It's a year of political wonders, with races developing where you'd least expect them, with new personalities and progressive voices emerging seemingly from thin air, and with a renewed sense of purpose and vigor in the air.
No one will dispute that D.C. is sick. The president's and Congress' approval ratings make that very clear, even if those inside the Beltway are seemingly oblivious to the public discontent. Yet outside, in the rest of the country, we're seeing supposedly Red districts and states fall into contention at all levels, from the presidency down to House races (and state-level races as well). There are three regions of the country which have particularly surprised me this year. The first two are Alaska and Wyoming, and I've covered (and polled) both those states extensively throughout the year.
The third is another region I've written about extensively -- South Florida. Once the private fiefdom of Cuban American Republicans, the GOP's lone remaining congressional Latinos are under siege by a trio of highly regarded Demcorats -- Raul Martinez in FL-21, Joe Garcia in FL-25, and Annette Taddeo in FL-18 (most famous for South Beach).
We've already added Joe Garcia to our Orange to Blue ActBlue page. Today, we're adding the second of the three candidates -- Annette Taddeo, running in a district represented by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for the last 19 years.
Of the three South Florida races, this is currently the toughest. While Garcia and Martinez run competitively against their opponents, holding the incumbent Republicans well under 50 percent, the latest poll on this race gave Ros-Lehtinen a strong 58-31 lead over Taddeo. And in the fundraising race, Taddeo lags significantly.
There's a reason for the disparity. Both Garcia and Martinez are long-time pols, with contacts and name ID built over decades of public service. They are known commodities to the voters in their district. Taddeo, on the other hand, is new to politics, and has had to build a political operation from scratch.
Furthermore, we all know about Democratic Rep. and DCCC Red to Blue co-chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz' treachery in these races, siding with her Republican Cuban-American donors (to the point of campaigning with the Republican incumbents) rather than side with members of her own party -- even as she holds a leadership post in the inherently partisan DCCC!
Despite it all, Taddeo has raised eyebrows across the region and even up in DC. While she hasn't been added to the DCCC's "Red to Blue" program yet, she is listed as an "Emerging Race".
Left to her own devices, this would be a tough race to win this time around. As a four-year project, this would be a wonderful effort. But ousting an entrenched, well-known incumbent as an unknown outsider doesn't necessarily happen that often. But I suspect that with a little help, we can win this one this year.
In short, if Taddeo has the funds and media buzz to build her name ID and get her message out, she could be the beneficiary of a perfect storm brewing in South Florida.
- Obama runs strong down here. There will be a massive effort by the Obama campaign to message to the region's voters, register them to vote, and turn them out. Garcia told me at Netroots Nation that he used to go to new citizen swearing in ceremonies to register voters. A few months ago he'd show up, and there would already be eight Obama people signing people up. That doesn't just show the depth of the Obama effort in the region, but it also frees up candidates like Garcia, Taddeo and Martinez to focus on other tasks.
- The Cuban-American vote is diversifying. Once a Republican bastion, younger Cuban-Americans and more recent Cuban immigrants are less beholden to the GOP. Many are angry at policies enacted by Bush, at the insistence of the local hardline Cuban groups, to prevent Cuban-Americans from visiting their families in Cuba or helping them out financially. It's anti-family, and for an ethnic group in which the family unit reigns supreme, it's become an effective cudgel against the incumbents.
- The DCCC has already reserved air-time in the region, to the tune of $1.4 million in the Miami market. Now ostensibly this buy is justified by the closer races in neighboring FL-21 and FL-25, but Taddeo is the lucky beneficiary of her geography. Much the same way that Carol Shea-Porter in NH-01 was helped by heavy DCCC spending for Democratic challenger Paul Hodes in neighboring NH-02 (both districts part of the same Boston media market), Taddeo will benefit greatly from the spillover effect.
As such, Taddeo's task, and one that we're asking you to help with, is to raise the resources and media buzz in order to improve her name recognition, let the voters know who she is, and deliver her message to them. If we can defeat these last remaining Cuban-American Republicans in South Florida, we break the back of the Florida Republican Party and expose it for what it truly has become -- a Southern white male-dominated exclusionary party.
And Taddeo is a dream candidate, a great progressive who would do us proud. As you can see on her issues page, she is one of the strongest champion of gay rights running anywhere, wants out of Iraq, is an active supporter of women entrepreneurs and choice, and on the right side on energy issues. We followed up with our own questions, and Taddeo told us she would've voted against the FISA travesty, against the Bankruptcy "reform" bill, supports comprehensive immigration reform, and has pledged to not join the Blue Dogs. Given her stance on the issues, that last one seems redundant, but welcome nonetheless.
So here's the deal. Florida has its primaries this month, so candidates are required to file a mid-quarter fundraising report. New York has a filing deadline as well, though later in the month.
So we're looking at a mini-fundraiser for our newest members of the ActBlue page -- 200 contributions each for Annette Taddeo and Jon Powers -- by the deadline Wednesday night.
Help us get there so both candidates can continue showing strength for this last, tough, three-month slog ahead.
