good primary with the Republicans’ usual tactic of special interests anointing someone to be the nominee.

That doesn’t make Burns a front-runner, however. Meek seems to have that position. But it’s a long time before the primary in August next year.

Gelber and others talked about a 2010 slate – the US Senate, plus the state leadership offices of governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and commissioner of agriculture and consumer affairs. (The lieutenant governor is elected as a team with the governor.)

In the evening, at the banquet before over 1,000 people, Gelber made it more official, saying in his podium speech, “I’m going to step back from my US Senate bid and consider other seats in the (state) cabinet.”

This won the best ovation of the evening. There was prolonged applause and many rose to their feet. Neither Alex Sink, the gubernatorial nominee, nor keynoter Tim Kaine, governor of Virginia and head of the DNC, got prolonged applause. After Kendrick Meek spoke and didn’t acknowledge that Gelber had, in effect, withdrawn (What does “step back” mean, anyway?), Bob Graham, the wise old Florida Democrat, with vast experience as governor and prominent US senator, seemed to depart from his text to thank Gelber, and praised his “courageous, unifying and patriotic statement.”

Now came Alex Sink to the podium after Graham’s introduction. Unchallenged for the Democratic nomination for governor, she gave a speech rich in platitudes until she got to her growing up on a farm. The chatty audience finally hushed and seemed enthralled by her description of how she learned self-reliance and a “love of numbers” from helping her father with the farm accounts. She wrote the checks, and it seemed that soon she was head of the Bank of America in Florida, and now on the threshold of the governor’s office.

She’s facing Bill McCollum, whose distinguishing feature is having run for office a ton of times without seeming to become especially smart or effective. Now he’s the state attorney general, term-limited, so he’s up or out of office.

On Sunday morning Gelber sent an email to supporters announcing again that he’s “stepping back” from the US Senate race, and that he’d been talking with Bob Graham, Alex Sink and US Sen. Bill Nelson about a “slate of candidates” for 2010.

The text of his email:

As you may know I have decided to step back from my U.S. Senate bid. I wanted to let you know the reasons.

When Governor Crist announced he would be a candidate for US Senate, he created a domino effect that opened up every seat on the cabinet. At a time when our state is facing its greatest challenges, ironically, we have our greatest uncertainty and dislocation. But I believe this is also an opportunity – the chance to set a new course that avoids the mistakes of the past and tracks a better future for our families.

It makes little sense -- when we do face the prospect of real change in Florida -- for me to participate in a potentially divisive primary for U.S. Senate that will only serve to diminish our chances against a very formidable and well-known Republican nominee.

I also believe that we have a historic opportunity here in Florida to reshape the political landscape and more importantly, bring fundamental change to Tallahassee. I have had a number of conversations with Senators Graham and Nelson, and CFO Alex Sink, about how we can best unify our party and move forward with a slate of candidates that can communicate our vision for a better Florida, and I look forward to continuing these discussions. I would like to hear your thoughts as you have been a good supporter and friend, and I value your opinion. You can reach me at dan@dangelber.com.

Tim Kaine, in his keynote speech, promised to pay a lot of attention to Florida campaigns and said his DNC will “invest” in our 2010 Senate race. Kaine waxed philosophical in describing how hard it was to know when one’s political “moment” was in bloom and when it was past. “We’ll be measured by what we do in this moment ... You don’t know how long a moment will last … We’ve got to do as much as we can.”

A few more words on that slate for the state offices. Who might be in the other state cabinet slots? One delightful surprise was to learn that Annette Taddeo is considering a run to succeed Alex Sink as chief financial officer. Taddeo ran a strong campaign for US House District 18 (my district) but lost to the entrenched Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in 2008. Taddeo is a successful businesswoman in her own right and would be a credible occupant of the CFO portfolio.

She, too, appeared at the Netroots session and spoke after Gelber, Aronberg and Burns had left.

