Category Archives: Politics: FL-18

In The Democratic Campaign Against Progressive Democrat Annette Taddeo fearless Matt Stoller puts in writing some stuff that I was hearing at Netroots Nation from some others — but only on condition I not write it down.

So let's look closer at a subtle campaign against Ros-Lehtinen's progressive Democratic opponent, Annette Taddeo. This campaign is designed to get two memes out there, that Taddeo can't win and that Ros-Lehtinen is 'moderate'. The first meme is designed to lock out institutional support from Taddeo, the second to help Ros-Lehtinen portray herself as moderate to voters. The notable thing about this campaign against a progressive Democrat is that it's coming from Democrats in the local establishment and parts of the DC establishment. The rumors of Ros-Lehtinen's strength are allowing groups like EMILY's List to not come in to the race, citing viability questions. To his credit Chris Van Hollen at the DCCC has reserved airtime in FL-18, so there is recognition she can pull this off. And I will have stats soon on EMILY's List support of candidates of color to show why the group should come in for Taddeo.

Ros-Lehtinen is anything but a moderate. She's not even as moderate on GLBT issues as she's often portrayed — even I was surprised to learn that Ros-Lehtinen voted for DOMA, for example. As for the constituent services angle, I think Ros-Lehtinen's competence here benefits enormously from the contrast to the utter incompetence of the neighboring Diaz-Balart brothers, who are reputed to be well below average in this department.

I am not part of the inner circle of anything, so I have no inside knowledge as to what's going on in the campaigns or in the various advocacy groups. But here's one thing I do know: I think that people may be underestimating Taddeo because she's new to all this. As I noted in an earlier post (Annette Taddeo Offical Campaign Launch), her first draft of her basic speech wasn't punchy enough. But when I saw her in action again last week (NN08: Annette Taddeo Is a 'Future Leader'), I thought she was really starting to get it.

And she's still getting better with practice. I have a video I took of a pitch-perfect little talk she gave to some supporters at a reception late in the Netroots Nation convention that I think shows off Taddeo's developing skills. Unfortunately, I took the video with a camera that writes straight to DVD, and I haven't figured out how to trim and convert the video to an internet-friendly format without ruining the sound synchronization.

Anyone able to download and tinker with a 736 MB zip of the DVD files, or the 157 MB MP4 version (you basically need to cut all of it out but the last 10 minutes, without unsynching the sound; or you need a way to re-synch it), please contact me privately. [Update: it's done, thanks. See next post.]

Meanwhile, here's a repeat link to Howie Klein Explains Why Taddeo Will Win, and a handy link to contribute to the Taddeo campaign.

According to a Washington Post blog, The Fix, House Democratic Campaign Arm Broadens TV Buy, the DCC is buying $1.4 million in local ads to boost the chances of Joe Garcia, Raul Martinez, and Annette Taddeo.

This is what comes of overturning the GOP's traditional edge in fundraising. And AFAIK these are genuinely uncoordinated expenditures (as the law requires) because (at least in my presence) le tout of Democratic political South Florida has been on tenterhooks wondering if, when, if, the DCCC would make a local move.

Annette Taddeo was just on a panel at Netroots Nation, being showcased as one of four 'Future Leaders'.

Watching her and her staff work the conference, I've been impressed by the organization and discipline (and advance preparation) of her campaign.

Really, the only thing that worries me about Ms. Taddeo is that left to herself, she comes across as really nice. She's great at showing how deeply she cares about the terrible things that the GOP has been doing to us. And she presents as very smart too. Given her personal history as a successful businessperson, and the well-oiled campaign organization she's building, there's undoubtedly a lot of steel magnolia in there, and I think to win against an entrenched incumbent we may need to see a bit more of it, more consistently. (The problem with Rep. Ros-Lehtinen is more than “a lack of leadership”.)

Interestingly, the sharpness comes up more in the Q&A then when she does her set-pieces. Then she not only presents as well-informed, but can toss off the sharp soundbite.

My favorite was when she was asked if she's helped by having Obama on the ticket. Ms. Taddeo responded that “I'm a non-Cuban Hispanic Jewish American” and suggested that having her on the ticket she helped Obama with turnout in key groups too — in a region where he has to win big if he wants to carry the state of Florida. “I can be really helpful to Obama, and wish that some of the donors would see that and be helpful to me.”

Another great zinger was when Ms. Taddeo noted that her opponent voted for DOMA (the so-called 'Defense of Marriage Act') which prevents the federal government from recognizing a state's gay marriage, or from allowing gay couples to enjoy married couple's benefits such as in social security. Voters in Florida think their representative supports gay rights, Taddeo said, but in fact she doesn't.

And it got better — Taddeo noted that her opponent spoke eloquently against torture when it was done to Cubans but accepts it now. And then better – Taddeo did a great riff on how Ros-Lehtinen loves to try to look like a Democrat and — now that she has a real opponent — has even been forced to vote with Democrats a couple times.

