Down in the Sunshine State

Mike Smith and Dan in Orlando

This is the first of what I hope to be (at least) a weekly blog about what I’ve been doing and where I have been. As the National Political Director I get the opportunity to meet with lots of different people as 21st Century Democrats tries to move the ball down the court (sorry for the sports analogy!) for Progressive Democratic candidates around the country. To the extent this is interesting to you I’ll keep-up a running commentary on what’s going on from my little vantage point here on Connecticut Avenue.

I was in Florida last week and was able to spend time with Mike Smith and his campaign team in Orlando (FL-8). Then I drove down to Port St. Lucie (100 miles north of Miami), where I finally met Adam Fetterman who is running in Florida's 81st House District. Adam was essentially the first call I took when I started at 21st Century Democrats in February of 2007. We’ve been talking about his campaign since that time and endorsed his candidacy last fall.

Thankfully, the weather in Florida was a lot more enjoyable than in Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio and Michigan where I’d been in previous weeks. The Smith campaign is working hard gathering endorsements and raising money. They are doing well on both fronts. Central Florida is always a battle ground area and the Smith campaign is right in the middle of it all. Ric Keller, his Republican opponent will be well-funded but like Mike he is facing multiple primary challengers. Florida’s primary election is in August so there will be more to say about this race towards the end of Spring.

Adam Fetterman’s seat is one of the five top targets for state House Democrats this year. He has out raised his opponent considerably and just started knocking on doors in a concerted manner. As a first-time Candidate he is constantly learning the old adage in politics which is just simply “that sometimes people just disappoint you.” Adam has been endorsed by the Firefighters and based on his campaign efforts the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO decided not to endorse anyone in the Democratic Primary. While we would have liked Adam to have got the nod, of course, he was able to deny the endorsement to his opponent, Bill Ramos, who received the AFL endorsement in 2006.

It’s my guess that Obama and Hillary will fight it out all the way to the Democratic Convention at the end of August. The delegate numbers are just too close right now and barring a dramatic knock-out punch in Pennsylvania (and by this I mean a 70 to 75% win on April 26) I don't see either of them giving in. Depending on how you count, Obama is around 120 delegate votes ahead of Hillary. I have had the opportunity to work on a few of these campaigns in the past - Jimmy Carter in '76 & '80, John Glenn in ’84, Bill Bradley in 2000 and Paul Wellstone’s Presidential Exploratory Committee in 1998 (short-lived as it was that campaign was terrific!) - and they were all tough fights. My point here is simply to say that the Democratic nomination for President is always worth having and nobody gives it up when they think they can win. It’s the Democratic way.

In the meantime we all have a lot of work to get ready for the November election. I am spending much time with voter files and spread sheets these days and planning where exactly we will want to send our trained organizers after the May Organizer Training but more about that in future blogs. As always you can send me an e-mail at dan@21stdems.org or give me a call at 202.626.5620 and let me know what you think.

Cheers!