Democrats Told That A Big Broward Win Can Propel Hillary Clinton Into White House
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Gone from the Broward County Democratic Party’s September meeting Tuesday was the casual confidence of a November victory.
Gone was the blasé belittling of Republican nominee Donald J. Trump’s chances.
Gone was the dismissal of Trump’s supporters as a marginal group of bigots and fools.
All it took was a downbeat 10-minute speech by Broward Democratic Leader Mitch Ceasar to bring reality to the activists. He warned that the nation’s voters were boiling with resentment towards the status quo and that could propel Trump to victory.
“Do not misjudge the level of anger. We do this at our own peril,” Ceasar said, adding that so much was at stake because Trump was unqualified and erratic.
Referring to his long history as a Democratic activist including two decades as chair of the local party, Ceasar said, “In 40 years, I have never ever been scared before. Not because he’s a Republican. Because he’s unreliable.”
“How many of you are scared?” Ceasar asked the crowd of roughly 200 Democrats.
Hands flew up around the Edwin F. Deike Auditorium in Plantation.
Mitch Ceasar asks party members Tuesday to work hard for Hillary Clinton
It was a sobering night for Democrats, who have been watching Hillary Clinton’s lead in Florida and national polls evaporate. Democrats, who took it for granted a month ago that Clinton would waltz into the White House, were told they would have to make extraordinary efforts for her to win.
“This is going to be close,” Craig Smith, a Clinton senior advisor told the group. He put the eventual vote spread between the two candidates in Florida at 1 percent.
The Clinton campaign has labeled Broward as the third most important county in the nation necessary for a victory, Smith said.
Miami-Dade County is first and Philadelphia is second.
Broward’s key role is why the Clinton campaign is putting roughly 100 paid campaign workers here. More are being sent to Miami-Dade.
“This is ground zero,” Smith said. “The future of our county is at stake.”
He implored local activists to immediately join the paid workers and round up votes for Clinton.
Volunteers working with local Democratic grassroots organizer and party officer Cynthia Busch are currently signing up new voters. Busch’s troops are also calling 55,000 voters identified as Clinton supporters and encouraging them to vote by mail.
Broward provided President Barack Obama with a 264,000 margin in 2012. Obama won the state by roughly 74,000 votes, or .9 percent.
Democrats want more Democratic votes out of Broward this year, or at least enough to match 2012. The problem is that the county’s turnout has been dropping for years.
Broward had the worst turnout of any large Florida County in the 2012 – 66.8 compared to a statewide average of 72 percent.
Democrats have set a big goal for themselves this year: Raising Broward’s turnout to 70 from 66.8 percent.
To drive up that turnout, Democrats are putting $100 million into television ads, Smith said. Yet, he cautioned, that the election in Florida wouldn’t be won on TV.
“This is a state that will be won on the ground. It will be won in the street. It will be won on the doorsteps,” Smith said.
Ceasar dangled a major incentive for Democrats to not just support Clinton, but work for her campaign:
If Broward delivers an unprecedented vote margin for Clinton, Trump cannot win Florida. Without Florida, Trump can not win the presidency.
“If we win Florida, that’s the ballgame,” Ceasar said. “It’s up to all of us.”
Tuesday was Ceasar’s first night back as chair after a temporary leave he took to run for Broward Clerk of the Court. He lost the campaign in the August primary.
After the election, Ceasar is stepping down. Democratic precinct men and women will choose a new party chair before the end of the year.
September 21st, 2016 at 9:55 am
In 2000 Al Gore carried Broward by an enormous margin,over 200,000,as I recall. If we had done just a tiny bit better,say another 2000,there would have been no dispute,Gore would have become President,and we would be living in a much different(better)world
FROM BUDDY:
Like 2000, third party candidates may thwart the election of the Democratic candidate.
The turnout in Broward was 70 percent in 2000. With the death of many seniors, more reliable voters born during the Depression, the turnout dropped to 66.8 percent by 2012.
September 21st, 2016 at 12:05 pm
If only Al Gore had been a little less boring in 2000 and there was not Clinton fatigue, maybe he would have gotten those extra votes Mr. Latona.
Hmm. Hillary still carries that Clinton fatigue, is more boring than Gore and more disliked. Even the heavily African American student population at Temple University in Philly wouldn’t turn out for her recent rally there. Nobody votes for a boring candidate. Sounds like the Dems have their work cut out this election.
Contrast that with the full house Trump spoke to recently at his Sunrise rally. And the tens of millions of dollars he is raising from small donors (as opposed to Hillary’s $2,700+ per plate Hollywood fundraisers) and it appears Trump has the big momentum behind him.
As I have written before, this election reminds me of the 2012 Governor’s race between the crook and the phony. Same titles, different faces this time!
Ultimately this will be a status election. Either the voters want four more years of status quo policies or they want to shake things up. Based on what I read, see, and hear, the shakers are more motivated.
Now let’s see if either candidate can strike a decided blow at next week’s debate to change the dynamic of this election.
September 21st, 2016 at 1:35 pm
Her husband is a rapist and she is an enabler, how can anyone with a daughter vote for Hillary?
September 21st, 2016 at 3:51 pm
The danger for the Democrats is that White including White Hispanics get so spook by terrorism and the rise of Muslim immigration they either stay home or vote for Trump.
I was shocked by White Hispanics in West Broward n even Ft Lauderdale despite his racist comments supporting him.
The Middle Class under 30 Whites feel no connection to Hillary they did to President Obama.
Hillary MUST BE COMPELLING AT THE FIRST DEBATE.
September 21st, 2016 at 9:29 pm
Status quo is unacceptable. Not one person who invests in CDs or money markets is making a dime because of interest rates. Wages are stagnant. Millions of people are in need of food stamps. The national debt is soaring. The Middle East catastrophes are ongoing. Schools advertise free breakfasts because kids are hungry. Jobs are going to Mexico. Terrorists are maiming people going about their daily lives. People are defaming law enforcement. Upward mobility has disappeared for almost everyone. Health care insurance costs are outrageous. And on and on and on. Change must happen and Hillary is status quo.
September 22nd, 2016 at 6:44 am
#3 – Not only that, she is an incompetent, egotistical liar only interested in self enrichment and power. She is sick and cannot function under pressure. How can anyone with a brain vote for her? It amazes and disgusts me that D’s are actually supporting a sick criminal. What does that say about the D party. I have been a D all my life. Not anymore. My conscience won’t let me. How many Bush/Clinton/O’Sama family retreads can this country handle? The only R’s speaking out against Trump are the ones that only want to protect their own self serving, pocket lining, life long enrichment schemes. That is why career political whores don’t want Trump. This system is broken. I don’t want an oligarchy. Time for a change.
September 22nd, 2016 at 4:57 pm
Did you ever notice how the Hildebeast keeps the engines running on Broomstick One so that she can make a quick escape from a campaign stop before she has another neurological event? I can’t wait to see her head twitching, eyes switching and knees buckling at a two hour long debate.
Normally, the challenger at a first debate (that would be Trump) has lower hurdles to surmount in order to appear a winner. This time, the PIAPS only has to go two hours without fainting in order to be declared the winner. Can she do it?
September 23rd, 2016 at 5:22 pm
If the blogs reflect the depth of support for Hiliary we Democrats in Broward HAVE TO STEP UP OUR GAME!