Broward Politics: Blacks Are The New Jews
BY BUDDY NEVINS
In the upcoming Democratic primary blacks are the new Jews.
Jews once dominated Democratic politics. But those Jews have moved to that polling place in the sky. Or to Boca Raton.
Blacks now comprise the largest single bloc in the Broward Democratic Party.
Democratic voters can see this demographic change daily in their mail boxes.
Candidate flyers and brochures are filled with black faces. The reason? Blacks are now roughly half of all Democratic voters.
Supervisor of Elections candidate Mitch Ceasar’s flyer highlights his connections in the black community.
That is quite a change from the past, when Black faces were seen as a detriment in campaign literature.
In 1980, Black bus driver John “Gus” Plummer was elected to the state house from Miami because he seldom showed his face in public. Plummer’s name was the same as two longtime Miami Good ‘Ol Boys politicians — a Miami commissioner and a state House member. And he was Republican, a party which didn’t draw too many Black voters.
Plummer lost the next year when his race became better known.
John “Gus” Plummer, Florida House member 1980-82
Then there is Black former Judge Ian Richards, who won a seat in Broward County Court in 2008 “by running a race in which few saw his face,” the Sun-Sentinel said.
But being Black is now a winning formula for candidates in the all-important Democratic primary. The primary is when most office holders are chosen because Broward is so overwhelming Democratic.
This demographic shift is happening all over the nation as detailed in a fascinating post — linked here: thepoliticsdr.com — by political scientist Jim Kane.
Whites share of voters are dropping all over.
That doesn’t mean that if you are black, you automatically win an election. For instance:
- Several races in the upcoming Democratic primary feature more than one black candidate, presumably splitting any ethnic bloc vote.
- A number of white Democratic candidates — Supervisor of Elections candidate Mitch Ceasar comes to mind. — have a long record of publicly standing up for Black Civil Rights.
- Broward’s Black community is divided between African Americans and Caribbean Americans. They don’t necessarily agree on issues. Perhaps more important, they have their own set of leaders and business interests.
So the assumption that all Blacks vote as a bloc for a certain Black candidate is often wrong.
I found it offensive when “experts” used to predict all Jewish condo voters would cast ballots in lockstep. I find the expectation that all blacks vote together just as objectionable and an insult to the intelligence of those voters.
This is one old white guy who believes the rise of black voting power in Broward is healthy for our democracy.
If you got the votes, use ‘em. Voting is where people make their voices heard.
As Barack Obama said,”There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter.”
July 7th, 2020 at 1:11 pm
Some say Black people say they will only vote for Black canidates on solely because they r Black.I say not sure.Get this.Martini fonder states that Trump has and is encouraging Kanye West to run for President.For the sole purpose that the Black vote will take away votes from Joe Biden.In theory- maybe.Although majority of Black people I talk w/ can’t t stand Kanye West not only because he is married to Kardashian but more his support for Donald Trump.Oh West has the qualifing monies but if this accurate If I were Trump I go more w/ Allen West.Although again majority of Black people don’t care for either.To the Black voters vote for canidates who will get and give your children etc jobs instead of protesting in these streets across America.Civil unrest will end when these 18- 35 yr.old Black demographic have jobs.Ps back to Kanye West even former President Obama called him a jackass.
July 7th, 2020 at 7:38 pm
The equation continues. Democrats equal identity politics. However, the title of this article brought back memories of Neal Rogers. an Irreverent but funny man.
FROM BUDDY:
Neil Rogers ( Nelson Roger Behelfer) was a well-known and top rated radio shock jock on various Miami stations. His influence peaked from roughly the 1980s to early 2000s. He died in 2010 at 68.
Full disclosure: The mention of Rogers brings back personal memories. I was the target of attacks on-air from Rogers over years. He apparently didn’t like how I was covering his off-air antics, such as his indecency arrest in an adult theater.
July 8th, 2020 at 12:54 pm
To be honest, I’m not a Kanye West hater, but I think he will be a bad president. Or a puppet in the hands of another person who will steer the country. It really will be a very strange act. Many are fans of him. For many years he built his advertising campaign. But it is not credible, to be honest. I’m watching how many programs about him. It’s kind of like a robot in itself.
July 8th, 2020 at 2:36 pm
I would like to see alot of Black people just average Joe’s seek an elected office position.Tell u one thing Comm.Robert McKenzie in Ft.lau boy my African- American friends boy does he have your back.
July 8th, 2020 at 5:16 pm
When Jewish people held sway, several got elected just because they were Jews. Christians could be legal scholars and still they couldn’t get elected unless they changed their names to Berg or Stein.not saying that all the Jewish judges were fools because some were excellent. Some were unqualified and got elected because they were Jews. Vote for the Qualified candidate!
July 8th, 2020 at 8:06 pm
#5.To your sentiment so many Jewish judges and yes that is accurate.However,this does not surprise myself because Jewish families put a huge emphasis on education.To the point it’s very impressive.
July 9th, 2020 at 1:06 pm
#4 – how does Mckinzie have anyone’s back? He has been the laziest, least informed, lobbyist tool commissioner in Fort Lauderdale for 8 years running. He has done zero for the african american community, or any other community, other than approve any new development that comes in front of him.
