Recently I posted a piece wondering how we could make redistricting reform sexy in Florida. Republican senator Mel Martinez’s bombshell announcement of not running for re-election in 2010 has given me an idea.
I’ve been pushing CFO Alex Sink as a potential senate candidate and spokesperson for getting voter initiatives passed that would add two short state constitutional amendments addressing redistricting reform. (see FairDistrictsFlorida.org for more info). But, after thinking about it I’m changing my mind and want to suggest something bold.
In 2010 I would like Congressman Kendrick Meek (FL-17) to run for the vacated senate seat, hopefully against Jeb Bush. And, I would also like Tallahassee Mayor John Marks to run for governor against Charlie Crist.
Both are African-Americans and would be able to build on the foundation that President-elect Obama laid down in winning Florida . Both together running for statewide office in the same year would generate way more than twice as much interest as either running alone. The synergy would be enormous.
The first thing that needs to happen is for Rep. Meek to hire Steve Schale, Obama’s Florida campaign manager. Meek is young and tech savvy. He would fit right in to the Obama fundraising and youth outreach model. The volunteer network could be easily fired up to serve this dynamic duo.
He even made a funny YouTube video during the 2006 congressional elections:
I’ve mentioned the idea of Mayor Marks running for governor before. Alone he would be a long shot against ever popular Charlie. But with Rep. Meek running for senate and the state Democrats fired up to take on one of the evil Bush Boys things would definitely get interesting.
Mayor Marks serves on the Tallahassee city commission with Allan Katz, a DNC heavyweight and an early supporter of Obama (through the lobbying of another commission member, FAMU graduate Andrew Gillum. BTW, Meek is a FAMU alum). Marks has enough bona fides to be qualified for the job and enough connections to be able to raise the cash. We don’t even want to talk about Meek’s ability in that department.
Meek has already made a statewide name for himself by sponsoring the 2002 class size amendment. From his congressional web site:
In 2002, Congressman Meek launched an initiative to reduce class sizes in Florida ’s overcrowded public schools. As Chairman of Florida’s Coalition to Reduce Class Size, Congressman Meek spearheaded a petition drive that collected more than 500,000 signatures. He guided the amendment through two opposition efforts in the Florida Supreme Court, as well as a well-funded campaign of scare tactics designed to kill it at the ballot box. In the end, the 2.5 million Florida citizens voted for the measure and it was approved.
Because of this fortuitous history, Marks and Meek can use the redistricting reform amendments as part of their Democratic joint approach of "Taking Back Democracy" from the corporate interests and big banks that have ruined our economy. It can be both an organizing tool and a statement of post-partisan solidarity with President-elect Obama’s desire to emphasize good government solutions instead of bickering.
Crist may talk about having state government working for the the people, but this pair is actually going to put the structures in place to make it happen!
And since they are both African-American they can address the whole majority-minority district issue while they are at it. This was the Trojan Horse that Republicans used to gain support for their original redistricting plan when they took over the state house.
Part of the spiel can be that it is time to stop the process where Republicans crowd minorities into electoral ghettos and then throw them a bone. It’s time for minority voters to fully participate in the governmental process as equals.
Why do I want Meek to run against Jeb Bush? Many consider him unbeatable. Consider this comment:
Mac Stipanovich, a lobbyist and Bush ally on a Bush candidacy: "I can’t imagine anybody in the Democratic Party who he wouldn’t club like a baby seal."
But I think people seem to be forgetting that the main reason that Obama crushed John McCain was the Economic Meltdown. Remember a little something called Lehman Brothers?
Why don’t we look into the recent Florida history books and see what we can find:
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- It was the first day of November and Coleman Stipanovich's world was coming undone. Florida school districts and towns had begun pulling their cash out of the $26 billion money market fund he supervised, after they learned it held subprime-tainted debt.
Stipanovich, who earned $180,214 in 2006 as executive director of the State Board of Administration, was in New York in confidential meetings with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the largest U.S. underwriter of mortgage-backed bonds. Lehman was proposing ways to help the state manage the risk of its debt investments, according to a letter the bank sent to Stipanovich after the meeting.
What Stipanovich, 58, hadn't told his boss, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, was that Lehman Brothers was the same firm that had sold the state fund $842 million of mortgage- backed debt in July and August. Those securities defaulted within four months, and totaled more failing debt than any other bank sold the state, Florida records show. ``At the time, I never knew it was Lehman Brothers that actually sold us these investments,'' Sink says.
Sink also was unaware that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who incorporated Jeb Bush & Associates in February 2007, a month after completing his second term, had been hired as a consultant to Lehman Brothers in June.
Whoa! What was that again? Jeb Bush worked for Lehman Brothers? That’s right. I sure would love to see him defend that one.
But it gets better. The article continues:
Stipanovich resigned on Dec. 4. He declined to comment.
Florida CFO Sink is riled up about more than Stipanovich. She says JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Lehman Brothers were offloading tainted debt on Florida and other states at a time when those assets were plummeting in value.
snip
"Lehman and the other big players in the market decided they didn't like this stuff in their own accounts," Sink says. "Where did they drop it and who did they dump it to? It looks questionable to me."
And of course I’m sure you noticed the similarity of the name of the man in charge of the fund and the person I quoted about the seal clubbing. Let me spell it out for you with another bit from Bloomberg:
Stipanovich, whose brother J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich is a Tallahassee lobbyist and Republican strategist who ran former Governor Jeb Bush's campaign for governor in 1994, was appointed executive director of the state board in 2002.
Sounds mighty cozy to me.
And the article that quoted "Mac" on Jeb’s chances at winning Martinez ’s seat also happened to broach the subject with Steve Schale:
Steven Schale, Barack Obama’s Florida campaign manager on a Bush candidacy: "There are a lot of people who are going to look back at the Jeb Bush record and say, ‘Look where it left us."
That’s right, we sure are. I mean, Jebbie, your brother was only stupid. He just let things happen. Hell, you’re smart, you made it happen for Florida. You tanked our investment portfolio and then took a cushy job in exchange for selling out Florida taxpayers!
With Schale in charge of Meek’s campaign it would be a joy to participate in a seal clubbing. But I can guarantee you it wouldn’t be Kendrick screaming. I mean, I didn’t even get into the privatization fiascos.
So there’s my bold plan for spicing up redistricting reform. Do you think you can get behind it?
Cross Posted From FlaPolitics.com