T U R N I N G F L O R I D A B L U E
THE FLORIDA NETROOTS HAS ARRIVED!
The Florida Netroots Community is proud to announce the
first issue of our on-line magazine about Florida Politics.
Learn what is being done to assure that Florida’s 27 electoral votes will be in the "D" column come 2008. That’s right, we’re going to put your choice for President in the White House!
Come find out how we’re going to do it, and what you can do to help.
CRASHING THE GATE IN FLORIDA!
Yes, that’s the title of our first issue. And we begin with an epigraph from Kos’ and Armstrong’s book.
"Some of you in the Democratic National Committee may see us as the barbarians at the gate. Some of us see ourselves as the cavalry. The truth is, we’re fresh horses."
--Activist Miles Kurland, January 2005
As befits this sentiment we’re going to start off with three posts that reflect the tensions that exist here in Florida between grassroots organizers and the Florida Democratic Party (FDP).
How do soldiers in the trenches view the actions of the general in charge? Seldom favorably. Resentments invariably build up and sometimes come bursting out. This righteous rant from kansasr eloquently expresses the desire to push harder for victory and not be content with sitting on our laurels.
Open Letter to the Florida Democratic Party
Ray Seaman, who posts on Daily Kos as MarionCountyDemocrat, was inspired by kansasr’s effort to post his own open letter on our state political blog FLAPolitics.com. Ray hasn’t been blogging much in the past year because he has been busy working on political campaigns and helping his father, who was recently elected head of the Marion County Democratic Executive Committee (DEC), organize precincts. Ray is to be commended for his commitment to political action. His open letter is tempered by his personal knowledge of the FDP "general", Karen Thurman, but he has several specific suggestions for changes.
Another Open Letter to the FDP
To close out this section we have a letter written by former Congresswoman Karen Thurman, the Chair of the Florida Democratic Party. The letter was sent out to party members to update everyone on the gains made in 2006 and to announce changes that she is instituting in a continued effort to create a strong organization capable of winning in 2008. Congresswoman Thurman agreed to having a staff member post the letter here on Daily Kos in an acknowledgement of the growing importance of the netroots in Florida. It does contain an unfortunate reference to "naysayers", but it also addresses many of the points raised in the two open letters. The Florida Kossacks are confident that in the ensuing two years we will find a way to productively work together towards victory.
Florida Made Gains in '06, Get Ready for More in '08
Now, after all that necessary heavy discussion, let’s turn to a tale of fun and frolic.
DKos’ own thefos is, in her words, "wicked smart". I would also add uproariously funny. Following is the story of a midnight ride by our inimitable activist and her intrepid associates to make the electoral landscape safe for Democratic yard signs before the big election. Be forewarned, it’s a gripping tale of intrigue, danger lurking in the dark, sightings of strange beasts, and the ultimate ignominy, greasy palms, yecchh! And just to let you know, thefos, is a blogger with a big heart, being the loving mother of five children ("all of whom will be able to vote in 2008!").
Shur fine: Florida Friendly Fire
Speaking of presidential elections, our next piece addresses a contentious issue here in Florida that could end up having a big effect on the entire process. The Florida Legislature is considering moving its primary to right after New Hampshire’s. SemDem, who is from the reddish-purple Seminole County in the I-4 corridor center of the state, gives his take on the proposal in
NEW BILL: Florida's Primary NEEDS 2 B January 2008!
"I hope all Florida Kossacks will get in the game and help get this excellent idea off
and running. More than that, I hope this effort will inspire Florida Kossacks to get
away from the keyboard and get active in their communities."
-The Big Man Himself, GatorDem, discussing Turning Florida Blue
An issue that is getting bigger all the time here in Florida is affordable housing. In some counties, like Palm Beach, it is close to a crisis. This next piece is written by doorguy, the director of Florida Workforce Housing Network an organization that is an independent netroots project to support quality affordable housing for Florida's workforce families. This diarist’s knowledge of the topic is encyclopedic, but here he focuses on members of the Florida legislature that are key people in addressing this vexing problem. Oh, in case you might just happen to want to email any of these folks after reading the piece, doorguy includes links.
Fla. Legislature's Workgroup on Affordable Housing: Which Ones Are Hero Material?
As soon as I finished reading the next piece I immediately emailed the author, "I want to use your diary . . . It is perfect!" In a later email I explained "It has a catchy title, the piece has a narrative arc . . . , it has a nice photo, it has the ‘joes steven’ bit which is cute and allows everyone to go ‘isn’t that sweet’, . . . and it has the kicker at the end . . ." What is so startling is that this is the only diary the author, joes steven, has posted! We definitely need to encourage him not to become a one-trick pony and to continue giving us updates on his experiences. Without further ado I present
What DKos Turned Me Into!
And we close with a piece by your editor Tally. I have been amazed at how much I’ve learned at Daily Kos in the two and half months I’ve been blogging here. One of the concepts I have come to embrace is Big Tent Democrat’s negative branding. The following diary concerns using that idea to allow Florida progressives to politically position ourselves so as to be most effective come November 2008. I leave you with
The Party On Our Side
If you like what we’re doing, hit the Recommend button. And we thank you.
If you’d like to join our efforts please email us at floridanetroots (AT) yahoo (DOT) com.
In the past we’ve been asking for Florida residents, but when looking at all we want to do we have come to realize that we could use the research help of others. So, if you live in a blue state but would still like to contribute to the Florida netroots effort coming up to 2008, let us know.
If you would just like to be on a mailing list to be notified when a new issue is to be posted along with other political action events in Florida like the Florida Mainstream Democrats' convention Feb 9 and 10 or the DFA Training in Tampa on June 30 and July1 then just click this link and sign up.
Our foundational document: Turning Florida Blue – Come Join Us!
Plus, how we're going to do it: The Plan
Good Florida news aggregators and resources: Sayfie Review and The Fort Report.
The website of the Florida Democratic Party.
Our state political blog FLA Politics.
Meowmissy's FloridaNetroots Yahoo Group
A staffer from the Florida Democratic Party posted a comment on my original TFB diary saying the Party wanted to be kept up to date on what bloggers are doing and left this email address: grassroots@fladems.com. Everyone who posts a dkos diary on Florida politics should send them an email with a link and request that the Party post links to the pieces they like on their website. You can also do the same with news articles like this one.
One final item. There is a special election going on for Florida State House District 3. The primary is February 6 and the general election February 27. Here is a link to a piece I did at FLA Politics explaining why this is important. As a member of my local Democratic Party I can't publicly endorse a candidate in a primary. Here are links to more information about the two Democrats in the race in case you would like to check them out for yourself.
Liz Campbell and John Wyche