First Steps
That’s the title of our second issue and signifies our understanding that we have a lot of work ahead of us. But, hey, we’re up to the task.
We’ve gained some invaluable experience in the past month, trying out different forms of connecting and coordinating and seem to be settling down to a system that works for now.
We’ve made good contacts with the state party and with legislators, and the mainstream media is beginning to notice us. All systems are definitely GO!
We’re going to start right off with the big stuff. Progressive America is certainly one of the rising stars of the Florida blogosphere. He’s a student at the University of Miami majoring in Microbiology and Political Science. Just by coincidence, he had started his own blog last year with the name Turn Florida Blue (those college students are into the Categorical Imperative). So he hopped right on board when the call for contributors went out.
His piece lays the groundwork for one of the elements of our master plan, collecting and publicizing voting records of Florida congressional Republicans so that we can defeat them in 2008. Here he identifies all of the incumbents involved and handicaps the odds for beating them. It’s all laid out right here in
Florida US House Pickup Opportunities: 2008 Election
And to follow that heavy hitter we’re going to go to probably the biggest issue Democrats must face if we don’t want to spend another decade or two wallowing in irrelevance here in Florida. Yep, you guessed it, redistricting.
Corwin, a Gainesville resident, (you remember them, they win all the national championships), starts his diary by claiming amateur status on the issue. But he’s done a nice job of laying out the basics and then providing a clear guide as to what steps we need to take to remedy the situation. And no, it’s not just defeat all the stinking Republican state legislators at the polls! (Though we’re going to do that, too.)
Congressional Redistricting and Gerrymandering
There were several diaries on this next subject (even kos mentioned it) and it’s an ongoing issue. Meowmissy (see below), has a whole series on election reform in Florida and could put out an on-line magazine just using her own content. Check it out if you’re interested.
Gov. Crist has proposed a budget that contains funds to buy new voting machines that include an auditable paper record of votes casts. Of course, none of us have ANY idea why that would be an issue here in Florida, land of the disappearing touch screen vote and imposter Republican congressman.
Limelite is a resident of South Miami-Dade County (it was one of the first to consolidate, which is why it has that name). She always provides thoughtful diaries on interesting subjects. (And don’t miss her series on the Miami Book Fair International). This one is called
Gov. Crist (R)-FL Wants Paper-Trail Voting
I couldn't resist sneaking in this last minute link to today's B.C. cartoon.
And since I was crazy enough to post this right in the middle of the Super Bowl, I also had to include Super Bowl Mania Stimulates Reflection; Election Reform by Boca Raton resident Bcgntn.
We all rejoiced in the exquisite photo diaries of the massive anti-war rally in Washington last weekend. But that was just the biggest. Smaller demonstrations occurred around the country. One of those was in Sarasota, home of the voting debacle that kept the duly elected Christine Jennings from taking office.
Boofdah, one of our resident dkosoholics, took time out from her seemingly 24/7 coverage of all things Daily Kos to travel down to Sarasota from the Tampa Bay area and bring back a wonderful photo record (not recommended for dial-up) of the demonstration that occurred there. This diary appeared on the Front Page of our state political blog, FLA Politics. And if you feel like chanting a few slogans while perusing the marchers, go right ahead.
In today's DC protest "Diaspora"? Post your pics here!
In recruiting diaries for this ezine I often try to get people to do human interest stories. When this next author wrote me I was intrigued when she described herself as "a huge Democrat with a Broward County chad-counter mother who was extremely involved in the Clinton campaign." I asked the author, known on DKos as creepers, if she would write about her mother. She said she thought she could handle that.
Actually, it was a piece a cake. Creepers is also Sunny from the wonderful blog Smashed Frog. If you checked out the Koufax awards this year you know Sunny’s blog was nominated for Best Writing. So, sit back and enjoy the artistic elegance of
Once a Deaniac, Always a Deaniac
In our first issue, Crashing the Gate, we included a letter from Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Congresswoman Karen Thurman, as a response to two somewhat critical Open Letters to the FDP. Soliciting the letter brought us to the attention of the FDP staff. They know we’re here now and are willing to join together to beat the Republicans in 2008. FDP staff posted the next diary to keep everyone up to date on what’s going on. If anyone attends one of the field trainings listed on it, I hope s/he comes back and publishes a diary on the experience.
2007 FDP Calendar of Events
This next selection might be considered a little unorthodox. It’s not a blog entry, but was inspired by one. In reviewing diaries with the Florida tag for this edition I came across the Progressive Democrat Newsletter Issue 106 by mole333. I wondered what that had to do with the Sunshine State.
