A discussion center for Democrats and their friends and neighbors in Miami-Dade County. Posts and comments may not reflect official thinking of the county Democratic Party. Democratic candidates are encouraged to apply for permission to post on this blog.
We're hearing a Republican rumor that Gov. Charlie Crist may appoint US Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart to the US Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez before his time is up. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, not known as senatorial material among reasonable people, would be a caretaker rather than someone to bother Crist's own ambition to become senator, according to this rumor.
UPDATE: Diaz-Balart took himself out of consideration late Monday. Here's a link to the Miami Herald story on it. Since this is in flux, I'll let the rest of this post stand for at least a while. Who knows what will bubble up next? END UPDATE.
Then Lincoln's brother Mario Diaz-Balart, currently representing District 25 in the US House, would move to Lincoln's more strongly Republican District 21 and save his own hide from defeat by a Democrat in the 2010 election. Lincoln would cease seeking federal office, and the bothersome Marco Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House who's contending for the US Senate nomination against Charlie Crist, would run for the US House instead. So goes this convoluted reddish rumor.
Where's Joe Garcia in this? He won't stand for it. Gonna stick his strong Democratic candidacy into these machinations somewhere if the Republicans continue along these lines. This corner speculates that Garcia, with impeccable Cuban American credentials from his years as executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, would run again in District 25, where he ran strongly against Mario Diaz-Balart in 2008, losing only 52-48. The district's Democratic Party numbers have constantly grown since then and Mario faces the end in 2010 -- especially if Joe Garcia is the Democratic candidate.
In the past few months it appeared that Garcia was bowing out of any run for federal office as he was nominated by President Obama to be director of the office of minority economic impact in the Department of Energy. He still needs US Senate confirmation for that post but has been approved at the committee level. Interestingly, Sen. Mel Martinez gave an introductory speech for Garcia at the hearing of the Energy Committee, praising Garcia's past work on refugee resettlement and on the Florida Public Service Commission.
One question that arises is why the great state of Florida should have a mere caretaker senator like Lincoln Diaz-Balart for the next year and a half of crucial legislation on health care, energy and environment, immigration, financial reform and other burning issues left from the George Bush era of maladministration. Which is why none of this may arise -- but anyway, then why is the Republican rumor machine running with this?
For the uninitiated, these two congressional districts cover the western reaches of Miami-Dade County and over the Everglades to part of Collier County and a bit of Broward, too. It's a part of our world that deserves better representation than it has had from the Diaz-Balart brothers. For instance, let's get real about saving the Everglades.
Follow the link for the Miami Herald's take on some of this -- especially Florida's loss of punch if a caretaker is in the Senate. The Herald and most everyone else neglect the fact that the 17th amendment to the US Constitution says there should be an election to fill a Senate vacancy, and an appointment is given second place. If only our elections weren't so cumbersome and expensive.
Hey, that's us! We Democrats and allies are making news up there in Tallahassee with plans to be at our senators' offices around the state today lobbying for strong reform of health care. Not the first time, either. We've been at the offices of Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez repeatedly on this issue.
Come out at 4 p.m. to Nelson's office at 2925 Salzedo St. in Coral Gables. Health professionals: please wear your scrubs.
UPDATE: In case you don't have their numbers, here they are:
Sen. Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274.
Sen. Mel Martinez at 202-224-3041.
They just came in an email from OFA urging that we all call our senators and lobby for health reform.
AND FYI: I took part this morning in a news conference call with Peter Orszag, head of the White House budget office. Among the questioners was the Miami Herald's Lesley Clark, who asked Orzag what he thought of having Democrats put pressure on their Democratic senators such as Bill Nelson. Orszab declined to respond saying he's not licensed to do politics.
You could ask us at Sen. Nelson's office in Coral Gables this afternoon, Ms. Clark. You would hear that we want leadership from Sen. Nelson toward the goal of a strong public option for health reform. We put him in office and want to give him advice and hear his consent.
Braver than Empty Suit Charlie (see the preceding post) is the man he's vying to replace, Sen. Mel Martinez, who's among the Republicans declaring he'll vote to confirm Sotomayor.
Why is this? Could it be the presence in the Republican race of way-far-right Marco Rubio that makes us increasingly aware that Charlie Crist will never make "Profiles in Courage"? Thanks, Marco.
Here's another link to Martinez's decision -- his own statement.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
"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.
This explained something for me. To give it a little context, it’s from a radio program featuring a story about U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement, and why he was – unaccountably – in favor of military spending even though he had been against it.
For Rep. Lewis, the institutional gravities of Congress and the corporate-sponsored Democratic party were stronger than the living will of his constituents and the memory of the Freedom Movement combined. So the question for Black America now is, if a black congressman near the end of his career with a safe seat and the historical stature of a John Lewis could not speak and would not vote for truth against power in the Bush era, what can we expect from elected black Democrats now that a black face is in the White House?
This came to my attention in a daily email from opednews.com, a valuable aggregator website that prowls for news and comment useful to us progressive thinkers. You can sign up for it too.
