A Message of Thanks from John Russell

DaLittle Kitty (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Wed Nov-12-08 11:07 AM
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A Message of Thanks from John Russell Updated at 11:07 AM

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Edited on Wed Nov-12-08 11:10 AM by DaLittle Kitty
A word of thanks from a Florida leader stuck in one shitty district overun w/Limbaugh listeners and wayyyyy too many churches.... :puke:

A Message of Thanks from John Russell



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
November 9, 2008 Contact: Chyrisse Tabone-Russell, 352-567-1618

A Note of Thanks

It has been my great pleasure to once again carry the banner of the Democratic Party in 2008 to attempt to wrest away from the Republicans Florida's 5th District Congressional seat. Even with television and radio commercials, I was unable to secure anywhere near the number of votes necessary to defeat the republican incumbent. I waited until now to send you this message because I wanted to let the dust settle and be able to give you an idea as to why the results were not as we had hoped. I am grateful for the confidence and generosity demonstrated by my key supporters and volunteers who enabled my campaign to present my message more effectively than ever. Special thanks to my wonderful wife Chyrisse, Jerry Cox, Patsy Schafchuk and many others across the district and elsewhere who helped make our campaign for legitimate representation in congress possible. The fact is Congressional District 5 with over 433,000 votes cast in 2008 by far and away harbors the largest congressional district voter population while also being one of the largest districts geographically in the state of Florida. These factors alone represent a deterrent for any challenger. Factually speaking, the over 168,000 votes cast for me would have been sufficient to win several other congressional seats in the state, in addition to very nearly being enough to win several others.

Central Florida Voters

A review of central Florida voting patterns in the 2008 general election can lead to but one conclusion… previously red areas became dramatically more red, and blue areas were transformed to a deeper shade of blue. Virtually every West Central Florida congressional district race in 2008 had diminished performance for the Democrat as compared to 2006 (2-5pt range), with the exception of two Orlando races where Grayson and Kosmas prevailed. It is quite apparent that being a democrat is in fact detrimental to successfully winning a race for elective office in not only the 5th congressional district, but in several other West Central Florida districts held by republican incumbents as well. This may not be pleasant to hear, but throughout the entire 5th congressional district you can now count the number of elected democrats to any office on one hand and have several fingers left over.

Contributing Factors

It is my conclusion that this phenomenon is systemic across certain defined voting populations concentrated in this region whose attributes include inherent and entrenched sociological /cultural attitudes. Such predispositions are significant across all party registrations of the voting population, buoyed by a media largely predisposed toward advocacy of incumbents no matter their flaws/inadequacies. Entrenched cultural/sociological mindsets override rational consideration of personal economic circumstances in a period of worsening overall economic decline that includes: skyrocketing home foreclosures and record unemployment; plunging financial markets; inaccessibility of affordable quality health care; lack of educational opportunity for their children; as well as skyrocketing costs for basic necessities. In conclusion, when the voting population has little or no appreciation for factual information and is therefore predisposed more toward belief based or party loyal voter decision-making, there is no rational role for persuasive discourse. Given the considerations noted above, it is unlikely that any candidate irrespective of background or funding would be able to unseat any republican in this district no matter how poor performing or corrupt. Going forward, I will watch closely with you the proceedings as we transition to the Obama administration. I am concerned that the Obama administration will not live up to the expectations of his supporters who so enthusiastically voted him into office.

I will continue to actively participate in the political realm as I see fit, and will not hesitate to criticize as well as offer solutions. I am of the opinion that the rough times we are now experiencing will continue to plague us. It is up to all of us to continue to pay attention and hold our elected officials to account.



John Russell

2008 Democratic Nominee, Congressional District 5 Florida I'm certain that we've got a lot more to hear from John. He is very nearly all that we 've got in Florida! :)

Not only for John, but for all of us. He got my vote for what it's worth. :thumbsup:

I'm looking forward to the day we can vote his opponent out of office.

Too much Rush Limbaugh 5 days a week, too little education and too much church all leads to the situation we have in much of Florida. Not much can be done w/ so much round the clock bashing of democrats on the radio and in church... John got my vote and that of all of my friends too... but not enough!