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Miami Herald:

Democrats raise $700K for state party at Hollywood dinner

Some 1,300 Democrats attended a dinner that raised more than $700,000 for the state party.
BY BETH REINHARD AND PATRICIA MAZZEI

With Florida in the throes of the wildest and most wide-open election in decades, Democrats girded against a Republican-friendly political climate and gathered Saturday for one of the state party’s most successful annual fundraising dinners.

About 1,300 officeholders and activists attended the dinner at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, which raised more than $700,000. The 2010 election features a tight governor’s race, a topsy-turvy U.S. Senate contest and three statewide campaigns for Florida’s Cabinet.

“Folks in this room understand what’s at stake — one of the most important elections Florida has ever had,” said political consultant Steve Schale, who led President Obama’s winning campaign that registered a slew of new Democrats in the nation’s largest swing state. “We don’t have to bring out most of the [Obama] voters in 2010. Just some of them.”

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/17/1735649/democrats-raise-700k-for-state.html#ixzz0u2aIWcdz

Zingers from FL Dems’ Jefferson Jackson dinner
So many speakers, so little time to blog. Here are a few memorable one-liners from the parade of candidates who spoke at the Florida Democrats’ annual Jefferson Jackson dinner fundraiser Saturday night:

– From Senate candidate Kendrick Meek: “I’ll be the only one that hasn’t run as a Republican in the past.”

– From his opponent Jeff Greene: “We put a man on the moon 40 years ago and we’re just now inventing an electric car.” (The third Dem in that contest, Maurice Ferre, declared himself the “sleeper” candidate.)

– From congressional candidate Joe Garcia, who lambasted Arizona’s controversial immigration law: “I can assure you that I am an American citizen. I’ve got [Republican gubernatorial candidate] Rick Scott‘s hate mail to prove it.”

– From congressional candidate Luis Meurice, a longshoreman: “I will take [Republican congressional candidate] David Rivera to the woodshed. That’s the way we do it on the docks.”

– From attorney general hopeful Dan Gelber: “I was called [former Gov.]Jeb Bush‘s chief nemesis, and I am proud of that designation.”

– From his opponent, Dave Aronberg: “They have swift boated me but I’m still standing.”

– From Alex Sink, the state’s CFO who is running for governor: “Sometimes I sit at those Cabinet meetings and think to myself, ‘Who are you people? And what are you doing for Florida?’”

– And from Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Karen Thurman, after Sink had mic trouble during her speech: “Even before she’s governor they’re trying to silence her.”

Palm Beach Post:

Applause meter: Meek gets louder applause than Greene at Florida Dem dinner

by George Bennett | July 17th, 2010
HOLLYWOOD — The crowd at tonight’s Florida Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson dinner gave noticeably louder applause to Senate candidate Kendrick Meek than to primary rival Jeff Greene when both spoke to the crowd of about 1,300. Continued

Sun-Sentinel:

Alex Sink enjoying Republican governor primary fight
Posted by Anthony Man on July 17, 2010 06:04 PM

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink sees a lot to like in the Republican Party fight between Bill McCollum and Rick Scott.

Sink said she’s helped by the fight for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Continued

Kendrick Meek, Jeff Greene tone down rhetoric at Democratic dinner
Posted by Anthony Man on July 17, 2010 09:10 PM

Democratic leaders spend lots of time Saturday talking up gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink, the big unknown is the U.S. Senate race.

The two main Democratic candidates – U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami and Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene – have been blistering each other on the campaign trail. Continued

Florida House Democratic leader says it’s too early to write off Democrats chances
Posted by Anthony Man on July 17, 2010 05:08 PM

The national mood isn’t a good one for Democrats as the midterm elections approach.

But Florida House Minority Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston, said it’s way too early to assume the Democratic Party will have a terrible year.

“On a national level, it’s anybody’s guess. On a state level I think it’s anybody’s guess,” he said in the place where Democrats from across Florida are gathering Saturday afternoon – the lobby of the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood for the party’s big Jefferson-Jackson weekend. Continued

Mitch Ceasar smells success in the wind for Democrats
Posted by Anthony Man on July 17, 2010 05:50 PM

Maybe he was breathing too much of the signature white tea scent in the lobby-atrium of the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, but Broward Democratic Chairman Mitch Ceasar smells nothing but success for his party this fall.

