Hi everybody. This is my first time writing a diary anywhere. You know how people call into the radio station saying "I'm a first time caller and long time listener"? That's me.
I live in Central Florida. Grew up in Miami and moved to the Daytona Beach area in 1993. Most of you who've seen my comments probably realize that I mostly submit comments regarding Florida Politics. I usually comment on SemDem's blogs (good blogs, dude) and others.
Anyways, follow me after the jump to find out why I'm finally moved to write a diary. I promise it won't be long.
Like my title says, What's up with our Florida Dems??? They either seem to not want to have democrats representing them or just can't seem to get really good candidates to run for statewide and federal office. For example, There has been a number of diaries discussing the Senate race with Crist, Rubio and Meek. Shouldn't the choice be clear that all dems should be voting for Meek? I tend to think so. However, this is what I saw in the Orlando Sentinel this morning.
Fifty-five percent of his supporters are Democrats, and he is attracting 19 percent of the African-American vote. That would be impressive if Meek's name recognition were pushing 90 percent.
Granted the overall population of Florida doesn't know who Meek is and the article goes on to say that Crist's numbers may fall as more dems get to know Meek. But, that is still tenuous given Florida's voting record. Daily, I see letters written to the editor in the local papers from dems stating that they plan to vote for Crist in November. What's up with that???
Also, why can't we get some candidates that have a realistic chance to win the governorship? Four years ago, we had a guy named Davis. No one heard of him before the race and no one's heard from him since. Now we have Alex Sink (No, it's not a guy. Her name must be Alexandra, I guess. See what I mean by name recognition?). Not only is she not known by the general public (Only state employees recognize her name because she signs their checks every 2 weeks), she can't seem to get away from making herself look bad in the few chances she gets to introduce herself to large audiences. Check this out again from the Orlando Sentinel.
Florida CFO and gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink was the guest speaker at University of Central Florida's graduation ceremony this afternoon – a major event in the lives of the thousands who packed the UCF Arena... She was interrupted with loud boos and groans when she accidentally referred to UCF as USF in her speech -- at least twice. That's USF, as in University of South Florida, in Tampa.
You see, this could really be funny if she was well known and well liked by the population in general. But she's not. Mistakes like these can hurt alot. I was listening to a local radio station talking about this yesterday (The Philips Phile on 104.1, for those of you who live in the area). The weren't very sympathetic to her mistake (They're liberal, mind you). In fact one of the members summed up her appearance in two words "Governor McCullum". That sucks, but it may be true.
Are we in Florida ready to continue to to be stuck in the bottom wrung of the states when it comes to education, jobs, and healthcare??? I'm a healthcare professional with small children and I don't like what I'm seeing. Hopefully, this can turn around before November. But then again, this IS Florida. So, I ask again, What's Up With That???