“This was not my idea,” she said of the CFO draft, but went on, “I am considering it. I am talking to people ... it’s a very difficult decision. I just went through a very grueling campaign.”

She said she’d never run again without party backing, as she did in the ’08 congressional campaign. This was something I saw from medium close-up, and while it was tough on her, it made me and many others admire her grit as much as her intelligence, talent and charm.

So, check it out, the website to draft Annette Taddeo for CFO.

And here’s a link to the Miami Herald’s story, which didn’t have any reporting from the Netroots meeting.

A link to an earlier post here on this topic.

Steinberg: Senate race likely to be Meek vs. Crist

At the Miami Beach Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club, State Rep. Richard Steinberg was asked about the race for governor now erupting in Florida, and he gave a strong endorsement of Alex Sink, currently the chief financial officer of the state. Sink is a “brilliant woman,” he said, while the leading Republican, Attorney General Bill McCollum, is just a career politician.

Without being asked, Steinberg went on to volunteer that he thought the US Senate race would be between US Rep. Kendrick Meek (FL-17) and Gov. Charlie Crist. Hmm, methinks, what about Dan Gelber, Steinberg’s precedessor in State House District 106 and now State Senator for District 35? Gelber, Steinberg said, maybe would run for some other office.

This analysis jibes nicely with what’s on the front page of Tuesday’s Miami Herald, a story that says both parties are rallying behind supposed front-runners to avoid nasty primary fights. The Herald story is mostly about the Republican leadership all standing behind Bill McCollum but the Democrats do make some appearances, notably, regarding Gelber, as saying he might switch and run for attorney general.

My feeling is: what’s the rush? The primary and election are not this year – they’re way off in 2010, next year, a year and a half away for the general election. There’s certainly nothing wrong with politicians adjusting their sights as the targets on the firing range move and shake, but having the party load all its support onto one candidate at this early stage ignores the safety of waiting a while to see what develops.

Maybe someone’s slogan will really catch on and the race will look different in a year. What if this recession is really a depression and Charlie Crist takes a well-justified beating as Florida develops a 20-percent unemployment rate while he ignores his gubernatorial duties to campaign for US Senate? I’m fine with letting the Republicans make a strategic error by jumping early, but I’d prefer that the Democratic Party looks wise and patient.

Pretty crazy: Get the Club for Growth to take out Crist

They're watching Florida again already.

On Daily Kos Monday evening Markos himself has a post urging the Club for Growth to descend upon us and take down any viable Republican candidate for the soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat now held by Mel Martinez (who, like Arlen Specter of PA, maybe couldn't win a Republican primary).

Remember how Specter blames the Club for Growth for wrecking moderate Republicanism? Let's do it in Florida, too.

And in addition, the photo of Obama and Crist should be displayed all the time to make the Republicans start cheering ABC, ABC, ABC. Anyone But Crist. So says Markos.

That's a Getty Images photo.

Oh, by the way, Crist is supposed to announce on Tuesday. Into the fray with Marco Rubio, for the Republican nomination.

UPDATE: Karen Thurman, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, neatly summarizes all the opportunity that lies in Crist's decision to bail out of Tallahassee and try for the Senate:

His decision creates a once in a generation opportunity for change in Florida and ensures that nothing will be the same after 2010.

In the next 20 months, there will be a fight for the Governor’s mansion, a United States Senate seat, three other statewide offices up for grabs, a number of seats in Congress to fight for, and with at least 9 open State Senate seats and 22 open State House seats that are currently held by Republicans, there will be other legislative races across the Sunshine State – and Floridians will cast their ballots and change the face of our state.

In other words: Democrats, it's time to concentrate on how to win a ton of open seats in November 2010. We can take Florida back.

And in Washington, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee throws cold water on the notion that Crist might be a popular governor because he and his gerrymandering party have done such a good job. Where do we stand after 30 months of Crist?

