Yesterday, one of our favorite candidates for Congress, Annette Taddeo, finally had the chance to debate her Republican opponent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. At the forum in Miami, Ros-Lehtinen reconfirmed her commitment to the Bush/McCain scheme to privatize social security:
Taddeo pounced on Ros-Lehtinen's votes against expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or S-CHIP. Ros-Lehtinen replied that the program is not run properly, with adults benefiting from it in some states.
Ros-Lehtinen also stood behind her support of privatizing parts of Social Security -- which Taddeo opposes -- arguing that people should invest parts of their accounts to get higher returns.
Talk about clueless. In this economic climate, the GOP congresswoman is willing to turn over Social Security to Wall Street. Wow. Here's a clip of Annette at the forum:
For kicks, check out the Ros-Lehtinen "I love the 80s" t.v. ad. Apparently, Ilena's new haircut is a little too "Suze Orman" for Ileana. Draw your own conclusions from that comment.
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.
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.
Something is happening in Florida for sure. It could be a big year for Democrats -- which brings me to Annette Taddeo.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Markos wrote a post yesterday about the latest polling from South Florida -- and it looks good. Obama is up in that key area by a wide margin: 46 - 30.
Importantly, as Markos notes, there are three House seats in play in South Florida, too:
"Perhaps that's why Bush came down to help raise money for Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart. The brothers are under pressure from Democrats Raul Martinez and O2B candidate Joe Garcia. A third seat, that held by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, is being challenged by another great Democrat, Annette Taddeo."
We've set up an ActBlue page for one of them: Annette Taddeo. You can also give by clicking on the blue box above (all your money goes to the candidate, and it's totally safe). She's a great progressive candidate for the 18th Congressional District and understands the demographics of South Florida. Annette is a successful businesswoman, a Latina and is Jewish. South Florida is no longer dominated by the old guard Cuban-Americans. Simon Rosenberg reported on the changing dynamics in Florida:
Florida's Hispanic community is changing. Waves of new Puerto Rican, Mexican, Central and South American immigrants have made the historically powerful Cuban-American community a minority of the statewide Hispanic vote. And the Cuban-American community itself is changing, with many more post-1980 immigrants and 2nd generation American-born Cuban-Americans entering the electorate.
Annette is running against Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who has been in office for eighteen years. Ros-Lehtinen spends most of her time obsessing about all things Cuba while simultaneously serving as a Bush rubber stamp (which Ileana recently denied, literally saying she wasn't a "rubber stamp.") But, this is a vibrant, diverse and Democratic district stretching from South Beach down to Key West. This race also just made it onto the DCCC's list of emerging races where "Democratic candidates have generated excitement in their districts for their campaigns for change." We think Annette's going to emerge into a Democratic pick up.
The better Taddeo does, the better Obama does -- and vice versa. Help Annette Taddeo turn South Florida blue.
This is rich. Florida Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has been a staunch ally of George Bush for the past eight years. If Bush said jump, Ileana asked "how high?" Over and over and over. You name it -- Iraq, SCHIP -- she was there for Bush.
So guess who is now claiming she's not a "Rubber Stamp" for Bush? Ileana. Her campaign actually used the term "rubber stamp"
With President Bush's popularity hovering in the 30s, a little breathing room might be good for some Republicans.
At least that's what Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is thinking as she faces what could be her first significant reelection challenge.
Out of the blue, Ros-Lehtinen's office Tuesday shot out two press releases: ''list of domestic initiatives where Ros-Lehtinen has broken with the current administration'' and ``list of foreign policy initiatives where Ros-Lehtinen has broken with the current administration.''
Her office said it was interested in debunking any perception that the generally reliably Republican is a ''rubber stamp'' for President Bush.
Okay, if you have to say you're not a "rubber stamp," it's too late.
Ros-Lehtinen is clearly freaked. And, she should be.
This year, Ileana has a very tough opponent: Annette Taddeo. And, Taddeo's campaign smacked back hard against the attempt by Ros-Lehtinen to run from Bush:
In a press release Wednesday, Taddeo's campaign said Ros-Lehtinen has supported Bush 85 percent of the time, and listed five examples, including voting against the renewal of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or S-CHIP. Taddeo, who was born with a cleft lip, has said that vote was the tipping point that made her jump in the race for Florida's 18th congressional district.
Also as part of her platform, Taddeo has frequently criticized Ros-Lehtinen for her support of the war in Iraq, which Taddeo opposes.
Keep an eye on this race. Ileana is running from Bush, so she's running scared. Annette Taddeo can win this race -- and she should.
We set up an ActBlue page for Taddeo. I have a feeling this campaign is going to be a fun one. The district runs from South Beach, through Miami to Key West -- it will be a key battleground in the Presidential race. I'm thinking it would be a good place to do get-out-the-vote in the fall, too.
