Florida Democrats call for new party leadership and strategy after yet another GOP rout

[alp227]

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Total systemic failure. Time to rebuild the party. Desperate need of new leadership.

Those were just some of the reactions from Florida Democrats after their party’s 3-point defeat to President Donald Trump, as well as losses in key down-ballot races Tuesday night.

Those concerns are likely to be just the beginning of a tumultuous fight among Florida Democrats over the party’s platform, structure and strategy for winning elections.

“We need to clean house,” said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, one of the party’s younger progressive voices. “Leadership within the [state] Democratic Party and the caucuses needs to resign. Step back and let others step in.”

Read more: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-2020-os-ne-2020-florida-democrats-trump-20201104-oe6jofzvwvec5mj4pv3iej2h64-story.html

[elleng]

1. Good

[napi21]

2. That's good, but we all have to remember Fl. is where DT lives. Most candidates win their home

State.

[Withywindle]

4. Florida's problems go back way before Trump though.

It's a unique state demographically with its own very specific issues, and it's ALWAYS been a weird sticking point in elections.

[csziggy]

38. The Florida Democratic Party has been messed up since BEFORE 2000

They just do not do a good job at selecting candidates or at running campaigns.

Look at their campaign against Rick Scott the first time he ran for Governor - they never mentioned his Medicare fraud and the massive fines his company had to pay. With all the seniors in the state, it could have made a major difference. Then when he ran for re-election, again they did not use this as a campaign issue.

In 2008 after I worked on the Obama campaign, I offered to work as a volunteer at the party headquarters in Tallahassee. I'd become proficient with the voter database and felt I could do a lot of good helping them with developing the use of the database. They turned me down - they only allowed paid staff to work in between campaigns. Then when I volunteered for the Obama re-election campaign, I found the same problems with the voter database and that the campaign was still not using it to its full advantage. Again, when I volunteered with the Hillary Clinton campaign, same exact problems.

Now, the database is actually developed and run by the DNC but having an experienced volunteer at the state level giving them feedback would have been valuable.

This year, because of the pandemic, the Biden campaign was doing what I wanted to encourage from 2008 - doing virtual phone banking directly from the database. Because of the rural nature of our team, each volunteer did our phone banking from home. That meant that disabled volunteers did not have to drive to the campaign headquarters and that our volunteer tha was monitoring a sick parent AND taking care of her kids could make calls in her few spare minutes. It worked so well our team ran out of calls to make on election day.

Unfortunately, because all the required training was done on Zoom which I could not get to work on my devices, I was unable to help this year. And I am not that excited about volunteering for the Florida Democratic Party ever again. Not until I hear that they have had a total shakeup with all new people involved.

[SharonAnn]

45. I feel that way about the Tennessee Democratic Party. I'm also a DBA.

Drove me nuts in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, etc. I just finally gave up. They have had absolutely no intention of changing.

The exception was a County Commission special election race in 2006. The candidate’s volunteers prepared a well-organized walking list for each volunteer. I participated in canvassing and getting people to the polls. The Democratic candidate won by 14 votes! I thought this would be an example the state party would follow, but no.

[Yavin4]

3. I recommend Stacey Abrams. n/t

[DinahMoeHum]

16. She doesn't live in Florida.

This is a state matter, not a national one.

Let the Democrats in the Sunshine State slug this one out amongst themselves, and choose new leadership amongst themselves.

[Best_man23]

18. Fla Needs to follow the Stacey Abrams Playbook

Vice bringing Stacey Abrams herself in to turn Florida around. Stacey has make great progress in GA in just 2 years (especially if GA goes for Biden) and more work is still needed there. Florida needs to find its own Stacey Abrams.

Responding to posts below, Florida has not elected a Democratic governor in 20+ years, Republicans hold an overwhelming super majority in the Florida legislature (78-42 after this election), and both US Senate seats are held by Republicans. Obviously, its past time to look at where the state stands and begin to consider a new approach.

I'm a former Fla resident, so I do know the state. The problems for Democrats in Florida pre-date Trump, and its not going to be easy to turn around, especially given the Legislature there will certainly redistrict the state even tighter to favor Rs.

[Ligyron]

31. I think this is a case where we are truly outnumbered by the GrOPers here.

I'm sure improvements could and should be attempted and hopefully whatever is actually helps and doesn't hinder. I wonder if we even managed to engage every uninvolved Dem if we could actually win here.

I've often pondered if we might have more success by trying to change the minds of enough GrOPers or even more radically, the nature of the GOP itself ... from within if necessary.

