Category Archives: Politics: FL-18

Lots going on on the local political scene.

FL-18

• Ileana Rushes Recycled Ad Into Rotation … which may be connected to …

• Miami Herald, Naked Politics, Ros-Lehtinen's haircut makes the cut

• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen defended her support for privatizing Social Security at a recent candidate's forum. (See Rivals spar at only meeting.) Imagine if your social security — or even only half of it as Ros-Lehtinen has proposed — were in today's stock market.

• Annette Taddeo points out that Ros-Lehtinen Took $939,044 in campaign contributions from financial, real estate, and other special interests.

• Ros Lehtinen won't debate Annette Taddeo — their only joint appearance was that candidates' forum — where they told her all the questions in advance.

• Good Taddeo spot:

• The latest poll shows Taddeo improving, but with a long way to go. The Telemundo 51 poll shows Taddeo behind 48-35, 13 points down, with 17 percent of the voters undecided. In June, a Bendixen poll had Ros-Lehtinen leading by 27 points. Taddeo is leading among independent voters 39% to 36%, with 25% still undecided.

• Usually, I'd say a gap like that was too much, five weeks before the election. But given the state of the economy, the fact that IR-L remains under the 50%+ that spells safe incumbent, I think there's still everything to play for. And that social security comment ought to bother people here. (Who in their right mind wants social security in this stock market?)

• And here's an old video — from March. Even then, Taddeo was pretty good. And she's better now.
  

FL – 25

• Joe Garcia creates a web site to celebrate GW Bush's stealth visit to the area. The website is called Bush-Balart

• Polls are looking better and better for Joe Garcia.

FL – 21

• Dems attack Diaz-Balart, look to tie him to indicted PR pol (it's Raul's Diaz-Balart, not Joe's). Cf. LINCON DIAZ BALART ACUSADO POR SENADOR EN PUERTO RICO DE RECIVIR MALETIN CON DINERO

• I hear Raul Martinez's polls look even better than Joe Garcia's…

I've said for some time that Annette Taddeo needs to go negative to win — not easy for a woman running against an incumbent with personal popularity that mask horrible policies, but necessary to expose the incumbent for what she is.

I'm delighted to say, it's starting, and well. Here's Taddeo's second TV ad:

I like it!

There's also a Spanish version, Dos Gotas, that might be even better.

Illeana changed her vote to support the Wall Street Bailout. That won't be popular. But in an odd way it makes me happy because I was uncomfortable agreeing with something she'd done. Now things are normal again: she's a disaster for our district.

Strong account of what must have been a great event by John Hood in the insurgent SunPost, Congressional Candidates Joe Garcia, Raul Martinez and Annette Taddeo Blast It for the Gray Panthers:

… Annette Taddeo, Raul Martinez and Joe Garcia, who are vying to represent what’s surely the majority of our peninsula’s tip: Taddeo and District 18, which stretches from Miami-Dade’s southern suburbs all the way to the Keys; Martinez and District 21, which includes his beloved Hialeah; and Garcia and District 25, which comprises much of Miami-Dade, as well as the entire Everglades.

If they were a band, this three-piece would sell out arenas, so it’s no surprise that on this day the turnout was just about standing room only. Each candidate is running on issues very near and dear to the Gray Panthers’ hearts, as well as their wallets — health care, prescription drug costs, housing — and each came out blasting the incumbents for a reckless disregard of the people and their needs.

Naturally, their opponents weren’t on hand to answer back, despite being repeatedly offered a chance to do so. According to Gray Panthers Miami-Dade Chapter board member and event organizer Jack Topel, today’s proceedings were “originally slated to be a debate, but there were scheduling conflicts, so we decided on forums. The Republicans — for whom we’ve set aside Oct. 18th — still haven’t replied.”

Too bad too, ’cause if they had, they would’ve met a gaggle of good folk consistently committed to cause. Then again, neither Ileana Ros-Lehtinen nor the Diaz-Balart brothers, Lincoln and Mario, has thus far accepted an invitation to debate anyone, unless you count Lincoln’s acceptance of an invitation from CBS, which was never even extended in the first place.

No matter, the Democrats showed and they showed strong. Joltin’ Joe Garcia, the natural who, given a podium, could command a crowd for days, opened the proceedings with a vow to take that which Mario had gerrymandered into being, and turn it into something representing a district, rather than a fiefdom. Taddeo, as determined as she is poised and informed, followed up by lambasting Ros-Lehtinen for, among other things, rubber-stamping Bush’s efforts to end the S-CHIP program. And then Martinez, who in person seems like the kinda man you’d want to take in a ball game with, concluded by warning everyone to be on the lookout for an element of fear to be injected into the coming election, adding a crack about the newfound respect hoisted upon former mayors since a certain someone was given the VP nod, even though he has represented condos with a larger population than the entire city of Wasilla.

The Miami Herald reports that Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's campaign e-mail to Dade teachers draws ire. Imagine being so clueless as to think spamming people wouldn't bother them!

Meanwhile Daily Kos bring us some poll numbers that remind us of the strong position Ros-Lehtinen starts in (53-36, the usual margin in the past when running against weaker opponents) before the Taddeo campaign takes to the airwaves. Indeed, as South Florida seats go, this is one of the safer ones — but no one is safe this year.

I'm waiting for Taddeo to go negative; if and when that happens, I think this race will get much more fluid. After all, there's so much to be negative about.

Annette Taddeo is on TV with here first ad, YouTube – New Beginning

There's also a spanish version.

Maybe it was the grass roots organizing and public support demonstrated when Annette Taddeo won the recent Act Blue fundraising contest.

Maybe it was the drumbeat of criticism of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz for failing to step up to the plate.

Maybe it was the embarrassment of failing to support the only Latina challenger for a federal race in the entire country.

Maybe it was that South Florida Democrats kept reminding the DCCC just how bad Ileana Ros-Lehtinen really is.

Maybe it was when Ileana Ros-Lehtinen emerged as a leading cheerleader for Gov. Sarah Palin — a job many other leading Republican women declined.

But whatever it was, the dam has burst, and (at least according to DCCC head honcho Chris Van Hollen, as quoted in the Politico) the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has added Annette Taddeo (FL-18) to its elite list of Red to Blue candidates. As the DCCC puts it,

The Red to Blue program highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, and strategic support. These candidates earned a spot in the program by surpassing demanding fundraising goals and skillfully demonstrating to voters that they stand for change and will represent new priorities when elected to Congress.

This is a very important step for establishing the Taddeo campaign as one with real prospects of winning, and should provided welcome access to wallets in Florida and nationally.