Florida Has Second Highest Foreclosure Rate. Florida is currently ranked second in home foreclosure activity. Florida recorded 18,946 foreclosures in March, a 33 percent increase from February. [Orlando Business Journal, 4/15/09]

Floridians Facing Job Losses, Foreclosures, Dwindling Bank Accounts. Crist is presiding over a historic collapse of the state's housing market, banking sector and construction industry, and a slowdown in tourism. Floridians struggle with job reductions, home foreclosures and dwindling bank accounts. [South Florida Sun Sentinel, 4/17/09]

Budget Hikes Taxes, Fees, Tuition While Cutting Spending, Including Elderly Care and State Workers’ Pay. Lawmakers in Tallahassee have been wrestling with a $6 billion budget gap. The budget recently passed by lawmakers includes $2 billion in new fees and taxes, pay cuts for state workers, tuition hikes, and cuts to elderly healthcare. [Ledger, 5/04/09; News Herald, 5/08/09]

Rubio in US Senate race, reaction from FlaDems, Meek, Gelber

Marco Rubio announced his decision to run for the US Senate on Tuesday, prompting a Tweet from Dan Gelber and a plea for money from Kendrick Meek, two Democrats in the good-guys race for the seat held now by Mel Martinez.

UPDATE: Over at Generation Miami, Giancarlo Sopo enlightens us on Rubio by reporting on how he says one thing in English and the other in Spanish. Good work, Giancarlo. Keep it up. (This will be a long slog.)

UPDATE II: And on Huffington Post, the fine blogger Howie Klein (Down with Tyranny) has another rendition of this story. My original version is also cross-posted on Florida Progressive Coalition blog.

Still to be heard from are two more Republicans, Charlie Crist and maybe US Rep. Vern Buchanan, who’s said to be waiting to decide whether to run for the US Senate or for governor, if Crist is leaving that office.

Also, Democrat Kevin Burns, mayor of North Miami, is in the Democratic contest, and may raise his voice at news that Rubio has made up his mind to try for Washington.

Tweeted Gelber, who is in the Florida state Senate now after eight years in the Florida House of Representatives:

Rubio announced. I was the Dem Leader when he was Speaker. An unapologetic ultra conservative, he will make the R primary worth watching.

You can read it at http://twitter.com/dangelber

I make it that he could have risked another 20 or so characters in filling that 140-character-max Twitter message window. Wasn’t there more to say about Rubio?

Wait, it's there on Gelber's blog, where he makes a good point that only a small percentage of Floridians are likely to follow Rubio. "Wrongheaded" is another fine characterization of Rubio. Gelber says:

"I have a lot of respect for Marco Rubio having served with him when he was Speaker and I was the Democratic Leader. He has never broken away from his very conservative principles, even after the course of history has proven many of their ideas to be wrongheaded. The GOP is in the midst of a fight for its basic heart and soul, not to mention its very relevance in the American political discussion, and I know Marco will be a loud and effective voice for those who believe that the direction of the last eight years was the correct one and for the small percentage of Floridians and Americans who believe that a massive shift to the right is the best medicine for America's ails."

US Rep. Kendrick Meek (FL-17), who also must know Rubio from service in the state legislature, said in a message to supporters that he needs their financial support to help defend against the Republican attack machine.

That statement:

While their candidates will be battling each other, the Republican Party in Washington, DC and the Republican Party of Florida in Tallahassee will continue to target my record and our campaign by sending out misleading press releases as they've done for the past few months.

Republicans have no intention of giving up this critical U.S. Senate seat and their attack machine has already revved up. We will not allow the other side to define us with their negative messaging and your financial help will make all the difference. This campaign will tell our story on our terms and with our narrative. They are not sitting on the sidelines watching how this race unfolds and neither should you.

That is why the $20 for 2010 campaign is so critical. By making a recurring contribution of $20 every month through Election Day, you will be sending a definitive message that we will walk together on this long and winding campaign road from today through victory day.

