I just got back from the Florida Democratic Party’s 2009 State Conference. Like in 2007, I was struck by the contrast between the sparkling talent on offer from some of the party’s candidates and the lackluster leadership and organization of the event. The schedule, as usual, could be classified as Science Fiction, and the dominant experience during daylight hours seemed to be hordes of confused-looking delegates trying to find events moved halfway across the building.
Michael Arth, the serious but seriously dark-horse candidate for Governor, rented a table and occupied it on Friday to find it moved to the ghetto on Saturday morning with all his campaign materials “placed in storage” without his knowledge. (Where I come from, we call this stealing.) He chose to confront his tormentors politely through the viewfinder of a video camera, so of course venue staff helped him move to an acceptable location near some actual humans. Apparently, the rule is to speak softly and shoot in HD. Nobody likes to be a jerk on YouTube.
The Party’s consistently antagonistic attitude toward Mr. Arth and other long shots for statewide office mystifies me. The concern expressed is that disunity threatens victory in 2010, but of course the nastiness just gives him publicity among Democrats dissatisfied with Tallahassee, which is more than a few. On their own, these candidates would get their 25 percent and be gone. Who would notice or care? Why run the risk of bad press? Giving all the minor candidates for Governor access to favorable table locations, speaking engagements, email lists and other goodies would cost the party very little, disrupt events less, and build goodwill among those Progressives inclined to view the arbitrary exercise of power darkly. It certainly wouldn’t threaten Ms. Sink’s all but certain run to the nomination. Their answer is that they’re not required to do that, which is a non sequitur.
72 percent of respondents in a recent poll said they support a public plan option for health care reform, while 65 percent support a more radical (and effective) option: single-payer national health insurance. Yet Dianne Feinstein warns that Senate Democrats cannot muster the votes for the public plan option. It has been decades since a party has enjoyed as much real and perceived power as Democrats do today, yet our party seems imprisoned in an invisible cell.