I hope I don't get slammed too bad or kicked off DU for even suggesting such heresy, because I'm just brainstorming at this point because it seems pretty hopeless otherwise. Even as the older entrenched voters expire by the dozens daily, with reports of black males and many Hispanics other than Cubans voting for Trump this last time, the dogma that demographics will overcome the GOP may be in question.

The RW media seems to have become incredibly successful at painting Democrats as demonic Socialists hell bent on destroying "their" country by eating babies or some shit.

[regnaD kciN]

5. I won't argue that point...

...but am not sure which approach would work.

[DarthDem]

6. Sounds like a plan

[SunSeeker]

7. May I suggest adding a Cuban American to the leadership?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

10. As long as it's not this "Democrat".

Alex Penelas

[not_the_one]

47. If I understand it correctly, the Miami Cuban Americans WERE either the 1%ers of Cuba,

or are the descendants of those 1%ers, who left when they could no longer control "their" government, and were losing their entitled niche in the food chain. They want to be returned to power so they can once again be in control of "their" country. They want their niche back.

They have continually voted republican, and did again this election. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why. Full disclosure, I am NOT a rocket scientist.

Apparently they see no common threads between themselves and their murdering, rapist cousins from Mexico, who deserve to have their babies ripped from the arms of their parents.

I suppose it is all about one's priorities.

Or maybe I have it all wrong. Educate me.

[SunSeeker]

48. The Batistas are dying out. The new generation is persuadable.

It's easier to persuade them if the person doing the persuading is one of their own.

[DeminPennswoods]

8. Agree that Dems need to move more toward

progressives, but don't believe they should overthink this week's results or panic over them. Trump is uniquely charismatic to his supporters. As with many cult leaders, they worship the ground he walks on and came out in droves to vote for him. They managed to maintain down ballot voting discipline, too, where straight party voting was not possible like here in PA.

[Zipgun]

11. It's just the latest in a string of state wide failures.

They've been totally locked out of power for decades now and have no plan, still, on how to reverse this. They seem to be more concerned with keeping their own tiny bit of power than growing the party. And that may be an unfair assertion, but it's not an unreasonable conclusion

[NurseJackie]

12. Really? That's a serious accusation. How so? Any examples that you can share?

They seem to be more concerned with keeping their own tiny bit of power than growing the party.

Really? That's a serious accusation. How so? Any examples that you can share?

[Zipgun]

13. Things like the infighting and disarray that occurred in 2013. In 2017 12 Florida counties didn't

any formal offices or organization. Or the limiting of voter information that candidates can access. I understand that it is costly to develop the voter information, and in a state that the party is successful it makes sense to charge for that information. But the party has failed in Florida and needs to develop the networks and candidates necessary for successful campaigns. A lot of the momentum for fighting for GOP held seats seem to come from outside the party. Just seems to be neglect at the local level with an emphasis on presidential elections every 4 years.
https://flaglerlive.com/103430/florida-democrats-disarray/
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/331806-progressive-groups-recruit-slate-of-democratic-candidates-for-ignored-seats
https://theintercept.com/2020/07/09/florida-democratic-party-letter/

[NurseJackie]

14. Well, that describes areas that need improvement...but you were previously accusing them of...

Well, that describes areas that need improvement...but you were previously and damn-near accusing them of malfeasance, or a criminal dereliction of duties, or that they were behaving unethically.

[Zipgun]

24. Such as the controversy involving Stepohan Bittle, a donor and member of a outside

fundraising group who became party chairman then had to step down due to sexual harassment accusations? Bittle only got the chance after Bret Berlin gave up his seat as a party official only days after being elected and the party broke it's own rules to create a path for Bittle. Does that count?

[TwilightZone]

28. Bittel has been gone for three years.

Not sure we can blame him for 2020.

[NurseJackie]

30. ...

[Zipgun]

37. Not blaming him, using his sketchy promotion as an example to mismanagement

Last edited Thu Nov 5, 2020, 01:27 PM - Edit history (1)

of the party here in Florida and a focus on concentration of power. His appointment was through questionable means and stemmed from his connections to a fund raising organization, being a donor and personal relationships with high ranking party members. It was even the subject of a lawsuit.

[NurseJackie]

29. Hardly the widespread malfeasance that your earlier post suggested...

... and if he stepped-down due to his behavior, then it appears that the system of checks and balances and oversight was working as it should. I think it's a mistake to take the actions of one and tarnish an entire organization with it. (Especially something that's ancient history and has zero bearing on 2020.)

[Zipgun]

40. Except for the fact that he shouldn't have gotten the position in the way he did.

He got the position because of his position as a fund raiser and his personal relationships with high ranking party officials. It was a mistake that hurt the party and impaired party unity. There was even a lawsuit over it.