As I said at the top, this explained something for me. One of the mysteries of political observing in South Florida is why our two Democratic members of the U.S. House, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) and Kendrick Meek (FL-17), fall so neatly in line with their local Republican colleagues, the Diaz-Balart brothers (FL-21 and FL-25) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), on Cuba issues such as the travel ban. This shows up in these days of changes in Cuba policy when both Meek and Wasserman Schultz are dubious about the modest changes ordered by Barack Obama. While the Diaz-Balarts put out a statement calling it a “serious mistake,” outgoing Republican Sen. Mel Martinez curiously was a little milder, at least in his recognition that the policy change would be good for Cuban families now permitted more contact between their branches in Cuba and the United States.
The two phrases – “the institutional gravities of Congress” and “the corporate-sponsored Democratic Party” – were apt and evocative in describing what we constituents are up against in the wishes we beam to our members of Congress. They sit up there stewing in the same office buildings and dining halls and debate chambers and grow away from their constituents, and then they go party with the lobbyists and big corporate donors and grow even further away from us. As John Lewis grows away from his anti-war constituents.
We need some help to break through these lines of thought that live in the minds of our members of Congress. These are issues of framing, how to word arguments. We’re not too far from the start of campaigning for the 2010 Congressional elections, which will be bigger than ever in Florida with an open Senate seat (Mel Martinez’) and the possibility of wholesale change in state government if Charlie Crist goes for Senate rather than re-election as governor. Time to be thinking not only of who will run but also how to help shape the candidates’ platforms, and how to reduce the importance of money in campaigning – now that we’re all so much poorer.
Will you have as much money to give to political candidates next year as you did in 2008? Not I.
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 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.
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.
The announcement seems to be expected on Tuesday. Here's the Herald and the AP predicting that Kendrick Meek will run for the seat long held by Bob Graham in honorable fashion -- Thanks for voting against Iraq, Sen. Graham! -- and more recently by the yes-man Mel Martinez. Will Rep. Meek (FL-17) be the first to announce?
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.
UPDATE: And here's a link to the statement on his own website, where he stresses that he looks forward to serving the next two years. Why am I not in agreement on this point?
It’s tempting to think that this is emerging now via the “Cuban newspapers” because the mails are so slow between Washington and Havana. Ha ha. Actually, the Cuban Interests section in Washington was hot on the Internet as soon as The Hill published this topic back on Oct. 18, and Havana learned in a microsecond that Joe Garcia was tempted enough to be saying to The Hill he’d run for Congress if the party asked him.
“Ouch!” They said there in Havana. (What’s Espanol for Ouch?) “Bad for us if Joe Garcia takes over in the House of Representatives from one of those shirt-tail relatives of our Leader.” So they probably said in Havana.
And then it took them almost a month to figure out how to say it in their press.
So here’s the way I imagine their triple-twist thinking went:
“The Diaz-Balart brothers and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen – don’t forget Mel Martinez! – are so useful to keeping us Communists in power that we can’t imagine life without their neo-con faces in the House and Senate.” [This occupied them for a week.]
“But if we came out and said we favor their being re-elected in 2008, the voters there would think it was a trick, and then Joe Garcia and Raul Martinez would run and be elected.” [This took two more weeks of deep thought.]
“So we’ll publish a subtle analysis of the Miami political situation in Granma, our party organ, and appear to approve the likely challenges by Joe Garcia and Raul Martinez against the Diaz-Balarts, whom we’ll label as ‘Batista supporters,’ and, Voila! The Diaz-Balarts and their gang will be elected again as the voters react against what we endorse.” [Another week passed working this up.]
Here in peaceful South Florida, we raise our heads from the newspapers and TV screens full of news of police and criminals killing each other, and realize slowly that Cuba is messing around in our politics. Damn! That’s what they’re trying, is it? We’ll show them! Let’s Draft Joe Garcia and show them they can’t discourage us with their triple-twist trick!
Well, this may – or may not – be what happened, but in any case it’s a good idea. The Florida Politics blog has a diary up since last night with that goal – Draft Joe Garcia – and it’s also up on DailyKos with a way to vote and say whether you’d be willing to donate $5 to get him to run. Check it out. All the links are therein.
Mel Martinez is out as so-called “general chairman” of the Republican Party. I have a little comment up on DailyKos pointing out the announcement, and also asking whether this can be taken as confirmation that the Republicans are shifting further racist on immigration. Can’t stand having a Hispanic on top? Is that right, fellows? He must have shrunk in his guayabera a year ago when the Republicans were running a TV ad making Hispanics out to be potential terrorists. That's your party, Mel. Were you no longer willing to be their front man? Or did they give you the boot?
I don't know which to hope for. My hope is for the Republicans to be an honorable opposition.
UPDATE: State Democratic Chairwoman Karen Thurman put out a statement Friday evening counting Martinez' departure as one in a series of Republican debacles this week, featuring their vote in the House to uphold the SCHIP veto. They need better Republicans, Thurman said, offering a spoof web site devoted to drafting Katherine Harris.
The following letter by Jody Finver was so well put that I'm posting it without any change.
Open Letter to Senator Martinez
Senator Martinez,
I think it is high time that someone define the function of your job as Senator of the United States from the State of Florida. (Mr. Nelson you could stand to take a lesson here as well so pay attention. Close attention.)