After years of Democratic gains in Florida, we will not cede an inch of territory to our opponents. Now is the time to build upon our gains by picking up this seat that belongs to Democrats, Independents and fed-up Republicans who want their voices heard in the U.S. Senate.

Websites of the three Democratic candidates can be found in a box on the right-hand column of this blog.

The Florida Democratic Party spokesman, Eric Jotkoff, pointed out that Rubio led the way in turning budget grants to state universities into lucrative part-time posts for himself – the sort of trick that cost Ray Sansom his post as speaker of the House.

Jotkoff also said that Rubio is in the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republicans. Ugh is the last part of Rush’s name, and that’s my reaction to his voice, though I feel duty-bound to keep listening to know where he’s leading his dittoheads.

Jotkoff's statement:

"At a time when Florida needs real leadership, Marco Rubio is just following George W. Bush and Republicans in Washington, offering only more of the same stale politics and failed polices.

"In announcing his candidacy, Rubio made it clear that his entire agenda if elected is to just say no - no to President Obama's efforts to jumpstart Florida's economy and create jobs, no to allowing Cuban-Americans to visit their families, and no to any solutions aimed at solving the many problems facing the Sunshine State and our nation.

"While Rubio has recently joined the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republican Party in just saying no, as the sponsor of the largest sales tax increase in Florida's history, Rubio's recent rhetoric on taxes doesn't fit his record.

"Rubio is the Godfather of Tallahassee's Republican culture of corruption. As disgraced former Speaker Ray Sansom's mentor, Rubio taught Sansom how to personally benefit from bringing home the bacon. After delivering millions of tax dollars for Florida International University, Rubio turned around and got a $69,000 per year part-time job at the school... sound familiar?

Unfortunately, that is only the tip of the iceberg to Rubio's ethics problems. As Speaker, Rubio was involved in countless ethics scandals revolving around sweetheart mortgages, legislative favors for big donors, highway contracts, and other shady dealings.

"Democrats are organized and energized to bring change to Florida in 2010. We look forward to a strong Democrat winning this Senate seat to help implement President Barack Obama vision of change and join Sen. Bill Nelson in representing Florida in the tradition of Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles."

And here’s a snip on Vern Buchanan from the political blog of the Herald Tribune written by Jeremy Wallace:

Don’t expect to hear much from U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan about running for the Senate or for governor until after May 10.

Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, told me earlier today that he is hearing Gov. Charlie Crist could make a decision around that day. Buchanan is among a group of Republicans said to be in the mix to run for either the U.S. Senate or for governor depending on what Crist runs for.

If Crist runs for re-election, Buchanan would be in the mix to run for the Senate. If Crist runs for the Senate, Buchanan said he is being encouraged by some supporters to run for governor.

Kendrick Meek gathering petitions

This blog is neutral in the race among three Democrats for the nomination to run for U.S. Senate in 2010, but will post occasional news from their campaigns. Today Kendrick Meek had an event in Hallandale to gather signature for his petition to be on the ballot, and here's some video of the event:



Currently in the U.S. House of Representatives (FL-17), Meek needs 112,000 signed petitions to get on the ballot.

The other two candidates are state Sen. Dan Gelber and North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns. Hot links to their websites are in a box on the right side of this blog.

Announcing for US Senate: Kevin Burns, mayor of North Miami

Here's a third Democrat running for the U.S. Senate seat to be be vacated by Mel Martinez: Kevin Burns, mayor of North Miami. He says he will announce Tuesday evening.

Burns will be contending against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (FL-17) and state Sen. Dan Gelber (District 35), who have announced previously.

Dan Gelber joins Kendrick Meek in 2010 race for U.S. Senate

Dan Gelber announced for the U.S. Senate this morning, putting two Miami-Dade Democrats in the race to occupy the seat being vacated by one-term Mel Martinez. The election is in 2010 -- right around the corner.

