JJ Bloggers Luncheon - Blue Plate Special

Saturday, June 8, 2007 was a blue letter day for the Florida Democratic Party and the Florida Progressive Blogosphere. On that day, the FDP hosted its first ever Jefferson-Jackson Day luncheon for Florida Bloggers and Netroots activists.

When Phillip Perry of the FDP called the meeting to order, over 50 people were in the room. This was a huge turnout for the first of its kind event in Florida. As noted previously, special thanks is due to meowmissy for bringing this event to reality. I am not going to attempt a comprehensive list of the attendees. However, I would like to make special note of Ken Quinell from the Florida Progressive Coalition and Ray Seaman. They joined with meowmissy and the FDP staff in working to bring this luncheon to life. Thank you.

Phillip Perry gave the welcome and laid out the general goals for the luncheon. The immediate goal was to plan for the Netroots / Bloggers conference at the FDP convention in October. The ultimate goal of all this activity is to turn netroots activism into real world activism and elect more Democrats in Florida. A show of hands was asked for all those who had actually backed away from the keyboards and worked on some campaign in real life. Every hand in the room went up. This group was clearly engaged both online and in real world activities.

Near the end of the luncheon, FDP Chair and former Congresswoman Karen Thurman paid us a visit. Karen thanked us for attending this first of its kind event in Florida and was wowed by the larger than expected attendance. The state Chair told us how she recognizes the importance of what we are doing. She also told us how the feeling of empowerment among state Dems is continuing to increase. This is happening as we continue to savor our gains in 2006. At the same time, Dems are aggressively planning to continue those gains in 2008.

The main business of the luncheon was organizing the Bloggers / Netroots conference at the FDP Convention in October. Consensus was reached that there was enough on the agenda for two distinct sessions. The first would focus on Bloggers and Netroots activists. This session would include a guest keynote speaker and discussions on technology and content. The second session would focus on exchanging thoughts between the online activists and candidates. This session would give the Bloggers and Netroots activists a chance to get to know the candidates. And it would give the candidates a chance to learn what the Bloggers and Netroots activists could do to help get them across the finish line to victory. And it would continue to build bridges that would help to effectively obtain the synergies of effort among the Blogosphere, the FDP and the candidates.

And I would be remiss if I didn't put in a shameless plug for the brand name for the effort to make all this happen. Broad acceptance of the brand name Blog Florida Blue was apparent. We are still seeking a logo for this effort. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Until then, I am going to keep mine simple and to the point:

Blog Florida Blue

Just Back from JJ

I have just returned from the Florida Democratic Party's annual Jefferson - Jackson Day gala at Hallandale Beach. I want everyone to know that it was a great weekend event. I thought particularly that the Netroots / Bloggers luncheon was a huge success. I want to send special thanks to meowmissy for really getting the ball rolling for this event. And I want to thank Mark Bubriski and Phillip Perry from the FDP for making it all happen.

I am going to write extensively on the JJ weekend and the luncheon later. In the meantime, I want to point you towards the Florida Progressive Coalition, Tampa Bay Democrat and Blast Off! for the posts they have done on the festivities so far.

SD-3: Tired Old GOP Rhetoric

Is this really all they have left? Here are the salient parts of The Republican Party of Florida's Chair Jim Greer's statement about the SD-3 primary results tonight:

“We look forward to a spirited race with Democrat nominee Suzan Franks, whose tax-and-spend record would block economic growth in the district and whose liberal values clearly do not represent the people who live there.”

I mean really. Are they so bereft of ideas that all they can come up with are "tax and spend" and "liberal values"?

Here is what Greer had to say about GOP winner Charlie Dean:

...time-tested... experience to lead and the same conservative values that families and communities in District Three hold dear.

Conservative values that families in District Three hold so dear? That's why they had elected Nancy Agenziano, the most moderate GOPer in the Senate? Greer boy, you are just out of touch, aren't you?

Elections are about the future. The voters of Senate District Three are looking for a leader with new ideas, not a tired old codger like Charlie Dean. Oh and speaking of taxers, wasn't it Charlie Dean who voted for that huge sales tax increase the Rubio tried to push n this state? Didn't Charlie Dean vote for the $545 million school property tax increase? Sounds to me like the folks in District Three could use a fiscally conservative Democrat in that seat instead of the tax hiking Dean.

Candidate Review Wednesday: The Final Four

I have previously laid out my plan to review our candidates . The stated goal of this exercise is to help me settle on a candidate to support for the nomination. My reviews of Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson can be found here.

Today, we are off to see, no, not the wizard. We are off to the (apologies to the NCAA) Final Four. So take a moment and review the other diaries in this series. Then follow me...


The Final Four are Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich. We'll spend a little time looking at each one of them. First though, let's take a quick look at the criteria I have established for this review:

There are two top level criteria I am going to use to evaluate the candidates. The first is their ability to win the nomination. The second is their ability to win the general election.

In my attempts to evaluate candidates chances to win the nomination, I am going to look at these factors:

• Values projected in the Message
• Stance on issues
• Fundraising ability
• Staff competence
• Primary strategy
• Does this candidate make me feel it?