I think you are miss representing what I am saying. You've asked for examples of issues with the party, I've provided them and you've immediately discounted them and me. 3 years ago isn't ancient history. And I've shown older examples because problems with the party here have been going on for a long time, and the GOP has happily taken advantage of the lack of competent competition. Serious issues within the party in 2013, 2016 and 2017 at least, coupled with a string of poor election results (we haven't held the governorship nor a majority in either part of the legislature in decades, we hold exactly one state level office, neither US senate seats and less than half the U.S. house positions) and the fact that the only people who are interested in challenging GOP office holders in anything other than a handfull of democratic strongholds are from groups outside the party leadership point to a failure on a systemic level.

[Zipgun]

42. Here is an article about the lawsuit

https://observer.com/2017/01/stephen-bittel-lawsuit-florida-democratic-party-chair-election/

[3825-87867]

15. Good Point

The only way to check on that would be to see how long those already IN power have been there. If they've been there many terms then maybe there's credence to the idea of getting new blood.

Otherwise, an overall new strategy is definitely indicated because this and the last presidential election has shown Democrats were not prepared. (and maybe not only in Florida!)

A newer approach may be toward a more aggressive and informative posture; let people know through more specific ads just how things really and how they WILL be affected by republican policies rather than having their residents believe that the fairy-tale land in Orlando is what is real.

It seems the Democrats may not have spent their ad money "wisely" promoting things that republicans ignore or lie about.

[mdbl]

9. The only way to combat states like Fla and Ga is to become better liars

Make up worse stories about the repugs than they do about the Dems. I saw so many ads in GA that lied their asses off about the democratic candidates in both Ga and SC. When dems put out commercials calling out the awful behavior of repugs it is usually based on reality. None of the repug ads were. Obviously, the "high road" doesn't work with willfully ignorant voters.

[Karma13612]

39. That is what we saw here in Red NY-21 with ads from

Trump and Stefanik.

Pure lies.

I still say that outright lies should not be allowed in political adverts.

It always sounds naive to complain about it, but it just doesn’t seem right.

Alternatively, ads from the Democratic opponent Cobb, strictly criticized Stefanik with accurate details of her record.

And I read that the area went Redder this time around so the area is now considered even more Conservative than 4 years ago. Oh gawd.



I agree about Florida. Something isn’t working so it is time for a reboot. Hopefully something can be done prior to 2022. Even if there are no Senate seats in 2022, we need to work on anything we can to build for 2024. We can’t wait until the last minute.

Is Debbie Wasserman Schultz still active in the DNC? I recall that Democrats weren’t thrilled with her handling of things when she was the chair.

[csziggy]

44. We don't have to lie like a Republican

All we have to do is tell the full truth about our Republican opponents.

For instance, the Florida Democratic Party never used Rick Scott's history of Medicare fraud against him in either of his gubernatorial races or his Senate race. Why the fuck did they ignore this big black blot on his record?

Opposition research is valuable and often easily obtained, but they never bothered to do it at all with any of the Republicans that have taken over the Florida government since 2000 and even before.

[mdbl]

50. While I wish what you said was true,

Repugs seem to vote for the most corrupt immoral person on the ticket. We have to make them look even worse to get the magat's attention. It seems to work for the repugs, right wing hate radio, fox news, etc.

[orangecrush]

17. That's no shit.

[Loubee]

19. Adding to the challenge for Florida Democrats

is the reality that GOP officials in positions of power are corrupt AF.

[Botany]

20. Get rid of the voting machines and I would bet that the Ds wouldstart doing much better

n/t

[stevensD]

23. Botany

That is the remedy right there. Doesn't Trump's own stock in the electronic voting and tabulating machines?!.
Seem like their direct motives and push back for "paper" and mail-in ballots thwart Trump leaning Cyberthieves success.

[Botany]

26. It's not just Trump but the GOP as a group thay has adopted voting machines* that can be hacked &...

.... manipulated without leaving any "finger prints" as a way to keep power as their demographics
and positions on the issues leave them hurting.



When people voted on these mechanical machines the vote would match the exit polls but once they
switched to DRE machines the vote stopped matching the exit polls.

* Court packing, gerrymandering, and media ownership are also tools they use.

BTW welcome to DU .... remember to tip the wait staff on your way out.

[BarbD]

21. As an outside observer who knows a lot of people who moved to Florida,

They moved there for one reason only -- TAXES. So when they list their life priorities, it all comes down to money, not community responsibility. And, the Cubans escaped Castro who led a revolution leading the poor. Plus the Mafia who always had a hold on the power. A very complicated place.

For a good perspective, read Carl Hiaasen -- his latest is "Squeeze Me".

