http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/31/Columns/Democrats_hang_hats_o.shtmlDemocrats hang hats on minimum wage pushBy STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published July 31, 2004
Tony Hill calls it "the silver bullet" for Florida Democrats.
Could it also be John Kerry's secret weapon?
It is Amendment 5, a proposal to increase the minimum wage Florida by $1, to $6.15 an hour, and tie annual increases to inflation. It will be on the Nov. 2 ballot as a constitutional amendment.
Democrats see it as a way to help the working poor while driving thousands of liberal voters to the polls at the same time.
Do the math, and the politics.
For a struggling single mother working a cash register in a convenience store, it's a pay raise of $40 a week.
For Kerry, it could mean another vote from someone who might otherwise stay home on Election Day.
The prospect of a raise might do it.
"This is a kitchen table issue," says Hill, a Jacksonville Democratic state senato