At the 2009 Florida State Democratic Conference on Saturday, the organizers arranged the usual dog-and-pony show, putting telegenic Democrats on giant screens in front of cheering Democrats in what can only be described as a sporting event. Every forceful phrase was rewarded with applause and cheers. There is always something North Korean about the atmosphere at a party event. During Bill Nelson’s address, however, the North Korean vibe was broken by hundreds of angry hecklers screaming “Public Option!” at every pause in the Senator’s remarks. Nelson kept to his rambling speech, talking about everything but the issue on everyone’s mind, even taking refuge in a gratuitous display of Obama-humping over the catcalls. Finally, he came to the subject of the health care bill to cheers and more calls of “Public Option!” When Nelson pledged to support a watered-down version of the public option proposed by New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the crowd let him finish in peace.
Next to speak was 8th District Congressman Alan Grayson, who recently opined that the Republican health reform plan was for sick people to die quickly. The crowd lost its collective senses. Wild applause filled the hall. I had thought that party leaders may have been nervous about Grayson’s incendiary language, but they were clearly encouraging it by giving him a prime time slot after the keynote. Grayson, of course, stole the show, repeating his greatest hits to wild acclaim and clearly eating it up. He proposed that the Democratic Party be renamed the Conscience Party and the Republican Party the Party of Selfishness. The language came off a bit cynical and pandering, but the crowd was wholly uncritical. There’s no doubt there’s a great deal of sincere feeling behind Grayson’s rhetoric, but the simplicity of the language seems crafted. He was one of the few mainstream Southern Democrats in recent years to approach a critique of conservatism itself. Grayson’s popularity holds out hope of a new era of Progressive dominance in the Party.
The Congressman has been making the rounds on television and distributing his clips on the Web. His fundraising has been brisk, and it appears he will not have to use his own money this cycle. Of course, Congressman Grayson’s popularity comes at a bad time. He probably will not enter the Senate race this late, and the next shot will be Nelson’s seat in 2012. He might take it, but the Party would seek to stop him. The only other prize is re-election, which seems like a lot of effort for a small reward. Acclaim like this never lasts.
One wonders if this was calculated or just, as one observer out it, “Alan being Alan.”
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.
Mr. Schale, the director of Florida for Change, is an immensely influential Democrat whose endorsement of Rep. Meek is an acknowledgment that the Primary race is all but over.
We face a 63 trillion dollar fiscal iceberg over the next 75 years, mostly because we perversely allow private health insurance companies to “cherry-pick” young, healthy people out of the health-care system, leaving under-funded public systems to carry the burden of the most expensive patients. Conservatives have often maintained that the retirement of the Boomers is responsible for the impending fiscal crisis, but for the past 23 years, we have been over-paying our payroll taxes to finance the looming retirement of the Boomers. We should have been running surpluses for the last two decades. Where did our money go? Into tax cuts for the rich. Republicans and conservative Democrats stole several trillion dollars of our money. Now we are told we must sacrifice more even as the top one percent of the top one percent burn our children’s birthright in their private jets. Of course, anyone who points this out is a “socialist,” although apparently demanding, and getting, trillions in taxpayer subsidies is the epitome of free-market capitalism.
On Tuesday night, Heather Beaven had her announcement event at Flagler County Airport for the Seventh District House seat. The unfulfilled threat of rain moved the venue from the steps of the Flagler Courthouse to a bar on the edge of the airport. About a score of supporters showed up, sprinkled with seven staffers and volunteers. The candidate’s husband introduced the first speaker, the chairman of Beaven’s thesis committee, Henry Thomas.
John Mica, one of the most retrograde of the pay-to-play brigade, is running for reelection again. This is a man who believes that women should die rather than receiving abortions that could save their life. He pushed to get pork for his campaign contributors into the stimulus bill, then voted against it. He wants to cut taxes across the board and increase spending, as if we weren’t bleeding red ink catastrophically. He wants to increase the maximum allowable contribution to federal candidates in an age when working Americans can’t even get in the door to the legislative process. This oligarch is a living insult to the tens of millions of Americans struggling to survive in the wreckage of an economy rigged in favor of the special interests Mica loves so dearly.