I guess it shows this week that I am not happy with the way my state is acting about the primary. We have tried very hard to be a part of things, even though activists working for party change are not exactly welcomed in some areas by established party leaders in Florida. I don't know how our own particular efforts will end.
I wrote this last night.
Florida: The Rules are Different Here"Florida—The Rules Are Different Here” was a state promotional slogan that began in 1986. It is still used derisively, whenever someone wants to break the rules.
Florida Democrats are at times almost afraid to be really Democrats in their views. I am not sure when it started to be that way. In the 90s many became Republicans to win because you could not win running as Democrat. Before that though Republicans had run as Democrats because that was how they won.
So to be quite frank, it is hard to tell the difference sometimes.
Right wing AG candidate Bill McCollum ran an ad against Democratic candidate Skip Campbell attacking for the Scarlett Letter law. To understand the irony of this you must understand that McCollum is closely tied to the religous right on many issues. The fact that he could run an ad like this one against a Democrat is very telling as to what Florida Democrats can be like.
Campbell's Scarlet Letter lawRepublican attorney general nominee Bill McCollum is running a new ad attacking his opponent, Democratic state Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell for his sponsorship of a wide-ranging adoption reform bill in 2001. The ad can be seen on
YouTubeThe ad features Charlotte Danciu, the adoption attorney who sued to overturn the law.
The law became known for its most controversial element, which required women who wanted to put a child up for adoption to run detailed listings in newspapers with their names and descriptions and the names of potential fathers. It attracted national media attention and the Scarlet Letter moniker.That part of the bill was eventually ruled unconstitutional and repealed in 2003. Campbell initially defended the provision.
It was revealed in an interview that Democrats here were working to prevent "messy primaries." I guess the current "messy" situation with the primary comes to mind now. The meetings were secretly held.
Avoiding messy primariesSecret talks to avoid a messy primaries...this sounds like muting the voice of the people to me. I would so very much love to read more about why this would be going on. I would like to know more context on this than the reporter gives. It seems ironic now that another messy primary deal has come up.
SNIP..."Campbell would only say that he's in secret talks with other Democrats to line up a slate that would avoid messy primaries that waste money and divide the party. But Campbell's blunt talk may not be a rhetorical salve for the beaten-down Democrats..."
Here is more of what Skip Campbell said in that interview. His attitude toward Democrats I admire is bothersome, and he seems to be apologetic for being a Democrat....almost like having the Stockholm Syndrome.
On state Party Chairman Scott Maddox's endorsement of Howard Dean as the national party chairman:
"If (it's the screaming, liberal image of) Howard Dean that's going to show up as party chairman, then I think the Democrats got some problems."
On the party's abject failure to find a candidate interested in running for state agricultural commissioner: "We're looking for someone who owns a farm. Do you know any farmers who are Democrats?"
On the party's sad image: "I hope to God that people in North Florida, Central Florida, South Florida all realize that just because you have a `Democrat' after your name doesn't mean you're a loser."
I want an earlier primary, or at least I did in 04. But we are very angry at how this was done, and how it was quickly twisted into something that was the fault of the national party that set rules last year.
I want our Democrats here to not be afraid to stand up and speak out for what is right, and to not be afraid to say this whole thing is their fault as well as the GOP's because they voted with them on it. Stop placing unfair blame on someone who is working hard for change.
The next step would be to work to change the party laws they don't like, the same ones they appeared to be happy with before.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
