Good Morning, Rep. Jim DeMint!

I sat at my desk on this beautiful morning in Miami, working on taxes, yes, on taxes, watching TV and waiting for President Obama to sign the HealthCare Bill into the law of the land. What else could I ask for, on this beautiful day? Therefore, I take a break from taxes to write for my blog.

Good morning, Mr. DeMint. Were you the one who screamed about how important it was for your Republican colleagues to stop President Obama from getting Healthcare relief through Congress? Were you the one who said that defeating President Obama was going to be his Waterloo and the Democratic Party’s defeat in the next elections? Mr. DeMint, have you changed your mind? You still have time.

Because you, Mr. DeMint, do not want to accept or to believe that our President means what he says: Hope and Change. You, and your colleagues, have been unwilling in your unbelief, to accept the reality of a person and a politician very different from what you are accustomed. Maybe, for the first time in your political life, you are seeing a President who has the intelligence, the ability and the will to offer serious Change to America. In addition, he has the American people’s support, which is exactly what you have lost, except for the Tea Partiers.

The Fox News choruses of eccentrics who pretend to define an America, which does not exist, are your most serious supporters. They will not be enough to help you implement your ideas and to continue exercising your inability to govern as a public servant. The people you pretend to serve are those who live enamored of “cowboy movies” and “masters of the universe” novels. People who are constantly afraid of the possibilities, while ignoring the realities of life. People who complain about taxes, government debt, budget deficits, and loss of personal freedom. People who are not willing to pay what it costs to live in a society that is the envy of the entire world.

They, the eccentrics in Fox News and Congress, are not the real Americans who strive unsuccessfully for an opportunity to find work, who see their relatives live in sickness or die without any relief from the institutions that are supposed to help them. Real Americans who retire from work after long careers paying taxes, and saving, not being able to afford the necessities of life. These eccentrics are not the people who first had Hope and believed in Change. The change that you and your followers could not and cannot see is happening now. It is Change we can believe in, and since there was not a Waterloo, why not come up with a different name? Maybe next time you could be successful, assuming you are on the winner’s side.

Have a good day, Mr. DeMint. It is a beautiful day in Miami today!

Now, back to finish my taxes.

It is Never too Early

When Joe Garcia ran for the senatorial seat of District 25 in 2008, I was working for President Obama’s Organizing for America in my District (Precinct 462). I live in Doral and there are very few Democrats in this area. However, if you get a good listing from the MDCDEC (Miami- Dade County Democratic Executive Committee), you can find Democrats and “undecided” voters without problem.
Very few people in Doral, if any, knew who Joe Garcia was during the President’s campaign, and I was one of the few who had a “Joe for Congress” sign on my front lawn. I went to Garcia’s campaign office on US 1, and asked for campaign materials, which they graciously gave me. I offered to help Joe’s campaign in my neighborhood as I went campaigning for Barak Obama, but there was absolutely no interest in the campaign’s office to do anything in Doral. Now we know the results of that election. Like the song says: “what could have been, never happened!”
Do we think that any Democratic candidate can win the District without winning Doral? I doubt it. In deciding if he wants to be a senator representing Democrats in this District (hopefully not another senator to join the Blue Dogs), Joe would do very well deciding if he is committed to do what it takes to win Doral. A few of us would be willing and more than happy to help oust Mario, or his Republican successor.
It may already be too late to start the work that is necessary to win Doral and to take the seat. However, it is certainly never too early. What do you say, Joe? I would rather be an Honorable Senator that another beaurocrat in the Energy Department. You know, a few senators in Washington stop much from happening and hopefully you would be a welcomed change.

February 23, 2010

Marco Rubio to run for the US Senate

The thought of any more Florida Republicans in Congress is enough to make any thoughtful Democrat have a sudden attack of what will probably feel like “swine-flu”.
The question is whether we Democrats are prepared to do the necessary work to win the senatorial race, and not give the “Limbaugh boys” a chance to continue the kind of policies they have implemented in the State with the unacceptable results that we are all seeing.

I believe that we Democrats in Florida and Miami-Dade should not feel very proud of our accomplishments. Our victory and political achievement is the result of two very clear historical events: the catastrophic failure of the Republican Party who gave such preeminence to the voice of the extreme right in their constituency, and the unbelievable triumph of one person, called Obama.

Now that the race is on, the first thing that we hear from our potential candidates is not any particular strategy or plan that may ensure the success in putting a democrat in the seat of Mel Martinez, but the same old criticism of the party of “NO” and requests for “donations”, as if just making donations would ensure our victory. Did we learn anything from the past candidacy of Raul Martinez, Joe Garcia, and Annette Tadeo?

It is time for the Miami Democratic Party to assume the leadership and the responsibility in planning winning strategies and in directing the efforts of the registered voters to get our candidates elected. The best thing the leadership can do to ensure success, is to take into account what the voters think and what they can do for the party. It seems to me that just asking for donations and/or criticizing the extreme right of the Republican Party is not the right strategy for Democrats.