Why the Florida Democratic Party Fails

I read a Tampa Bay Times article in the Miami Herald today, July 5th, 2016, about the fading Democratic Party  It always amazes me that our skilled and knowledgeable democratic Florida strategists just don’t get it, even over the course of years of negative trending, when we should be growing.

Florida has one political party, for better or worse with a branded identity. That’s the Republican Party. They make sure that the electorate knows what they stand for. I learned long ago that people want to know what their beliefs and even their values should be. Why do you think that Trump is trending as he is with a now solid, but hopefully small, base? Thanks to him, bigotry is out in the open and unafraid to speak up. Trump opened the door by enunciating the fears and frustrations; the anger and jingoistic frustrations of a population. Even Marco Rubio couldn’t beat that in his own home state.

For almost 20 years, the Florida Democratic Party has avoided touting the principles and values of a Democrat. We have had leadership that has basically said that Democratic candidates should do all of the individualized party promotion. Our candidates, particularly for statewide office, go up against candidates who enunciate the principles and identity of their conservative movement and we lose, not just every time, but increasingly, from election cycle to election cycle.

We rely on the mass of self identified Democrats for our elections and seem to think that voter registration drives alone will tilt the scales. We don’t effectively go after independent voters who are unable to find a satisfactory political identity. They go to “unaffiliated” in droves. We don’t go after identified Republicans who just don’t understand that they are voting against their own best interests. How do you think that Rick Scott got elected? Consider also that the population of voting age individuals has grown  by almost 2 million from 2008 to the present, but our number of voters, according to that article, has increased by only 800,000. Why register if you don’t identify with the Republicans and don’t know the other choice?

If the Democratic Party of Florida does not begin to promote our Democratic principles and identity through a smart media campaign, this party will never enjoy the strength and political power that is so richly suited to the growing demographics of Florida. It’s time to stop the complacency and self-delusions.