What would the Florida Democratic Party have to do before voters would have a clearer idea what they stood for?
CROSS POSTED FROM FLAPOLITICS.COM
In 2006 the FDP picked up a few seats in the state legislature and two in Congress. But People weren't voting FOR Democrats, they were voting AGAINST Bush Republicans. If you asked the average voter what Democrats stood FOR, they'd draw a blank.
In 2008 the Democrats saw an enormous turnout which won the staTe in tHE presidential contest. But it was not because of the Democratic Brand. It was because of the very unique and special OBAMA Brand. This is why there wasn't much of a "coattails effect." All of those new voters were only there for one thing.
So what's going to happen in 2010?
Well, there isn't going to be an OBAMA Brand working its magic, it's an off-year election. The national Republicans are out of power, so that's not going to draw people.
And here in the state we have the ever popular Republican political superhero Governor Suntan, so the Democrats can't run against him.
What can they do to create an actual Brand, that is, a motivating factor to focus vote attention and create a feeling of loyalty?
Let's think about it. When was the last time that Florida Democrats could claim a brand?
We'd probably have to go back to the time of Gov. Reuben Askew. When people think of Askew and his successor Bob Graham the Brand concept that comes to mind is "good government by decent people."
You know what? That's a nice Brand. Is it possible for the FDP to reclaim it?
When we look at the shenanigans of dinosaurs like Mitch Caesar in South Florida, or the pay-for-play problems of Lois Frankel, or the corruption rumors about Raul Martinez, it doesn't look like there's much hope.
But then there's Manny Diaz. And Alex Sink. And doesn't Dave Aronberg have possibilities? Not to mention my own recently term limited state house representative and brand new state senate candidate Loranne Ausley.
Yes, it's still possible to dream of "Good government by decent people."
One of the best ways to start creating this brand is for every Democratic politician and candidate to either talk about or feature in their campaign the drive to get the Redistricting Reform amendments on the 2010 ballot. (Go to FairDistrictsFlorida.org for more info and to download petitions.)
The door knocking, face to face work of getting these petitions signed, along with the continued registration of new voters (think high school graduations) need to be the ABSOLUTE FIRST PRIORITY of the FDP for the rest of the year.
If every precinct captain in every County DEC gathers volunteers (hey, maybe you can hook up with a local OFA group) and then organizes house parties and walks thru their neighborhood promoting this non-partisan good government idea, we will go a LONG way toward establishing a NEW POSITIVE BRAND for the FDP.
This is the way we build the foundation for success in the elections of 2010. But, more importantly, this is how we actually GET good government by decent people.