Election 2008

Democrat Tony Sasso wins District 32 special election

Karen L. Thurman, Chair, Florida Democratic Party, 27-February-2008

Last night, your collective efforts on behalf of Democrat Tony Sasso officially made the past two years the most successful cycle in the history of the Florida Democratic Party's State House campaign efforts. Not the best year in 10 years, or even 50 years - you delivered the best ever.

Despite being outspent by the Republicans more than two-to-one, Tony won the District 32 special election yesterday, replacing the disgraced GOP Rep. Bob Allen and becoming the first Democrat to represent Brevard County in the Legislature since 1998.

This is a district that President George W. Bush carried by 18 points and that every single statewide elected Republican campaigned in, including Gov. Charlie Crist and every member of House Republican leadership.

But know what truly makes this victory sweet? Before the polls closed, the Republicans were already popping open the celebratory champagne, claiming their candidate "should win by 55%-60%..." A Republican consultant who helped gerrymander more "guaranteed" wins such as District 32, went on to say, "Part of the reason for the Democrat's failure is the much larger early voter turnout in the Brevard County part of the district..."

Unfortunately for them, a lot of those early Republicans voters cast their ballots for Tony Sasso - not to mention the strong Democratic turnout. And that's due to your hard work, your contributions and the createCHANGE'08 program.

Tony will make an excellent representative for the people of Brevard and Orange Counties, but the GOP is already gunning for him. The Republican Party of Florida, perhaps in shock, responded to Tony's victory not with class, but with another bogus attack, taunting Tony: "...will you revert back to your old ways of voting on nearly every tax increase that crosses your desk?"

The truth is that Tony has never voted for a tax increase. But it's this type of brazen lying that we're up against.

As House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber said yesterday, the Republicans have "presided over a total collapse of their party's dominance. Florida Democrats had not netted a single seat in the Florida House in over two decades. Now, in a single cycle, Democrats have netted nine seats... This may be the worst election cycle for House Republicans in Florida's history."

The future is very bright, and I have no doubt that when we fight to win the White House, the Republicans will no longer underestimate us. But I also know that if we can rally like we did over the last few weeks, we will win in November at all levels of the ballot. No one can do this alone. It takes a team effort to turn enthusiasm into victories.

Two Small Ways To Help Democrats Win

Kathy Faught, Sarasota County Democrat, 16-February-2008

SARASOTA - I am the Democratic Precinct Captain for Sarasotašs 14th Precinct and I know youšre a Democrat. And we, the overwhelmed Precinct Captains, need your help preparing other people to vote, especially in the Presidential Election of 2008. Just a little help.

When I attended the Democratic State Convention in October, I found out that it can take over 400 pieces of mail, nearly 200 phone calls, but only 14 face-to-face interactions to bring in one vote. This means that multiple phone calls and outreach mailings can waste time and money.

We didnšt know that for sure, because the Democratic Party didnšt have the data. Now the data is in. With more people only having a cell phone, with more people using DVRšs to avoid commercials, with young people throwing out any mail that isnšt a letter from their grandparents (containing a check), our outreach efforts have to change. So, I have pledged that I am going to talk to 25 people in my precinct at least three times before November 2008 about issues or candidates. Would you consider doing the same?

Hey. It is a pain in the neck. But it is one of the small things that I can do to try to change policies so that we can bring our troops home from Iraq, have affordable health care, reasonable insurance rates, clean water, combat global warming, insure that women have reproductive freedom and outlaw torture (to name a few issues that we Democrats feel strongly about).

Išm also going to take voter registration forms with me everywhere: to gas stations, nail salons, the supermarket, and to parties. I recently ran into two wonderful, working women who just "hadnšt had time to register" to vote. I brought them registration forms. If need be, Išll help people fill out the forms and take them to the Supervisor of Elections office. Please consider doing the same. The Democratic Party of Sarasota County has registration forms in our Headquarters at 2245 Ringling Blvd., which is only a few blocks from the S.O.E.'s office (and they have forms, too).

You know the forces aligned against us. We need to work really hard to change the direction in which our country is headed. We live in Sarasota, so you know that our votes havenšt always been counted. We need to get lots of people registered as Democrats, and get them out to vote, if we are going to win.

Please help in any little way you can; the future of the world depends on us.

Wake Up, America - Here's The Real McCain

Howard Dean, DNC Chairman, 6-February-2008

Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are done. John McCain will be the Republican nominee -- he's the only one with a reasonable path to the nomination.

So how do we beat him? We stand up -- right now -- start fighting, and show the American people that he's not who they think he is.

John McCain is a media darling, but don't trust his carefully-crafted image - he's worked for years to brand himself. From Iraq to health care, Social Security to special interest tax cuts to ethics, he's promising nothing more than a third Bush term.

After championing campaign finance reform and ethics legislation to score political points, he now has a staggering amount of lobbyists involved in every aspect of his campaign. In fact, two of the top three sources for John McCain's campaign cash are D.C. lobbying firms, and he looked the other way as Jack Abramoff bought and paid for the Republican Party and the Culture of Corruption.

On immigration reform, he's run as far to the right as he can, aligning himself with the most extreme elements of the Republican Party.

On the war, McCain scoffed at Bush's call to leave troops in Iraq for 50 years, saying "Make it a hundred!"

On a woman's right to choose, McCain has vowed to appoint judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

On the economy, one of the issues that the American people care most about, McCain has said: "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated."

We can't afford four more years with a President who drives the economy into the ground. We can't afford four more years with a President who fights an endless war in Iraq. We can't afford four more years with a President who gives tax cuts to companies who ship jobs overseas; with a President who can't get every American the health care they deserve; with a President we just can't trust.

I don't just want to beat John McCain - I want it to be a landslide.

Why single women must vote

Ruth Rosen, San Francisco Chronicle, 16-February-2004

FORGET THE ANGRY white men of 1994, the soccer moms of 1998 or the NASCAR dads of 2002. This year, Democrats believe that single women -- one- fifth of the nation's population and 42 percent of all registered women voters -- are the demographic-swing group that could decide a close election, oust President Bush and alter the political landscape in Congress.

Who are these unmarried women? They are never-married working women, divorced working mothers raising kids alone and widows who are worried about their economic security.

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