FLORIDA GROUND REPORT
Dear HillBuzz,
First some background information on me. I’m 21 years old, Hispanic and young. I am unemployed and currently trying to find work for the winter and going through schooling to be an X-Ray Tech. If you saw me down the street, because of my demographics, you’d think I was a Democrat. I’m not, I’m a proud Registered Republican. I originally lived in Puerto Rico, but moved to the states early in my life. I wasn’t interested in politics until after September 11. My parents were staunch Dems so I thought I was a Dem. Sure as a young lad I heard about Clinton’s Impeachment and thought the President should be held accountable for his actions, and sure I thought Gore was a sore loser when the whole 2000 debacle happen down here, but all in all I was a Democrat. By 2004, I started studying my History and found that Republicans tended to be right on most issues and were the ones responsible for the end of slavery, the end of jim crow, women’s rights, and minority rights. Yet Dems took all the credit for what they did. I found myself supporting a Bush re-election though I still considered myself a Democrat and after seeing what was done to him and continuing to see what History realy taught about both parties, I decided I was a Republican. My parents too have since become Republicans after 9/11 woke them up.
Now before you think i’m bashing all Dems, i’m not. I completely understand why one would be a Dem when they don’t look at the truth behind both parties. Plus, Clinton (while we’ll disagree about the impeachment process) was all in all a good President and consistently ranks as a Top 15 President in my opinion and a little bit better then Dubya. I also am for gay rights because I don’t care what they do in their own personal bussiness and i’m for legalization of prostitution and pot because I don’t care though I understand why one might be against those last two. So i’m not your vote down the middle Republican.
Florida is the most populated of the purple states and we lean Republican. The GOP has had our Governor’s mansion since 1995 and we had a Republican state legislature. We also have a Republican Senator and before Obama had not voted for a Dem President since Clinton in 1996 and before that Carter in 1976 and before that LBJ in 1964 and before that Truman in 1946!!! So while we are a purple state, we have leaned GOP for decades. Obama’s closest state win was in North Carolina, after that is Indiana and then Florida. So I’ve always thought Obama’s win here in 2008 was a fluke win. He started out w/ approvals in the 60s down here and in less then a year we were the first state that had voted for him to turn on him. For almost a year now he has polled from 40%-45%. He and the Dems have become despised down here.
Marco Rubio is going to win the open Senate Seat easy. Crist was a popular Governor but his support of the stimulus and the nasty attacks on Marco in the primary hurt him and he became polarizing and the base abandoned him. After he decided to run as an Independent he became unpopular but the oil spill crisis helped him become popular and lead in the polls. But the crisis is now over and he’s back to being an unpopular Governor who flushed a good career down the drain. Bill McCullum and Rick Scott had a tough primary battle for GOP nomination for the race for FL Governor. In a squeaker, Scott won. I personally voted for McCullum because I trusted him more and knew Scott could lose in a good GOP year to Alex Sink. Scott has suprised me though and leads in most REPUTABLE polls in close margins though the media has been pushing local, known to be wrong, polls that show Sink ahead. At the risk of this not being posted and backlash from commenters if it does, I voted 3rd party because I didn’t like either candidate and couldn’t ignore Scott’s past like I couldn’t ignore Obama’s past (I voted by mail). But Scott will probably win in a squeaker like the primary. Also we have a Dem senator, Bill Nelson. Nelson passes himself off as a Moderate but has a liberal voting record rivaling some Dems in Washington. He’s been blessed with bad GOP nominees to go up against every time he’s up for election and though he’s not up for election this year, he is very much in trouble when he faces the voters again. Grayson is toast, with even Democrats voting for him. There’s hope that some lib FL congressmen and congress women like Kathy Castor and Debbie Walschermunshultz (forgive my bad spelling) can be beat but they benefit from gerrymandered districts.
Also, I’d like to report on the mood change down here. I have some independent friends who were so mad at the GOP and Bush that they refused to look at Obama’s record and voted for him. Now they probably despise him more then me! I have a friend who hated Bush (and still does) and has seen the light to the point I’ve gotten him to agree to vote Republican. At my school, young people and minorities even have decided Obama was full of BS and are going to vote Republican. remember, FL is one of the few states McCain actually won College graduates, usually a liberal vote.
All in all, FL is definetly going red this year and most likely will go red in 2012. Don’t let pundits tell you any different. So that’s the ground report down here.
PS: I comment at the blog Ace of Spades as YRM
- Luis, From Tampa, FL
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Thank you for your report Luis. Regardless of anyone’s politics, I was surprised that FL and my state of MI went for Obama after all the BS with Hillary Clinton’s electoral vote stealing that Obama did in regard to the primary.. I want to let you know that our two states are about to right the wrong. Michigan is going red too on Tuesday…… and it is going to be a blood bath for the democrats…
If only Detroit would go red…*sigh*
Dude… you’re only 21? PLEASE RUN FOR OFFICE. You’re a bright guy, a good writer and and insightful analyst. Delighted to have you on our side!
Very well said young man. Keep your spirits and vision high for you are headed in the right direction.