July 9th, 2020 at 10:41 pm
5., NAME ONE LEGAL SCHOLAR defeated by a lesser qualified candidate because the less qualified candidate was Jewish. NO SUCH ELECTION EVER TOOK PLACE IN BROWARD COUNTY. NO SUCH ELECTION TOOK.PLACE IN OTHER AREAS WHERE JEWS WERE THE DECIDING FACTOR. The leading ‘JEWISH VOTE GETTER” was FRANKLYN DELANO.ROOSEVELT – A Dutch Huguenot American!
July 10th, 2020 at 1:31 pm
Master Mitch Ceasar has never done anything for Black Civil Rights except use them as props and free labor for his quest to attain elected office. Master Mitch Ceasar did not provide water to us free labor volunteers at poling sites passing out his literature in past campaigns. Your subliminal endorsement of Ceasar is disgraceful.I’m sure you will click delete this reply.
July 10th, 2020 at 7:50 pm
To #8: There are NUMEROUS examples. The most glaring one is probably Ellen Feld defeating Julio Gonzalez for judge. Judge Gonzalez was a highly respected, competent judge at the top of the bar polls. Feld was a Jewish woman. But, after the election she was the judge. There are easily ten solid examples such as this in Broward in the past thirty years.
July 11th, 2020 at 2:21 pm
#10, I said LEGAL SCHOLAR. NO ONE EVER CALLED JUDGE GONZALEZ A LEGAL SCHOLAR. YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT ‘TEN SOLID EXAMPLES’ is POPPYCOCK because BROWARD NEVER HAD TEN or EVEN FIVE LEGAL SCHOLARS on its Bench.
July 11th, 2020 at 9:18 pm
To #11: We could go back and forth all day. Somehow you turned your own comment (#8) into referring to ten solid examples about the Broward bench. No one said that it applied to the bench but you. Nice straw man. You must sit up all night arguing with yourself.
As far as Judge Gonzalez goes, he was widely regarded as a bright jurist. Feld’s intelligence was confined to her knowledge of white wine. She won because of her Jewish name. Deny it all you want.
Other examples of Broward sheeple voting? How about Andrew Gillum, under FBI investigation and with substance abuse issues receiving 260,140 more votes in Broward than Ron DeSantis? You may dislike Governor DeSantis but he’s a Yale undergrad, Harvard lawyer and is certainly a legal scholar compared to Gillum.
Judge Michael Usan is well known for being a scholarly judge. He nearly lost his election (recount) to Richard Kaplan. Why? Because Richard Kaplan’s name was way more Jewish than Usan’s ethnic sounding one. Why do you think Phoebee Francois currently has an opponent named Jacob Segal? Judge Francois is a hard working dedicated public servant. But it’s a pure name game.
Bottom line is you will keep coming back with your own belief, but it’s not based on fact. There are examples like this in EVERY Broward election. But then again, your eyes are shut tight so you can virtue signal all day long.
FROM BUDDY:
I believe there is no way to know for sure about these allegations without surveying every voter.
That said, I believe this comment left out an important factor. Several of these candidates may have also lost votes because of a backlash against minorities rather than a pro-Jewish name vote.
I would argue against the position that Feld won solely because of her Jewish name. That might have been a factor, but I believe Gonzalez lost in part because of his Hispanic name.
That same anti-minority belief is working in the Phoebee Francois race.
In the Usan/Kaplan race, Richard Kaplan had the same name as the veteran Lauderhill mayor. Usan is vaguely foreign-sounding.
This bias sadly is exploited by some lawyers — many of them otherwise unqualified — and political consultants.
July 16th, 2020 at 4:30 pm
I noticed Mitch Ceasar’s endorsements begin with O’Neal Dozier
This is the guy that was put on and removeD from the JNC by Jeb Bush
Why?
questioning candidates for the bench he insisted on knowing if they believed in God… translation Jesus
Christ
I was unaware that Mitch had become a Baptist😇
July 21st, 2020 at 10:56 pm
todays jewish candidates are no more jewish then my dead dog. they are only jewish because it’s convenient for them to get elected. they could not give a shit about their heritage or values in serving the public. it’s a job because they failed somewhere else. i would not vote for any jewish candidate these days. most are a total disgrace to the human race. bytw. if you’re thinking anti Semitism Kish mein tuckus
August 3rd, 2020 at 5:53 pm
Rick Scott appointee. A lackey. You want to end free elections? This is how it starts. All appointees like her are poorly qualified. And do what they are told. They masquerade as whatever to get a government job. We lose our freedoms. How it starts. Only 39 states left with freely elected local judges. Less constitutional because one vote versus 300k or so in primary.
FROM BUDDY:
I have a different opinion.
Appointed judges are vetted by both members of the Bar and regular folks who are members of the Judicial Nominating Commission. Then they are again examined by the governor’s office before being appointed. Remember that anyone appointed must be approved by voters at the first general election.
Many elected judges are great. Some are simply political hacks who are great at glad-handing and little else. We have had many judges elected solely because of name appeal or because they have connections among community leaders who round up votes. So being elected is no panacea. After all, former Judge Roy Moore of Alabama was elected twice as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama and both times was removed from office for abuse of authority, refusing to obey the law, substituting his judgement over the law and every other judge of the Supreme Court and various other misdeeds.