Best joke I heard all day and I live in Florida!
Posted on 01/22/2005 3:47:54 PM PST by new cruelty
TALLAHASSEE — Pro-guns, pro-business, pro-family and patriotic — sound like the GOP?
Nope, it's the Mainstream Democrats, a group of Florida lawmakers touting personal responsibility, morals, patriotism and efficient government to woo back voters in a state where Republicans dominate politics on all but the local levels.
"The Republicans started this campaign that the Democrats were liberal, left-wing wackos, and we ignored it because it was so ridiculous," said Sen. Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach, who formed the Florida Mainstream Democratic Alliance last year with a handful of Senate colleagues.
"We thought nobody would believe it," Geller said. "We were wrong."
Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Greenacres attorney, this year will take over the helm of the 19-member coalition, which includes a former tobacco farmer, a black seminarian, a Hispanic high school football coach, a possible gubernatorial candidate who's also a Baptist, and several Jewish lawyers.
Aronberg and his fellow members, including Delray Beach Rep. Richard Machek, hope to convince Floridians — particularly those in rural and Central Florida and throughout the Panhandle, where Democrats have suffered agonizing defeats — that their party is as diverse as the alliance.
Where's Democrats' Arnold?
"We're not trying to distance ourselves from the Democratic Party," Aronberg said. "We're trying to reach out to people who want to vote for us but can't because they think we're out of step with the mainstream."
Take Arnold Schwarzenegger, Aronberg said. He's pro-choice, pro-gun control and pro-stem-cell research — contrary to the Republican party platform. Yet the California governor is the darling of the GOP.
"Where are our Schwarzeneggers?" he said, posing a question many Democrats are asking these days.
Perhaps the Florida Democrats' closest relative to Schwarzenegger is Sen. Rod Smith, a former state attorney from Alachua County. Smith earned fame for successfully prosecuting Danny Rolling, who was sentenced to death for the murders of five Gainesville college students in 1990. Smith is expected to announce his candidacy for governor next week.
Smith, who grew up on a farm, was tapped by Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, to replace Geller as head of the Agriculture Committee. He is one of only two Democrats among 24 committee chairs.
The other, Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell of Coral Springs, is a moderate also aligned with the mainstream group. He is considering a run for one of the statewide Cabinet seats.
Smith said Democrats have to learn from their losses and appeal to people like his constituents in rural Florida who feel disenfranchised by the party.
"The hardest thing for any party to do is to take an honest look at itself," he said. "We have allowed ourselves to be painted as if we were part of an agenda that is outside the 40-yard lines, but the great majority of Floridians are typically moderate individuals — slightly more conservative than liberal, but only slightly conservative."
Although Smith and most other members of the group are pro-choice, they would have approved the parental notification bill that passed last year if there had been exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
Geller, a likely candidate for state agriculture commissioner in 2006, said he formed the coalition after Democrats performed poorly in rural districts even though their voter registration was considerably higher than Republicans.
He asked agriculture industry lobbyists why Democrats were getting crushed. The biggest issue is gun control, he said.
Geller said he was told: "Once you mention guns, it doesn't matter if you give eggs and money to us, we just stop listening."
Geller, who represents one of Florida's most liberal districts, said he owns seven firearms and has two marksman patches.
The citrus and sugar industries have thrown some of their considerable clout behind Geller, donating about $35,000 to the Mainstream Democrats last year. The HCA hospital chain contributed $10,000; Calder Race Course and the Florida Police Benevolent Association each gave $5,000.
Rooted in Blue Dogs
The splinter group has its roots in the so-called Blue Dogs, fiscally conservative Democrats who tend to vote together on budget and economic issues. The Blue Dogs, led by the late Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, were an "important bridge" to getting bills passed before Republicans dominated the state House, said Robert Coker, a vice president of U.S. Sugar.
Coker predicts the "mainstreams" will pick up where the Blue Dogs left off.
Chiles' son, Bud Chiles, recently announced his intention to run for governor in 2006, hoping to capitalize on the Blue Dog legacy.
But the offshoot has rankled some rural House members who contend that their truly conservative presence lends an aura of credibility to a group that includes such Democrats as Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, who received an F rating on his voting record by the business community.
"I've had a lot of people say, 'Mainstream, hell,' " said a disgruntled Rep. Dwight Stansel, a Wellborn peanut grower and the last leader of the Blue Dogs. "I tell them you either are or you ain't."
Rep. Will Kendrick, a soft-spoken Southerner with a thick accent, said he too is disappointed, but because the group's platform doesn't embrace all Democratic voters.
"My entire hope of the creation of the Mainstream Democrats was to create a message we could apply to all Democrats," said Kendrick, D-Carrabelle.
Similarly, Florida's top Democrat says the party can't afford to break into factions because it has lost so many statewide and legislative elections.
"If you have a meeting of all the elected Democrats, you could barbecue a hummingbird and have meat left over," Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox said. "Having different caucuses and splitting ourselves up doesn't change the fact that we need to be united as a party."
Sounds like Clinton's DLC all over again?
Just wait until the Democrats start advovating securing our borders. That just might turn a few RINO's.
Best joke I heard all day and I live in Florida!
I've already seen mention that Hitlary will be touting securing borders issue at the top of her list.
But they are trying to give the boot to the leftists, they are going try to pretend and fool the voters that the leftists don't exist.
Hmmmm? WHAT CAN WE SAY TO FOOL THEM TODAY!!
Ask the state senator how he votes - and that will tell you what his politics really are.
Good strategy. Many people will actually believe her.
That is one of my greatest disappointments with W, the border issue. However, there is no way, NO WAY, I would ever vote for Hitllary.
"We thought nobody would believe it," Geller said. "We were wrong." I wonder if it has anything to do with them standing side-by-side with folks who like to kill babies, ignite racial fires, ban any weapon they can, hold violent "peace" protests, and in general act like they would like America destroyed by its enemies?
I confess I too convicted them via guilt-by-association. All they have to do to earn another chance from me is to stop being Democrats.
The other half is easy... quit the Traitorcratic Party and join the GOP.
More Kerry "goose hunting" shows!
They won't change anything but the book cover, it will be the same old crap inside.
Sounds like he's wanting nothing more than a new paint job on the old Chaika.
Good luck to these folks! They can get in touch with the Democrats for Life, and then they can join us in this snow storm. Because that's where they are all gonna be: out in the cold.
"Fiscally conservative" Dems are already RINOs anyway. They support none of the traditionally GOP positions, and they're essentially Libertarians who want socialized medicine.
BTTT
Maybe Hillary will release a country-western album about God, guns and pickup trucks.
The only Blue Dog Dem I take seriously is Zell Miller and these guys are no Zell Miller. I live in the Florida Panhandle and it hard to take any South Florida Democrat seriously.
The Republicans didn't have to start any campaign. When the Democrats started getting their message out, everybody realized that they're a bunch of left-wing wackos!
The Democrats started the campaign that they're liberal. In fact, there's nothing liberal about these people. They're closed-minded, oppressive, controlling, conformist, and the opposite of liberal.
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