21 years old and knows about the Clinton impeachment saga(1994) when he was like 3 years old?? Dude are you really 21??
Great report, Luis!! And I’m delighted to hear that Grayson’s going down!
Thanks for posting my ground report
Great ground report Luis. Wish I was as together, inquiring and observant at 21 as you are.
I was going to say the same thing! Nice to hear from a fellow Floridian who is young and conservative! Get the word out to your peers…if they want to have a future where they have the freedom to be as successful as they want to be, they better STOP allowing us to continue on the road to surfdom!
Thanks again Luis!
I just re-read my post…I don’t want to insinuate that I too am young. Well, I AM young in my mind but not as young as you!
Congrats Luis for figuring it out so at such a young age. It took me a lot longer.
Luis:
Great write-up! Keep up with your political education by reading American conservative thinkers like Buckley, Hayek, Russell Kirk, and Irving Kristol.
You are an educating influence on your friends; and a negating force of the LSM.
Great info. Love me some A of S! As a straight-laced mom-o-four, I consider it my guilty pleasure… them cats are soooo bad (in a cool way) over there.
katincall – had to agree on A of S! Very guilty pleasure and funny as all heck.
Great report Luis! Yes, you are young, but very astute to what is going on around you. Now, make sure that you keep any Republicans that you vote for on the right path. If you see them considering a vote that will hurt the economy and/or the people, make sure you write or call to protest. We have to make sure that they don’t become too comfortable. And we have to make sure that any leftists that are up for election in 2012 understand that we’re coming for them next time. We should have a pin made up of a tea pot that we can all wear on our lapel or coller: “CAN YOU HEAR US NOW?”
I am from Florida also and I totally agree with you Luis.. Still wish McCullough could have beaten Rick Scott but I will hold my nose and vote for him anyway.
Luis,
Fine write-up! So proud to have young men like you really “getting it”. Thanks for spreading the word. If we all pull together we can stop the Progressives in their push to socialize this country.
Now, to a couple of your points with which I have a problem. Part of what made Clinton a “good” president is that he had to work with a Republican controlled Congress which made him pull back from the left a bit AND Reagan helped set things up for him to have a prosperous economy to tout. Don’t forget that it’s all connected. Now…while I agree with you that what people do in their private lives is their own business, and this next comment may not be popular to say on this website but I am against gay “marriage”. That is not to say that I am against gay couples having all the legal protections that heterosexual couples have. I’m all for that. I just wish gays would be content with a “domestic partnership” designation. If I am wrong in this thinking please explain the other side. I’m listening and I want to understand. That said, I always listen when politicians talk about their stand on “gay marriage”. If they are too far to the left or the right I don’t back them.
My husband and I attended a Campaighn Party for McCullough. Cost us $500. Biggest waste of money we EVER have spent! He simply was not a person running our great state.
Met Rick Scott at a local Rally. VERY IMPRESSED! Is he a POLITITION? NOPE.
He is a very humble man and quite charming on a one to one basis.
BTW, I carefully researched the charges against him. He is not quilty of any charges against him. The wacko federal government agreed. JMHO, he has spent a hell-of-alot of his money to PROVE it is about fraud of THE GOVERNMENT!
Sink actually has more NEGATIVES than Rick SCOTT!
GO RICK SCOTT!
I just saw Marco Rubio’s latest campaign ad, and it is exceptional.
Thank you for your report! Minority conservatives make my heart sing! We need millions more like you … yes, we do, right here in the “party of hate”!
btw nice spelling of Debbie Whatsitz …ha! I honestly wouldn’t know where to start!
Wishing you well from ct,
Not sure if those in Florida have seen this about Porker of the Month Debbie W.S.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChMofHQ0V-A&feature=player_embedded
(pretty funny, acurate too)
you bring up an interesting point and now question:
republicans did all those things for the little people and dems fought tooth & nail against them….but how did the dems hi-jack history so that the uneducated today are totally unaware that the republicans actually fought for civil rights for everyone? does anyone know?
They forget the samw way they forget while Bush was lsoing ground with the economy he had majority democrat Congress to work with. No one mentions that – Just O says the Republicans have to go to the back of the bus – such a mature attitude for our President??
Part of it has to do with Affirmative Action. Dems were big pushers behind that. Just another dependency/enabling/entitlement program, but they used it to “show” that they support the minorities, while the evil R’s are just trying to hold them down.
Luis, when you finish school please check the Medical temp assignments companies, you can start now actually-they will locate jobs for you, some staff all over the country. I’m in FL too and you provided a very good description I’m seeing much of the same here in Palm Beach County.
Have you seen Rubio’s “closing argument” ad? It’s absolutely gorgeous – not in visuals but in language and in emotion. When it was over, I realized tears were streaming down my cheek and I yelled out YES!! Florida, say hello to Governor Rubio.
I mean SENATOR Rubio! Although I think he’d make a great Governor also.
Rubio puts Jindal to SHAME
Luis – thank you very much for your ground report. As others posted, it is very heartening to see young people like yourself make a realization about politics and try to explain to others to look at all sides.
Much success to you! You deserve it!
PG
PS – Also, I second the comment from pdxt – you should consider running for office!