Gelber has been my state representative (District 106) and now my state senator (District 35), and I like his work. The formidable opponent he faces, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (FL-17), showed up Saturday at a funeral for homeless veterans and spoke well about a cause I support. I like Meek, too. So this blog will be neutral and positive, and if others announce their candidacy, I hope to find they are good candidates, too.

Here are links to web sites of the two candidates, and I'll add them to the list of links in the right-hand column.

• Dan Gelber for Senate
• Kendrick Meek for Senate
  

There's also a post on Daily Kos today about Gelber, with the excellent theme that this is an election -- not an appointment. Good for Florida to have an election, right? Well, we don't have a choice. Unlike New York, Illinois, Delaware and Colorado, our U.S. Senate seat hasn't suddenly become open in the middle of the term, and Mel Martinez seems to plan to serve it out. No appointment needed. Thank goodness, since like some of those other states we do have a dynastic politico lurking in the wings -- Jeb Bush -- and he's of the same party as the governor. Ugh, what an unwelcome thought.

So just to remind us that Jeb remains a possibility even though he's declared himself out of the race, I'm putting up a link here to a post from last year with a blizzard of ammunition that J. Bush has left behind. Jeb, if you run, you're dead meat. Also let's note that no Republican has announced yet for this seat. This will not last.

Dan Gelber: "Seriously looking" at U.S. Senate

Here it is on Dan Gelber's blog: There is this senate seat in Washington, once held by Bob Graham, one of the great Democrats of the late 20th Century, now held by Mel Martinez, who's retiring after a supremely undistinguished first term as a Republican yes-man, and Dan Gelber is "seriously looking" at it.

Read it at this link to the Dan Gelber blog, which is charmingly named "Dan Gelber for Senate" without saying State Senate or U.S. Senate.

For the uninitiated, Gelber has just been promoted from Florida State Representative to Florida State Senator. I am privileged to live in his state rep and state senator districts.

Jeb is half-right; he recognizes there's a problem. If he had a mirror, he could see it.

Thanks, Larry, for welcoming me to post here at the Miami-Dade-Dems blog. I'm not just your candidate for State Representative in District 119, but I've been building online communities, blogging, and using the net to foster interactivity for the past 10 years. While my posts here won't be directly about our campaign, I look forward to discussing some of the issues that matter most to us Floridians and I suspect my perspective as a Young Democrat born and raised here in Miami-Dade will shine through.

I don't want this to be a place to preach. I want to fully encourage you to interact with the bloggers here. Let us know where you stand. We can learn from each other, and together, implement some of the change we need.

Our kids' education is always among the top concerns of Florida's parents and voters. And though it's taken a backseat lately to more immediately pressing economic issues (this week, the crazy offshore drilling plans), it's an issue that deserves attention.

At this weekend's national education conference in Orlando, former Governor Jeb Bush used the following metaphor to describe our schools:

"The world is much more interconnected, much more technologically advanced, and it is much more interdependent. And yet our education system is an 8-track system living in an iPod world."

I couldn't have said it better myself. But that's as far as Jeb and I agree.

Bush's education gamble hasn't paid off for Florida's students.

Our dropout rates were worse when he left than when he came into office. They're the worst in the country — and that's using some funny math that includes students who don't really graduate.

Our students are being exposed to less learning as they're being taught how to pass the FCAT. Rep. Dan Gelber probably said it best: "Most parents want more than minimal competence for their children." I'd add that most companies want more than minimal competence for their employees as well.

Our per-student spending is shameful. Bush's counterparts at the conference spend far more and their students see the benefits. New York spends more than twice what we do. And yet, the legislature keeps cutting funding, even after promising to "hold education harmless."

I like metaphors. I think they can help make points more clear. So let me stretch this one out a bit.

Our public school system is not the outdated 8-track. No, what's obsolete is the stereotypical politician who thinks he knows better than experts.

Our public school system is the music we all want to hear. The artists performing that music — our teachers — need to be given the freedom to teach as their students need them to.

If we want to be a well-rounded society, we need to listen to different types of music. A wide variety of different subjects have to be important in school.