Your job is to represent the will of the people, the will of your constituents, the will of the voting public. Your job is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Technically, I am your boss. You work for me.
You do not work for the President. In fact, your job is to keep him in line and in check. You do not work for a political party. You work for the citizens of your State. Even the ones who don't have a right to vote or are not old enough.
Your performance thus far as my employee has been woefully lacking. Not only do you not listen, it appears that you do not care the slightest for the voting citizens back home.
If you did, you would stop hiding behind rhetoric and talking points and you would stop perpetuating flat out lies. You would fight tooth and nail to restore the Constitution. A Constitution that your parents prayed to be protected by and believed in so fiercely they sent you here for a better life.
Instead, you have turned your back on Floridians who want Habeas Corpus restored, Floridians that know the real body count in Iraq, Floridians who care more about our troops than your voting record reflects, Floridians that risked their lives for a Freedom you are not fighting to protect.
I honestly don't think you consider the will of the people, Mr. Senator. I think you are more concerned with raising money and raising fear. In fact, when I called your office about the Petraeus Report and asked your staffer if you were OK with lying to the American public as long as it served the needs of this Administration she said, "Yes." And I asked it twice.
Stop turning your back on the Constitution. Stop turning your back on the will of the people you are supposed to represent. Stop turning your back on our burned-out troops. And stop turning your back on the millions of Iraqi lives this country is responsible for taking.
The fact that the Senate wasted so much time over a print advertisement in the New York Times is infuriating. Shame on you all.
This is not what I am paying you for. Stop wasting my money, my time and my freedom.
It seems wet-foot/dry-foot hasn't trickled down to Fred Thompson. What did he say about Cubans? Check it out on YouTube
This item is also rattling around on the Herald's political blog, Naked Politics. Don't see it yet in the main paper online. I guess a Republican newspaper wouldn't want to upset its readers over there on the right wing.
Second Update: Now I see this in the Herald, tucked into this story reporting that Hispanics are unhappy with the way the Republicans killed the immigration bill in the Senate. And that our Republican senator, Mel Martinez, has "no idea what I'm going to say" at the Orlando meeting of Hispanic elected officials from around the U.S.
O frabjous day, Republican disarray.
Update: Thompson's blog runs on about how Ana Belen Montes was a big spy for Cuba and tries to tie her into the problem of the porous border. But I see from a Google search on her she is of Puerto Rican descent and was born on a US Army base in Germany. Not exactly a balsera. I posted a comment to this effect on Naked Politics, link above.
The new edition of U.S. News and World Report (July 2) has a cutting quote from Joe Garcia. But Joe, should we really be telling the Republicans what they're doing wrong?
The succinct article is yet another indication of how Democrats need to hold that line on a rational immigration policy. Don't let yourself get sidetracked by otherwise good-hearted people who have been suckered by fear-mongering talking points.
If they think immigrants reduce general wages and living standards, say it's not true.
If they think immigrants are terrorists, say it's not true.
If they think immigrants take work from "Americans," ask why the economy needs more immigrants to fill essential jobs, from farm fields to hospitals.
No doubt that the border needs to be an orderly place, but walls are bad symbols and just displace the traffic to other areas.
Our Republican senator, Mel Martinez, is portrayed in the article as working hard on the immigration bill. He's also blitzing new citizens, as the featured speaker on July 4 at Disney, according to the Miami Herald. Check out that article, and, like me, you may wonder if Republicans have a lock on speaking/performing at naturalization ceremonies.
With Howard Dean coming for lunch with Miami-Dade Democrats soon, it’s good to reflect on the contrast between our national chair and the Republicans’. The Miami Herald doesn’t like to inform us about bad news concerning local Republicans but they didn’t have much choice last Friday. Mel Martinez is scrambling to give back money that the Federal Election Commission says is too much – even for a Republican.
You may remember the ’04 campaign. Mel Martinez, awash in money, could afford all those vicious ads implying that Betty Castor was weak on terrorism. Seems some of that money was over the top, so to speak. Well, too bad. Mel Martinez now is U.S. Senator from Florida. Too bad, indeed. It was Bob Graham's seat. Now Martinez will just give back some of the money, pay what the Herald thinks will be “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in fines – with other donations, we suppose, and he’ll go on being the Republican Party’s chief national fund-raiser. Introduce the president here and there. Chatter on the radio in English and Spanish. An honorable man.
What does he say now? “Mistakes were made,” the Herald quotes him as saying, employing the usual passive voice trotted out when an honorable man avoids responsibility.
Howard Dean will perhaps have a word or two of comment at the May 1 lunch (at Parrot Jungle – just announced), or DEC Chairman Joe Garcia may bring it up to contrast the Republican cash machine against the forthright and honest way the Democratic Party is trying to conduct its political campaigns.
And the Herald, eager to mend its fence with the senator, published an article Monday with the headline “GOP leadership job is on track.” This is called fair and balanced in some circles. Well, it’s quoting the senator, and he’s an honorable man.
Alex Sink @ Fundraiser in Little Havana (click on photo to get slide show)
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