[deurbano]

34. The tax reason for not voting Democratic is even more of an issue than I realized.

We have a really nice neighbor here in San Francisco-- a middle-aged Palestinian-American, Muslim man, living in a big house with extended family. It seems he inherited being the patriarch of the family after his father died, and he has two or three other properties (inherited from the father), and I think the income (one property includes a deli, and the others might be rented out, if not used by family members) helps sustain the whole family, including members no longer living in the large house. After his father died, his mother moved back to Israel, as they still have close family there.

At any rate, my husband was shocked when this man said he hadn't voted for either presidential candidate, and the reason he didn't vote for Biden was because he'd raise taxes! I don't think this guy is at all likely to have an income of over $400,000, and property owners in CA are more likely to be negatively affected by this administration's tax changes than anything Biden has proposed, so he must be consuming some social media that's put this fear in him. But even if he believed he might have to pay a bit more, where is the concern for other people? Or at least, the concern for other Muslims, other immigrants, or Palestinian family still in Israel or occupied territories? I mean, he didn't actually vote for the MAGAt King, but it's disheartening that so many fellow Americans have such a self-centered orientation. (On a personal level, he is incredibly generous, and if he sees us having a problem with our car, for example, he immediately offers to help; it was disorienting to find out his political position, especially here in SF.)

[Dorn]

22. FL passed $15/hr minimum wage AND voted for DT -- that tells you something

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, more than 61 percent of voters approved the legislation — which increases minimum wage from $8.56 to $10 per hour starting Sept. 30, 2021, then raises it $1 each year until 2026.

There is something wrong with our message if the state approves a higher minimum wage AND votes for the rapist in chief.

It is not the voting machinery!

[Ligyron]

33. Yes, bight that not just prove the point?

Oooops, they should have changed that minimum wage result as well because it's way too inconsistent w GOP dogma, those lazy Repug hackers. Or maybe it didn't register as such in Russian.

I'm not normally into CT's but something weird is without a doubt going on with the voting in Presidential elections as even R voters here swore they'd vote Trump out for the good of the party.

[hotrod0808]

25. I can't say that I blame them.

I live in Ohio, which is a place that The DNC has ignored. Well, except for the obligatory election cycle visit from the Presidential candidate.

[bucolic_frolic]

27. Broad national election standards

Election Day as a holiday, a 3 day election period, rules on late mail ballots, counting times, long lines ... I suppose the diversity of state rules and standards is a strength in a way, as together they are difficult to manipulate as a power grab, but there's room for change. Surely the cost of elections will drive any outcomes. Mail-in votes must be expensive, and look at the struggles of states in the cost of IT infrastructure. Drop off ballot boxes surely made election day easier at the polls.

[William Seger]

32. Well, if we ran a race-baiting demagogue maybe we could rebuild the Solid South

[deurbano]

35. Seriously. Let's just dig up Strom Thurmond and bring back the Dixiecrats.

I was born in the MS delta, with a father who was a member of the White Citizens' Council. People can choose not to be reprehensible, even if their parents were. I'm tired of Democrats being blamed for other people being such assholes.

[William Seger]

36. As my wise grandfather once told me...

... pandering is the opposite of leadership.

[jayschool2013]

41. Nice place to visit

Wouldn't want to live there again.

[bluestarone]

43. One thing for sure is

Somehow we gotta break the rethuglicon gridlock in Florida. I don't know HOW to get it investigated BUT THEY are dirty and we KNOW it! Gonna take some real smart people to figure this out BEFORE 2022!!

[bluecollar2]

49. As a Miami-Dade resident

I say it can't happen fast enough.

The only organization more incompetent than the Florida Democratic party is trump's COVID 19 response team.

[Baitball Blogger]

51. I have a few ideas.

Stop catering to the business organizations and backwater culture in Florida, and start representing everyone who isn't part of that nonsense.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

52. Florida: Redneck Riviera, Jewish, Retirees, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Gator Football

Interesting mix to make everyone happy don't you think?

Increased frequency and strength of hurricanes.. Republicans don't do the science thing...

Climate Change will forever change the Everglades... the government will bail them out so why should they worry?

#1 Industry: Tourism Lockdowns and crowd control takes a big bite out of that. Just kill your grandparents like Trump wants.

The Democrats have The Squad.. friendly to Muslim's, probably not a big draw for the Jewish vote.
Trump in the meantime has kissed Netanyahu's ass and the Democrats have stood up a bit for Palestinian rights.

Cubans/Puerto Ricans very Catholic (I think that's right) and probably aren't very pro-gay and at least on the surface, abortion.

So, you want to turn Florida Blue? All you have to do is to change everything we are.

[Nimble_Idea]

53. All I have is..