And if we want that music to sound the best it can, we need to be willing to make the investment in our children's future. For our kids to be competitive, we have to recruit and keep the best talent, we have to upgrade the technology used, and we have to remix our curriculum.

We need a strong system of public education. Let's be honest about the real problem. The real problem is that we've had people in leadership roles who don't want to see it work. We need to rise above ideology and embrace the solution that works. Public schools work, but we have to give them the resources and freedom to prosper.

Look out for constitutional amendments headed to the ballot this year that, if passed, will further damage public schools and make it more difficult for our children to get the education they need. I'm sure we'll have a chance to discuss them soon.

Edit: Wouldn't you know... just hours after I originally posted this, Ray Seaman adds some information on Progress Florida's initiative to fight the amendments on FLA Politics.

Best line at FDP convention goes to Dan Gelber

My convention was fun and interesting. Not like my first, two years ago, when Howard Dean, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Mark Warner and Tom Vilsack were strong orators, stirring the crowd and displaying the strength that the Democrats would present for the 2008 election. It was still only 2005 then, but it was already clear how badly the Republicans were leading this beloved country, and what an opportunity it was for us in the ’06 midterms and the ’08 presidential elections.

I made up my mind then as to who was the best presidential candidate. This blog, however, is neutral, and you have to know me personally to see whose button is on my shirt. I haven’t changed my mind. I’m laying this out so the reader will understand why I’m not upset that the Democratic candidates are staying away from Florida. I don’t need any more information to make up my mind. Those who gnash their teeth about the supposed lack of attention paid to Florida are wasting their dental enamel. Florida will NOT be ignored. Its needs WILL be met. Even if the candidates stay away right up until November 2008, Florida is too important to be left out of the federal budget or limelight. Squealing and wailing is, to me, a sign of insecurity.

The Florida delegation at the Denver nominating convention will be seated, one way or another, and their votes and our votes in the primary will count. I confess to feeling annoyed when the media report that the Florida primary will all be in vain, or votes won’t count, or even that they won’t be counted.

Sorry, this is a Rovian conspiracy to keep Democrats from voting. The Republicans always are trying to get Democrats to stay away, and this entire affair has been a Karlish trick to drive down Democratic participation in the Jan. 29 election. For a while, they were trying to slip some wild property tax change through as a referendum, but now it looks as if they have screwed it up too badly for that to happen. We’ll know for certain about this by Monday night, when the legislature must pass something to get it on the ballot by Jan. 29.

That area (the budget and taxation) needs more careful consideration than something slammed together behind closed doors and presented at the deadline – though that’s the way the Jebbian party operated for eight years, so we must be careful that it doesn’t happen again.

So my appeal goes like this: Please, stop suing others in the Democratic Party. Please, stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Instead, be united as Democrats. Concentrate our fire on Republicans.

A little ridicule is good. Here I’m taking Dan Gelber as my model, and I see that his raking comments at the convention were picked up by the media. Let the Republican candidates campaign in Florida as much as they like, the leader of the state House minority Democrats said.

“The truth is, the Republicans are here almost in excess,” the Orlando Sentinel quoted him as saying in his Saturday speech. “You see these Republican candidates everywhere. And the more you hear about them and see them, the less you like them.”

The Miami Herald picked out a different line from Gelber’s speech: “All they do is trash our candidates and pander to their base,” he was quoted as saying. “I think we should keep them in the state of Florida as much as possible.”

The Herald also opined that the posters distributed for Gelber's speech were “deliberately ambiguous” in that they said he was running “for Senate” without saying exactly that he is running for the state Senate. Wow, it could also mean the U.S. Senate, and the bumbler incumbent, Mel Martinez, will be up in 2010.

The plot thickens. And lengthens.

As we speculate on that, let’s follow Karen Thurman’s admonition. Concentrate on building the grass roots, the state party chair said.