Ceasar is among the hundreds of Democrats gathered for the state Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson weekend of politicking and fundraising.

The event comes at a time when President Barack Obama is unpopular. Polling shows Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink is shaky. And the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate is fraying political relationships and dividing party activists.

There’s a lot for Democrats not to celebrate Saturday. But there was a lot of celebrating – and positive spinning – anyway. Continued

I take no pleasure in reporting this, but it’s the reality. Right now, a far right wingnut is doing the best job of fundraising, and even grassroots fundraising (note the reference to individual contributors, which was a point of pride for Democrats in 2008). So the question is, what are we going to do about it? Check in at http://www.ronkleinforcongress.com/ to see how you can help.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 09th, 2010

Republican Congressional Candidate Allen West (FL-22) has Record Fundraising Quarter

(Deerfield Beach, FL) Republican 22nd Congressional Candidate Allen West raised over $1.4 million during the 2nd Quarter (April-June), blowing past his previous fundraising record of $860,000. To date, LTC(R) West has raised nearly $3.5 million from over 40,000 individual contributions.

“The strength of our campaign is that over the course of this election cycle almost 96% of our donations have come from individual contributions,” said Allen West. “This campaign will demonstrate that the American people, led by the good folks here in South Florida, can elevate someone into the United States House of Representatives.”

To date, the average contribution to LTC(R) West’s campaign sits at about $85.00 per donation, bringing his cash on hand available to nearly $2.2 million.

“These fundraising numbers show that South Floridians and all Americans are fed up with business as usual in Washington,” said Allen West’s Campaign Manager, Josh Grodin. “In particular, our district has a Congressman who has voted with Nancy Pelosi 98% of the time. Citizens are tired of politicians like Ron Klein, and are looking for leaders like Allen West.”

For more information or to schedule interviews with Allen West, please contact Valentina Weis at (561) 603-8188 or vweis@AllenWestforCongress.com.

Thanks to Alan Stieb for the info I’m reposting below:

Don’t forget to vote in the 24 August Election – get an absentee ballot if you are away!

http://www.browardsoe.org/AbsenteeRequest2.aspx

Absentee Ballot Instructions

EARLY VOTING DATES and HOURS:

Early Voting dates, times and locations for the August 24, 2010 Primary Election
Dates: August 9 to August 14, 2010 and August 16 to August 21, 2010

Times: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Locations:

Southwest Regional Library
16835 Sheridan Street
Pembroke Pines, FL 33331-2008

Miramar Library
2050 Civic Center Place
Miramar, FL 33025

Weston Branch Library
4205 Bonaventure Boulevard
Weston, FL 33332-2111

Hollywood Branch Library
2600 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, FL 33020-4807

North Regional Library/Broward College
1100 Coconut Creek Boulevard
Coconut Creek, FL 33066-1647

Tamarac Branch Library
8701 W. Commercial Boulevard
Tamarac, FL 33321

Northwest Regional Library
3151 University Drive
Coral Springs, FL 33065-6134

Lauderhill Mall
1299 N.W. 40th Avenue, Bay F
Lauderhill, FL 33313-5894

Main Library
100 S. Andrews Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-1830

African-American Research Library
2650 Sistrunk Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311-8658

West Regional Library
8601 W. Broward Boulevard
Plantation, FL 33324

(Reposting from Philip Busey <philip@busey.org> and Grassroots Patriots)

To paraphrase Dr. Seuss . . . Oh, the things you can do with Kendrick Meek as U.S. Senator! Oh, the things President Obama can do with one more solid Democratic Senate vote!

Let’s begin the New Decade doing everything we can for Congressman Meek to win the U.S. Senate. Let us help him get the petitions to be the first person in the history of Florida to qualify by petition. Kendrick will be top of the ticket on every ballot in the State of Florida. Every Democrat running in every election in Florida will need Kendrick to win too. And for Kendrick Meek to win the Senate big. We can do it.