It turned out to be an on-line newsletter with links to various content from around the US. The one called Florida Focus was a copy of two press releases from our newly elected Democratic Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. I kept following the links until I ended up on
The home web page of the Florida Department of Financial Services
If you click over on the left hand column where it says News and Media and then Press Releases you will find the 1/24/07 and 1/26/07 entries that mole333 appropriated. It was then I figured, "What the heck, why not plug our future hope for a Florida Democratic governor."
If you want to check her out, visit the site and browse around for a while. Read her bio, get an idea of what she does. I know you’ll like what you find. And don’t worry, you’ll be hearing a lot more about her.
Now that we know what happens after you get elected to the Florida cabinet, let’s take a look at another branch of state government, the legislature. I already mentioned how prolific meowmissy has become. But, she’s doing more than just typing. In Issue 1 I stuck a big quote from GatorDem in the middle of it. It said he wished this endeavor would help Florida Kossacks get away from their keyboards and get out into their communities.
Well, meowmissy was way ahead of him. She’s the captain of the local John Edwards OneCorps group and this diary chronicles her first visit to her county’s Democratic Executive Committee (DEC) meeting. The speaker was a state senator and another rising star in the state party.
In a piece I did over on FLA Politics I was pontificating (as usual) about emailing legislators and said "You are unlikely to get a response from a legislator if you are not in their district, and even then, it might only be a form response, especially during session."
Well, in the comments section to that piece MM showed me a thing or two. She casually mentioned that "Oh, almost forgot, I got an email from Dave . . ."
this is great! thanks for posting this on the daily kos! i think that's my first mention on this important blog, so thank you very much! . . . dave
[Goodness! A first name basis no less!]
Find out more about "Dave" in
FloridaKos: State Senator Dave Aronberg Speaks
All of us in Florida have been trying to figure out what to make of our new governor Charlie Crist. At first it seemed like we might have lucked out and got a RINO who would govern in a way we could not only live with but actually embrace. His populist initiatives also seemed like a perfect way to isolate the right wing Republicans in the minds of the general public, thereby making victory easier in 2008, where we would still be running against George Bush and his legacy of failure and intransigence. But, politics is never that easy. Find out about our new governor’s true nature in
Sandbagged By Charlie
If you’ve watched the news this weekend you saw the devastation that occurred in Central Florida Friday from a terrible storm and its associated tornadoes. Edrie, our last diarist, tracked the damage live here at Dkos. I asked the author to share a little about herself and how she got involved:
i was born in north carolina, although i spent most of my life in new york city as a costume designer before moving to california in 1993. in the course of designing for the ballet, i was privileged to do costumes for several companies in florida and joined dennis wayne's dancers on tour with another set of designs.
i fell in love with florida and have considered retiring to the central florida area - which is beautiful horse country. i travelled through florida again in the mid eighties when i spent time photographing the first mercedes-benz horse show in tampa. seeing the devestation today broke my heart - and i could not help but wonder if the good people of central florida would suffer the neglect of those in the gulf states after katrina.
the tragedy is compounded since this is an area where so many people have chosen to retire and live the rest of their lives - in this economy, how will they rebuild - how can they recover if our government isn't there to help.
Issue 1 had a link that went to a newspaper piece saying that moving Florida’s primary up would force politicians to start thinking about National Disaster Insurance. That’s why I decided to include this post. It’s an example of how politics, life, and typing at a keyboard can all interact in interesting and fascinating ways.
Links to charities are included, and if you’re wondering about the author’s no caps style, she explains in the comments that she has arthritis.
your response needed - tragedy unfolding in florida now
If you like what we’re doing, hit the Recommend button. And we thank you.
If you’d like to join our efforts please email us at floridanetroots (AT) yahoo (DOT) com or sign up for our FloridaNetroots Yahoo Group.
In the past we’ve been asking for Florida residents, but when looking at all we want to do we have come to realize that we could use the research help of others. So, if you live in a blue state but would still like to contribute to the Florida netroots effort coming up to 2008, let us know.
Our foundational document: Turning Florida Blue – Come Join Us!
Plus, how we're going to do it: The Plan
Good Florida news aggregators and resources: Sayfie Review and The Fort Report.
The website of the Florida Democratic Party.
Our state political blog FLA Politics.
Don't forget the DFA Training in Tampa on June 30 and July1.
A staffer from the Florida Democratic Party posted a comment on my original TFB diary saying the Party wanted to be kept up to date on what bloggers are doing and left this email address: grassroots@fladems.com. Everyone who posts a dkos diary on Florida politics should send them an email with a link and request that the Party post links to the pieces they like on their website.
Comments from the original posting of Issue 2