And we have the wisdom of our own Miami-Dade County veteran, Maria Roberts: “I feel very positive about building the Democratic Party, and that’s what this convention is all about,” the Herald quoted her as saying.

To that end, the netroots gang showed up 60 strong for a series of workships Saturday afternoon on how to do a better blog, a better website, how to organize an on-line community, how to be a candidate with an on-line presence. We're at the heart of the Florida Democratic Party now, and we need to continue getting ready to we can pounce into action when the nominee becomes known -- February, shall we say?

UPDATE: This post vaulted to the front page of the Florida Politics blog Monday morning. Check it out at this link. And read on there, too. Florida Politics performs a valuable service in summarizing what's happening, what's reported, in our political scene.

EVEN MORE: The Netroots blog has more detail here on the Netroots workshops. A lot of good information was transmitted, and we could watch in awe as the tech experts made those laptops work.

Club news at its best

Kudos to the William Lehman Northeast Dade ... oh, heck, the Democratic Club with a real long name deserves praise for a fine spread in Sunday's Miami Herald reporting that it was meeting again for the first time in five months.

And thanks to the fine Democratic leaders in Miami-Dade County who graced that meeting. This blog has heard mentioned state Rep. Dan Gelber, who's running for the state senate; Richard Steinberg, the Miami Beach city commissioner who's running to replace Gelber in the state house; Joe Geller, North Bay Village mayor and also running for Gelber's seat; Gwen Margolis, who's retiring as state senator and endorsing Gelber to replace her; and Joe Garcia, chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. Not to be left out is Ginger Grossman, who has been active now in the Democratic Party for 67 years (not a typo: sixty-seven years), and is president of ... here's the full name, as reported by the Herald, the William Lehman Northeast Dade Involved Democratic Club.

Joe Garcia said over 100 people attended the meeting. Now, that's a whale of a turnout. Does the length of the club's name correspond to turnout? Something to be probed by our outreach organizers.

UPDATE: Over at the Florida Politics blog, folks are already wondering about Dan Gelber's next step: could he run against the reeling U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez in 2010? Stay tuned. And if that link doesn't work, try this one to the Orlando Sentinel.

Gelber: Crist in "right direction" on environment

State Rep. Dan Gelber, the minority leader in the House, was on WINZ 940AM this morning preparing to attend the environmental summit where Gov. Charlie Crist is to announce his plan to impose targets to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in Florida. Gelber said it will be "a very big first step in the right direction."

This is not just a Florida story: The NY Times writes it up today, noting the caveat that federal law may not permit Florida to depart from federal rules on auto emissions.

As we've been hearing for some time, the term-limited Gelber will run for the state Senate seat being vacated by Gwen Margolis, who is retiring after a laudable career as a Democrat in elected office. She was in the state House in 1974-1980 and the state Senate 1980-92, and was the first woman to serve as Senate president. After losing a race for the U.S. House of Representatives to E. Clay Shaw in 1992, she was elected to the Dade County commission, and then in 2002 she was elected again to the state Senate from the 35th district.

If you weren't up at 7:24 to listen, click this link to hear what Dan Gelber had to say on the Jim Defede Show.

Gelber: Seismic shift in politics

Gelber with DFAM members

Rep. Dan Gelber, minority leader in the state House of Representatives, said the proposed property tax amendment will “fail badly” in Miami-Dade County next Jan. 29.

Gelber spoke informally Sunday to a reception of Democracy For America Miami-Dade at the home of Bret Berlin, state committeeman, with about 20 people attending.

Among his points:

• Florida has been ruled by out-of-step right-wingers but now there’s a seismic shift in national and state politics.
• New Gov. Charlie Crist is good on felons’ rights and other issues. “I like him a lot.” He’s less of an ideologue than Jeb Bush.
• Where to claw back some revenue: in recent years $18 billion was given in tax concessions mostly to discreet companies and industries.
• Term-limited, Gelber may run in 2008 for the State Senate if Gwen Margolis decides to retire.