Having said all that , let's look at reality here. None of these four guys has a snowball's chance in hell of actually winning the nomination. None of them is above single digits in any polls. None of them have come anywhere near the top three in fund raising. That should be the end of this diary right here. But I did do some research, so what the heck.

Let's start with Joe Biden. Joe is the Senior Senator from Delaware. He has been in the Senate since damn near as long as I can remember. He has the distinction of actually being elected to the Senate before he had attained the legal age to serve, 35.

Joe is not usually known for his reticence. In fact, he brought the house down with his one word answer of "yes" in the South Carolina debate. Trying to find values expressed in Joe Biden's verbosity was no easy task, but I did find this gem in a speech Biden gave on National Security and Civil Rights:

We need not change our national character in order to defeat terrorism. As a matter of fact, we are already defeated by the terrorists if we change our character.

Other than that though, Biden suffers from what has been called the "Issue Trap". As a long time Senator, Biden is adept at debating policy, particularly Foreign Policy. But to find values embedded in those policy choices is no easy task.

Chris Dodd, the Senior and only Democratic Senator from Connecticut also suffers from the Issue Trap. Dodd has been in Congress since he was but two years out of law school. I was able to find something that gives us a hint about Dodd's values though. Dodd has this prominently displayed on his web site: Restore Habeus Corpus and is the author of Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007.

The bill will restore Habeas Corpus protections to detainees, bar information acquired through torture from being introduced as evidence in trials, and limit presidential authority to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions.

Mike Gravel represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1969-81. I had to look it up. Other than making a name for himself as the crusty old bomb thrower in the debates, there is not a lot to say about Gravel. And it was very difficult to find values statements on his web site.

Dennis Kucinich is another kettle of fish altogether. When he was the boy wonder Mayor of Cleveland, he was dubbed "Dennis the Menace." He hasn't changed much since. But in his description of his plan for a Department of Peace I did uncover this:

The United States was founded on hope, optimism, and a commitment to freedom. We can once again become a beacon of hope for the world. To do that, we must reject the current administration's policies of fear, suspicion, and preemptive war. It is time to jettison our illusions and fears and to transform age-old challenges with new thinking. This is the idea behind my proposal to establish a Department of Peace. This is the idea to make nonviolence an organizing principle at home and abroad and dedicate ourselves to peaceful coexistence, consensus building, disarmament, and respect for international treaties. Violence and war are not inevitable. Nonviolence and peace are inevitable.

Not bad for Dennis the Menace, huh?

As for issues, as always I start with Iraq. Joe Biden has been one of the first Democrats to come up with a plan for Iraq. His "federalization plan" has some merit. However, to make it work, a successful settlement of the Iraq oil distribution issue would have to be reached. Biden did not do himself any favors in this area when he voted for the Iraq supplemental without a time table for withdrawal.

Chris Dodd was alone among the senatorial presidential candidates to cast his no vote on the Iraq supplemental while the issue was still in doubt. Clinton and Obama both slunk onto the Senate floor and voted no after the votes for passage were assured.

Mike Gravel is for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. You can probably figure out where "Department of Peace" Kucinich stands. BTW, Kucinich voted against the original AUMF.

None of these guys make me feel it enough to sign on to a Don Quixote campaign. Enough said.

Message From a Floridian in Afghanistan

Something really interesting and really moving has happened recently in the Florida Blogosphere. Meowmissy announced the creation of the Florida NetRoots blog. This is a welcome addition to the ongoing effort to Blog Florida Blue . It has been welcomed by progressive blogs across Florida including the Florida Progressive Coalition and Florida Kossacks. This is, in and of itself, an interesting development.

What happened next is the really moving part. It truly is amazing to realize the reach of the blogoshpere. To find out what has moved me so, follow along....


After announcing the Florida NetRoots blog, meowmissy let us know she had been contacted by

a servicemen from Walton County currently serving in Afghanistan. He asked how he could help with the blog.

For those of you not familiar with Walton County Florida, I have one little statistic for you. George W. Bush beat John Kerry there 73% to 26% in 2004.

In response to his question of how he could help with the blog, I asked meowmissy to forward a couple of questions for me:

First, what do both active duty military folks and veterans think is the best way to support our troops in Iraq?

The second is how do the veterans feel about the current administrations' pronouncements about supporting our troops versus their actual delivery of services (health care, etc) to veterans?

Meowmissy had also been contacted by someone serving on the Executive Committee of the Florida Veterans for Common Sense . She passed along those questions and one of her own:

And how do they feel about the recent vote to continue funding the war?

It is the answers to these questions that have moved me to write this diary. Let's take the last question (Iraq funding) first. Our soldiers' response to this question was most eloquent:

...not much talk about this (Iraq funding) in Afghanistan. About the only thing I hear when people mention it is that someone will usually say something to the effect of "We need to get out of there. That place is a shit hole."

One thing I'd like you to express to your group. IRAQ IS NOT THE ONLY WAR.

