Yesterday, the New York Times had an article on the political transformation underway in South Florida. The Democrats are making a move. It was interesting, but seemed to have a few facts wrong. For example, the reporter said Florida was "a state where [Obama] is not polling well against Senator McCain." I checked and that's not quite accurate according to the numbers at Pollster.com. McCain's "average" lead is 3.7 points, he's well under 50% and at least one of the recent credible independent polls shows Obama leading. I was also struck by the fawning tone towards Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Bush rubber stamp Republican, who represents Little Havana.
Over the weekend, we also learned from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that Democrats are out-registering Repubs. by a 6 to 1 margin. Yes, 6 to 1:
An escalating number of voters registering as Democrats is providing evidence that the 2008 election could produce a wave of support for Barack Obama — and trigger a decades-long shift of party allegiance that could affect elections for a generation.Something is happening in Florida for sure. It could be a big year for Democrats -- which brings me to Annette Taddeo.
The numbers are ominous for Republicans: Through May, Democratic voter registration in Broward County was up 6.7 percent. Republican registrations grew just 3 percent while independents rose 2.8 percent.
Democrats have posted even greater gains statewide, up 106,508 voters from January through May, compared with 16,686 for the Republicans.
Howie Klein deconstructed the internecine politics and the on-going shenanigans in Florida much better than I ever could. Read his post, which destroys the idea that Ros-Lehtinen is somehow safe in what is turning out to be a Democratic trending year in Florida. Howie met the woman who is going to beat Ros-Lehtinen: Annette Taddeo. And, as I learned first-hand, to meet Annette is to become a fan. Seriously. It's hard not to love once you meet her as Howie reports:
Today I attended an event put on by 11 Democratic congresswomen from Southern California. Each of the 11 donated a minimum of $1,000 to each of 8 women who are running for Congress from around the country. As soon as I walked in Blue America incumbent-- and one of the event's hostesses-- Hilda Solis, introduced me to Annette about who she was extremely enthusiastic. It didn't take long before I understood why.Don't forget our ActBlue page for Annette. She will be the kind of Democrat we really need more of in D.C. -- a better Democrat. Interesting, too, that as far as I can tell, Annette is the only Democratic Latina running as a challenger this year.
A successful entrepreneur, Annette is a thoughtful progressive who backs women's rights, gay rights, a quick, responsible end to the occupation of Iraq (which she has opposed from the very beginning of Bush's misadventure) and she is eager to work to get corporate bribes out of the political system. She took a strong position against warrantless wiretaps and retroactive immunity. She is extremely charismatic and made a spectacular speech during the lunch, if not stealing the show, at least sharing the spotlight with Linda Sanchez and Darcy Burner, each of whom also was greeted with thunderous applause.
This is the year to turn South Florida blue. It's the first time in a presidential year when there have been credible challengers to the South Florida Republicans. Help Annette turn South Florida into a Democratic stronghold.
And, this is a special note for any of you who have ever vacationed in South Beach or Key West -- or anywhere along in between. You have a stake in this race because that's the district Annette will represent. Won't you feel better knowing one of your favorite place is finally represented by a Democrat?
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