To jump start the New Decade a number of us, including Alan Ehrlich, David Carr, GRASSROOTS PATRIOTS, and the Kendrick Meek organizers, such as Kate Nowak 718-715-6437,kate@kendrickmeek.com and Samantha Shalda 708-638-6836 are planning a neighborhood petition canvass. Please mark your calendar to join us:

Saturday, January 9, 2009, 9:30 am (walk at 10:00 am)
African-American Research Library
2650 Sistrunk Blvd. (NW 6th Street)
Fort Lauderdale, FL

The nail-biting, white-knuckle health care debate in the U.S. Senate is over. But close votes are scary. Compromises are made. We are not yet getting everything we need. Because of the nonexistent margin in the U.S. Senate, reconciliation will force the U.S. House of Representatives to go along with just about everything in the Senate plan.

A Democratic margin in future Senate votes is one reason we need Kendrick Meek in the U.S. Senate. The other reason is he’s a great guy!

Also, please donate to Kendrick Meek’s campaign:

http://www.kendrickmeek.com

Happy New Year! Happy New Decade!

Phil, 954-579-3932

I’m writing to introduce you to Marleine Bastien, who is running for the U.S. House District 17 seat Kendrick Meek is giving up to run for Senate. Though the district is mostly in Miami-Dade, it extends into southern Broward cities such as Hollywood and Hallandale.

I am in this race as a web consultant to the campaign and am just getting to know Marleine, but for years she has been a leader of the Haitian-American community and as a progressive activist. I attended a campaign organizing meeting last week and came away very impressed by the passion of her supporters and how much they believe in her candidacy, even knowing that this is going to be a tough and very competitive race. Her friend Jack Lieberman praised her as someone who has always been there for her community at critical times when her competitors were not.

As I say, she has some very passionate supporters, but she will also need to mobilize voters at the grassroots level to compete against better financed rivals. And of course it would also help if some money would flow her way, even if in the form of small donations.

If you would like to help, please consider donating, signing up for her email list or as a volunteer at votebastien.com, and becoming a “fan” on her Facebook page.

For the record, BlueBroward.org as an institution does not take sides in primary contests between Democrats, and Marleine’s competitors and their supporters are welcome to post entries on this blog, events to the calendar, and so on. This website is as much of an equal opportunity tool for Democrats as I know how to make it.

Still, I’m excited to be part of this campaign. The message below is from an appeal to supporters that went out this week.

From the Desk of Marleine Bastien

My Dear Friends:

After spending the last 28 years organizing and championing issues related to affordable housing, education, employment, women’s rights, and health access, and immigration, I decided to run for U.S. Congress, District 17. Throughout the years, I’ve successfully combined strong advocacy and services to serve families and give them a voice. I developed a team of workers and provided quality services to thousands of families in the district.

Now, I’m ready to continue my services on your behalf in a much larger scale. My life has been one of service. My parents taught me to care for others and give back. I’ve been deeply engaged in the district. I know the challenges facing our constituents today.

I know that you are tired with more of the same. You need fresh ideas, new vision, and new leadership. I’m ready for the challenge.

I want to make sure that government works for you and not for the rich corporations. You deserve to have stable, gainful employment to take care of your family, send your children to college and save for your golden retirement years. Your children deserve the best education so that they can look at the future with hopeful eyes and trusted hearts and not with the dread of a bankrupt, debt ridden, and fearful nation.

I’m entering the race to change the way business is done in Washington. My priorities are to:

* Look for ways to cut government waste that bails out those who wronged us
* End wars with countries that do not threaten us
* Develop training, create new green jobs, foster economic development
* Spearhead the passage of healthcare reform
* Invest in small businesses, quality education and affordable housing
* Create comprehensive immigration reform, including passage of the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) and Temporary Protected Status for Haitians
* Stomp the foreclosure debacle once and for all to help save your American dream

I will put you and your family first, always.

I understand that these are difficult times economically, socially, and politically. However, we need to look to the future and invest now so that our communities will become better later. Please consider making a personal contribution of a minimum of $20 and a maximum of $2400 to support my campaign.

Go to www.votebastien.com to make your donation today or mail your personal check to: P.O. Box 381255 Miami, Florida 33238. Organize a group of friends and encourage them to do the same and so forth. Please call (305)785-3814 to volunteer or organize for “Bastien For Congress”.

Sincerely,

Marleine Bastien

Please contribute to Marlene Bastien for Congress. We need your help in being able to spread our message to voters throughout the 17th Congressional District.

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