People are getting shot at, dodging IEDs and dying everyday here in Afghanistan, and the American people and the MSM have generally forgotten about us. When we were extended to 15 months, most people I told had no clue, because the media only reported that Soldiers in Iraq would be extended. Everyday someone dies in Iraq it is reported in the MSM, but when a soldier in my unit was killed, it was never reported.

The next part of the response reinforces how Hillary Clinton really blew it in the New Hampshire debate when she repeated the Buschco frame:

I believe we are safer than we were. We are not yet safe enough.

Our Florida soldier relates this about the war in Afghanistan:

This war is just. I implore anyone who disagrees to come to this country and see what we are fighting and how we are helping. However, I believe our continued presence in this country to be more immoral than our presence in Iraq. This may sound confusing, but remember this: There is actually a mission here. There is actually an enemy which we can define. There is a clear goal to the operation. However, we have been here for nearly six years. In six years, a nation with the greatest military capability in the history of the world has not been able to defeat a third world shadow government. This is not to say that the troops on the ground have failed, or that the U.S. is not able to win this war. The problem is that this administration has been distracted by a war created and continued by deceit and pride. (Emphasis added)

Our Florida soldier goes on to relate to us his feelings about a recent terrible incident in Afghanistan:

A few days ago, five brave Americans were killed. My reaction was, "and for what?" Why did those men have to die? True, they died fighting a righteous fight, but why are we still fighting it? Why are we still here? Why have we not defeated our enemy here? Why are brave men still dying? Again, because this administration is too eager to save face to commit resources to a just and winnable war.

The most terrible thing is that this is not isolated. This has become the modus operandi for this administration. Resources are committed out of pride to Iraq, so we cannot help victims of national disasters in Louisiana and Kansas. We cannot help our poor because we must give tax breaks to the rich. We cannot aid the sick, because we must aid Big-Rx .... We can not slow the energy crisis or global warming, because we must aid the oil corporations. This administration has a record that is at best immoral and at worst criminal of ignoring big problems that we can actually do something about, in order to protect pride and cronyism.(Emphasis added)

If these feelings of our fellow Floridian, serving in Afghanistan, are being felt in Walton County, I would bet you the 2008 election there will not go to the Republican nominee by a 73% to 26% margin.

Now let's all say a prayer for the safe return of our fellow Floridian.

Welcome to Florida Netroots

Blog Florida Blue

We have a brand new entrant into the Florida Blogosphere. Yesterday, Florida Netroots made its entrance onto the stage of progressive Florida blogs. Much as Florida Kossacks grew out of the Florida Kossacks Mail List, Florida Netroots blog was given birth by the Florida Netroots Yahoo Group.

The founder of the Florida Netroots Yahoo Group and now the Florida Netroots Blog is committed netroots activist Meowmissy (aka Webrageous). Here is Meowmissy's self description from her DailyKos profile:

Web Developer, Public Servant, Cat Lover. When I get my act together I'd like to add writer and photographer to the list.

I'd say she pretty much has her act together already.

Here is the description of the Florida Netroots blog:

The Florida Netroots supports and promotes activism at the local and state level in Florida in order to ensure the election of more Democrats to public office.

The first entry in the Florida Netroots blog marked the debut of a great new project, Better Know Florida :

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Stephen Colbert's ongoing series "Better Know a District" where he does humorous interviews with members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Florida Netroots Blog is going to try out it's own "Better Know" series with categories like "Better Know a State Legislator", "Better Know a Local Official" and "Better Know a Candidate" where contributors to the blog write diaries about specific state or local politicians here in Florida.

The focus is on state and local politicians because the Democratic Party in Florida is in serious need of a strong bench. We won't have good candidates to run for Congress without first recruiting and promoting folks who run for local and state office.

Our mission, in part, is to educate ourselves and others about state and local politics. Together we can Blog Florida Blue .

I think that is a terrific mission statement. I want to encourage you all to check out Florida Netroots and show meowmissy some love.

Welcome to the fight in the Florida blogosphere.

Blog Florida Blue

Local Governments Win BIG?

The St. Petersburg Times is reporting on a letter sent yesterday by Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio

touting "substantial agreement" in the property tax talks.

One very significant portion of this letter could prove to be a major victory for local governments.

The details of this letter start out by saying

Cities and Counties will be required to cut their property taxes...

A cap on future property taxes will ensure that local governments cannot grow faster than personal income.

Nothing in there looks like a win for local governments. But look at the very next line in the letter

Local governments may override the caps and the cuts by an extraordinary vote

So what is an extraordinary vote, you ask? Here is what the letter goes on to say about that.

allowing local governments by a super majority vote, referendum or other heightened standards to override the mandatory cuts.

This provision appears to give local governments the power to retain control over their budgets. All they have to do now is to have the political courage to do what they think is best for their communities. I am betting that local governments in the Tampa Bay area will still look long and hard about where they might be able to reduce spending without impacting the quality of life in their communities. But they will retain control over how much to cut.

Stay tuned.