North Florida is not especially known as a bastion for Democrats. On Tuesday, Donald Trump held a rally in Panama City, where attendees who were interviewed were more than forgiving about Donald’s latest outrage (in a...well, in a basket full of outrages). Bolding mine:
“He’s running for president, not choir boy,” said Marilee Denton, a retired dental hygienist from Lynn Haven. “He’s a strong man and a businessman who can change things.”
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“I’m glad we could be with all the ‘deplorables,’ ” quipped Panama City business owner Jan Averett, referring to a description of Trump supporters Hillary Clinton used but apologized for later.
Averett, who came to the rally with Denton and another friend, said she was unbothered by the lewd recordings. Trump apologized for the comments but has dismissed them as “locker room talk” and a campaign “distraction.”
“He’s just a man,” she said. “He said things that men say. He professes to be a Christian. He’s probably a fairly new Christian. He makes mistakes. He admitted it. He apologized.”
Among the Trump rally attendees was Republican candidate for Congress and apparent Trump fanboy Neal Dunn:
High-profile speakers at the rally included former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Neal Dunn, the GOP nominee for the 2nd Congressional District.
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Dunn said. “We’re in the fight of our lives here. It’s up to us — regular folks who are fed up. This isn’t the country we grew up in. We want our country back.”
“We want our country back.” Where have we heard that dog whistle before? Back from whom, or what? One look at Dunn’s campaign page mission statement shows that he is a typical Tea Party-type Republican promising the usual bill of goods: “I will work to repeal Obamacare, cut spending, stop illegal immigration, protect the 2nd Amendment, and rebuild our military.”
Source: NationalAtlas.gov; One-Million-Scale project
NOTE: This map may not reflect the current FL-02 boundaries as of 2016. If anyone can find a more current map, please share. :)
Florida’s 2nd Congressional District is solidly conservative. It’s one of Florida’s larger districts, encompassing our state’s capital of Tallahassee and running from Panama City along the coast to south of the “big bend” of North Florida and inland close to Ocala. In the image shown at right, check out how much of the Panhandle this district covers.
FL-02 may be considered a “safe Republican” district, but it has good Democrats. Democrats like Dunn’s opponent, Walt Dartland, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, labor attorney, and consumer advocate who’s served as Deputy Attorney General and Special Counsel for Florida’s 33rd AG, Bob Butterworth. Dartland has the honor of being Miami-Dade’s first County Consumer Advocate; he was also the founder of the Consumer Federation of the Southeast.
When it comes to fighting for consumer rights, environmental protections, and public health, Dartland has a stellar record. Among his many accomplishments, he’s done the following:
- Dartland was the chief architect of Florida’s first Lemon law that requires auto manufacturers to fix or replace chronically defective new cars.
- Dartland stopped a price-fixing scheme by milk producers that stole Florida kids’ lunch money.
- Dartland established an Attorney General’s “Sludge Buster” strike team to protect the environment.
- Dartland stopped a utility company from burning high sulfur fuel to protect public health and the health of Everglades National Park.
- Dartland won an estimated $50 million settlement from an auto manufacturer for owners of rust prone cars.
- Dartland exposed to the Florida Public Service Commission a utility company’s bid-rigging practice that resulted in a PSC order saving consumers $80 million annually.
- Dartland won a first-ever revocation of a water utility franchise because of poor water quality.
- As a board member of the Consumer Federation of America, Dartland worked with Elizabeth Warren to create the Federal Consumer Finance Agency that has returned $11 billion to consumers.
On the issues, Dartland promises to be a strong Democratic fighter. He advocates for ensuring free public education through community college, expanding healthcare access and veterans’ benefits, and working toward a single-payer system, and raising the minimum wage.
A cuddly pooch sleeps and guards the signage
He also supports universal background checks for gun owners and opposes Citizens United. As FL-02’s Congressman, Dartland promises to focus only on the people of Florida; he won’t spend his term raising money for the next campaign or another office.
What was heartening to me is how truly grassroots his supporters are by virtue of their home-crafted campaign signs, which include fellow candidates donating previous campaign signs for Dartland and his supporters to repaint for his 2016 run. Here’s a photo from his campaign’s Facebook page:
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Florida is hungry for new leadership that won’t let us down with the same Tea-Party tactics that have failed Floridians—and needs new leadership that will lift up Floridians, and all Americans, and help us all to live better lives. Florida’s 2nd district needs a leader like Walt Dartland.
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Walt Dartland is a 90for90.org candidate, and also has an ActBlue donation site.
For more information about Walt Dartland, his family, his background, and where he stands on the issues, visit his campaign Web site.
You can also find him on Twitter (@WalterDartland) and Facebook.