I came away thinking, “You know, she's getting good at this.”

PS. The other three candidates on the panel were genuinely impressive too, but I especially liked Jim Himes from CT-04, who I hadn't seen before.

DownWithTyranny!: Another Exceptional Candidate Debbie Wasserman Schultz Is Trying To Undermine In Florida— Meet Annette Taddeo sets out the case for Democrat Annette Taddeo's upcoming victory in the Congressional district where I live:

FL-18 is the most Democratic leaning (PVI- R +4) of the three districts and Annette's campaign is both well-organized and well-funded. Last year two state assembly seats in the district flipped from Republican top Democratic, a far better predictor than Wasserman Schultz' propaganda barrage on behalf of Ileana Ros Lehtinen. And FL-18 gave over 56% of it's vote to Senator Bill Nelson in 2006. Bush won there in 2004 with 54%— as opposed to 57% in Lincoln Diaz-Balart's 21st CD (PVI- R+6) and to 56% in Mario Diaz-Balart's 25th CD (PVI- R+4). While the Diaz-Balarts pretty much acknowledge they are right-wing extremists and just count on tired anti-Castro rhetoric to get them elected over and over, Ros-Lehtinen though voting almost exactly the way the Diaz-Balarts vote (for the war, for illegal wiretaps, against children's health care, for tax breaks for the rich, etc), tries to paint it over with a thin veneer of being a “moderate.” She isn't. Since October 10, 2002 she has participated in 63 votes regarding the war in Iraq. She voted the straight Bush-Cheney line 62 times and voted “against” them when the House decided to transform a grant into a loan. But when it comes to supporting our troops with health care or sufficient armor and pay increases, she voted against the troops each and every time— 22 votes against the troops, zero votes for the troops. The fake moderate voted the exact same way on aid to veterans: 23 times against the vets, zero times for the vets. Does this sound “moderate?” Ileana Ros-Lehtinen opposes a woman's right to choice, even in the case of rape and/or incest. She isn't a moderate and she isn't an independent. She's no less extreme than the Diaz-Balarts— and that is extreme.

Recent polling by Lake Research, the most respected Beltway polling firm, shows a very different story from the one Wasserman Schultz has been surreptitiously pushing out to the media. Although Annette is just starting to get known to most of the district, the poll shows she is already “positioned for a strong general election contest against [the] incumbent… After hearing a mix of positive and negative on both women, Taddeo pulls into a narrow lead over Ros-Lehtinen: 44% for Taddeo to 42% for Ros-Lehtinen.”

Personally, I think Taddeo can do it — but she'll need to go more negative against Ros-Lehtinen than has so far been her taste. Goodness knows there's so much to be negative about…

As for what Klein has to say about Wasserman-Schultz's continued failure to support our candidate, I'm very sorry to read that she hasn't learned her lesson from last time (see Wasserman Schultz Deserves Her Bad Publicity). So here's my message to Rep. Wasserman-Schultz: Let's get Taddeo on the “Red to Blue” list ASAP.

And don't think we won't remember this when you run for state office.

Is there any other way to interpret this other than that Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is suddenly worried about her re-election prospects?

Ros-Lehtinen: I'm no Bush 'rubber stamp': Out of the blue, Ros-Lehtinen's office Tuesday shot out two press releases: list of domestic initiatives where Ros-Lehtinen has broken with the current administration and “list of foreign policy initiatives where Ros-Lehtinen has broken with the current administration.”

Her office said it was interested in debunking any perception that the generally reliably Republican is a rubber stamp for President Bush.

This is pretty funny: Where on earth could anyone have gotten that idea? Perhaps it's all the statements of support she's made for Bush over the years.

Something, someone, has her worried.

Is it Bush's tanking popularity?

Or is the Annette Taddeo campaign getting some traction?

As far as I'm aware, other than on issues relating to gays and lesbians (who form an important voting block in Florida's 18th Congressional District), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has been a pretty reliable Bush vote on everything that matters: the Iraq war, FISA, health care, you name it.

A spokeswoman for Annette Taddeo, Ros-Lehtinen's Democratic challenger, said Ros-Lehtinen had voted “85 percent of the time for her boss, George Bush.

''Her decision to release the 15 percent of the bills where she did not vote with George Bush is a clear indication of the fact she understands she is disconnected with the needs of the people of the district,'' said spokeswoman Anastasia Apa.

Indeed, if you think about it, if all you have to boast about is that about one time out of seven you don't vote with Bush, that's not a whole lot to boast about, is it?

Let's hope for more great press releases like those.

Under the headline Debating chickens, Eye on Ileana brings us this great photo of Annette Taddeo debating an empty chair:

Looks like someone is hiding from the voters….