The Road Ahead: Part 1
| By Ray Seaman - Nov 7th, 2008 at 9:28 am EST |
Progressives made big strides nationally in the 2008 elections. However, much of this momentum didn't translate down to the state and local level. There are a number of different areas in my view that Florida progressives will need to focus on in the coming year. I discuss each of these areas in the "Road Ahead" series.
The first major priority and focus of Florida progressives is to enact significant redistricting reform via constitutional amendment in the 2010 elections. This will be done through Fair Districts Florida.
Barack Obama won the state of Florida with 51% of the vote. Obama ran up big victories in the southeast and made significant inroads along the I-4 corridor by winning a landslide in Orange County (Obama received nearly 60% of the vote in a county that barely went for Kerry in 2004) and winning Hillsborough County. Only pieces of the panhandle actually voted more Republican than in 2004. Almost every county in Florida trended more Democratic. Despite all of this, numbers in the Florida legislature essentially didn't budge. Democrats netted one seat in the Florida house - that was all the change we saw at the state level.
Poor candidates, lack of funding, and the energy-consuming Presidential campaign can all probably be blamed as minor factors in the lack of change in the legislature. However, the fact that legislators draw their own districts to benefit themselves is clearly the biggest and most dominating factor.
Let me be clear: no party, whether Republican or Democratic, should have the power to draw their own districts and choose their voters. This is wrong and undemocratic in every way possible. I've heard enough stories about redistricting from both former and current elected officials to know that this a corrupt and morally disgusting process that must be stopped.
Should the Fair Districts amendment (which removes the power of redistricting from the legislature and gives it to a bi-partisan commission) pass then future elections will be made more competitive. The results we would see at the Presidential level would likely translate into movement at the state level.
The reason this is the number one priority of progressives in the next couple of years is because without a more accountable and progressive legislature, it will be nearly impossible to enact any kind of meaningful reforms for the people of Florida.
Progressives however must understand there will be significant obstacles in the way of passing such an amendment. This will be one of the most uphill climbs we've had to face.
First, when a similar amendment was on the ballot in both Ohio and California, it miserably failed. We will need to better understand why these measures failed and how we can avoid potential mistakes.
Second, when you start talking about redistricting to voters, their eyes tend to start glazing over. We should probably come up with a way to talk about redistricting reform without mentioning the word "redistricting" if possible. I think we'll probably have to frame the issue as a matter of fairness and stopping corrupt and out of touch politicians from continuing to screw up the system.
Third, every Republican politician and their uncle will likely come out against such an amendment. They all stand to lose, and lose big, should such an amendment pass. I wouldn't be surprised if some Democrats come out against the amendment as well. While their party will likely benefit from such a move, some who are wary of political competition will want to keep their ridiculously Democratic districts. We should be the first to come out and say anyone who is against this amendment clearly doesn't like democracy and is beholden to the forces holding Florida back.
Fourth, while the amendments in California and Ohio only required 50%+1 to pass, we need 60%+1, which will be quite a task. We won't be able to run an amendment campaign like progressives have run them in Florida before. We'll need a strong media campaign AND a strong grassroots operation throughout the state. Anything less than this just simply won't work.
Next Week: Building the progressive bench.
The first major priority and focus of Florida progressives is to enact significant redistricting reform via constitutional amendment in the 2010 elections. This will be done through Fair Districts Florida.
Barack Obama won the state of Florida with 51% of the vote. Obama ran up big victories in the southeast and made significant inroads along the I-4 corridor by winning a landslide in Orange County (Obama received nearly 60% of the vote in a county that barely went for Kerry in 2004) and winning Hillsborough County. Only pieces of the panhandle actually voted more Republican than in 2004. Almost every county in Florida trended more Democratic. Despite all of this, numbers in the Florida legislature essentially didn't budge. Democrats netted one seat in the Florida house - that was all the change we saw at the state level.
Poor candidates, lack of funding, and the energy-consuming Presidential campaign can all probably be blamed as minor factors in the lack of change in the legislature. However, the fact that legislators draw their own districts to benefit themselves is clearly the biggest and most dominating factor.
Let me be clear: no party, whether Republican or Democratic, should have the power to draw their own districts and choose their voters. This is wrong and undemocratic in every way possible. I've heard enough stories about redistricting from both former and current elected officials to know that this a corrupt and morally disgusting process that must be stopped.
Should the Fair Districts amendment (which removes the power of redistricting from the legislature and gives it to a bi-partisan commission) pass then future elections will be made more competitive. The results we would see at the Presidential level would likely translate into movement at the state level.
The reason this is the number one priority of progressives in the next couple of years is because without a more accountable and progressive legislature, it will be nearly impossible to enact any kind of meaningful reforms for the people of Florida.
Progressives however must understand there will be significant obstacles in the way of passing such an amendment. This will be one of the most uphill climbs we've had to face.
First, when a similar amendment was on the ballot in both Ohio and California, it miserably failed. We will need to better understand why these measures failed and how we can avoid potential mistakes.
Second, when you start talking about redistricting to voters, their eyes tend to start glazing over. We should probably come up with a way to talk about redistricting reform without mentioning the word "redistricting" if possible. I think we'll probably have to frame the issue as a matter of fairness and stopping corrupt and out of touch politicians from continuing to screw up the system.
Third, every Republican politician and their uncle will likely come out against such an amendment. They all stand to lose, and lose big, should such an amendment pass. I wouldn't be surprised if some Democrats come out against the amendment as well. While their party will likely benefit from such a move, some who are wary of political competition will want to keep their ridiculously Democratic districts. We should be the first to come out and say anyone who is against this amendment clearly doesn't like democracy and is beholden to the forces holding Florida back.
Fourth, while the amendments in California and Ohio only required 50%+1 to pass, we need 60%+1, which will be quite a task. We won't be able to run an amendment campaign like progressives have run them in Florida before. We'll need a strong media campaign AND a strong grassroots operation throughout the state. Anything less than this just simply won't work.
Next Week: Building the progressive bench.
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