Election Result: Plot To Dump GOP Boss
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Another victim of the Democratic ticket’s crushing victory may be Broward Republican Chair Richard DeNapoli.
Party dissidents are plotting against DeNapoli. They want to make a run at him during the election for chairman next month.
The chairman is charged with…well, just look at the election results.
Remember, the raison d’être for any political party is to win elections.
Some in the party organization, formally called the Broward Republican Executive Committee or BREC, say DeNapoli’s team muffed it.
Well-funded Republicans losing include Sheriff Al Lamberti, state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff and candidate for U. S. House, Adam Hasner. And President Barack Obama pulled the same Democratic margin out of Broward as four years ago.
In addition to losing some key seats, critics contends he failed to staff the polls with volunteers adequately during Early Voting and Election Day.
Other than the election, DeNapoli is accused of making problems for the future.
A critic says he failed to protect the only Republican county commissioner during redistricting. Now Commissioner Chip LaMarca has a much tougher re-election.
A DeNapoli functionary, Michael De Gruccio, was appointed to the School Board redistricting committee and failed to attend meeting. That left Republican member Katie Leach without party help in the fight to preserve her district.
Most of all I sense that DeNapoli turns off some Republicans with his personality. He is repeatedly called a self-aggrandizer who runs BREC with one eye on the party and another in the mirror.
“Everything is about Richard. It is Richard did this and Richard did that,” said one BREC member.
DeNapoli must see the attack coming because he sent an eight point e-mail this week defending his reign.
Both DeNapoli and Democratic boss Mitch Ceasar are facing a wave of criticism at their respective elections next month. Yet DeNapoli instituted many of the reforms that Democrat dissidents demand including a solid Internet presence and an strengthening of the political clubs.
DeNapoli stumbled on redistricting. But he helped hold on to two School Board seats in an overwhelming Democratic county.
Could anybody have done better against the overpowering Obama machine?
I doubt it, but Republican committee members will have to make that call.
XXXXX
DeNapoli’s lengthy e-mail, which also was posted on Facebook:
Promises Made, Promises Kept
Dear Fellow Broward Republicans,
When Colleen Stolberg and I ran for Chair and Vice-Chair two years ago, we issued an Eight Point Platform for the Almost Eight Hundred Precincts in Broward County. Below, we detail the Platform and how the promises we made were the promises we kept.
All the Best,
Richard DeNapoli, Chairman
“1. GOP Unity. By focusing on our shared conservative values and what unites us rather than on what divides us, we can build a better organization. Together, we can accomplish anything.”
- Together, as an organization, we grew our membership and built the largest REC in the State of Florida…in the most Democrat-dominated county in Florida. Together, we had over 300 people at every meeting. Together we pulled in crowds of 450 at Lincoln Day 2011, over 600 at the Grand Old Party BBQ, and almost 500 at our Lincoln Day 2012. A growing membership and blockbuster attendance at meetings and events is a sure sign of a united organization.
“2. Growing Our Membership through the “800 Club.” There are almost 800 precincts in Broward County. For the upcoming elections, we should try to fill these precincts with active Committemen and Committeewomen. Only through an active and large membership can we achieve our long-term goals of getting more Republicans elected.”
- We added almost 200 new members in the last two years thanks to our outreach efforts. Thanks to Vice Chair Colleen Stolberg for her amazing work building our organization.
“3. Empowering our Members and Local Clubs. The Board of the BREC exists to serve its committee members, and servant leaders are what we aim to be as your Chair and Vice-Chair. We should also provide our committee members with the opportunity to make public comments at every meeting. We must strive to give each and every committee member and club the tools they need to succeed in organizing their precincts. The stronger our local clubs and organizations are, the stronger the Executive Committee will be. Our local club Presidents should meet regularly and elect a Chair of the Club Presidents on a yearly basis that sits on the dais with the rest of the Board and participates in Executive Board meetings. …”
- At our very first meeting, we allowed public comments and motions…and continued this for the last two years.
- We provided all of our members with training manuals and precinct listsin 2011 – far in advance of the elections.
- The Weston Club was restarted and the Republican Club of Central Broward was created. Both quickly became very successful. The BREC Jewish Outreach Committee was also started which in turn became very successful.
- We offered our members a way to reach out to the Republicans in their precincts via our Precinct Letter Project. This allowed our members to contact over 50,000 Republican households and provide them with a customized voter guide to help all of our candidates on the ballot. Though we won’t know turnout numbers by registration for a couple of weeks, in precincts where members sent letters, there was higher performance compared to neighboring similar precincts. Additionally, the BREC sent out 40,000 of these letters and guides to areas not represented by REC members to help turn out the vote. This assisted our preferred candidates in the nonpartisan races tremendously. An example is Coral Springs: Every precinct in Coral Springs was covered, where Vincent Boccard and Dan Daley won election. The entire city of Margate was covered, and our two candidates there came very close to winning their races.
- We held regular Club Presidents meetings, and the club presidents elected Chairs of the Club Presidents (though they didn’t want to sit on the dais).
“4. Fundraising. We need active fundraising throughout the year through regular Lincoln Day, Reagan Day, and other functions that will enable us to hire an Executive Director to run our operations and headquarters as well as to provide more resources for our members and candidates. As your Treasurer, Richard took it upon himself to focus on fundraising to keep our organization going through the November election. We need to remain diligent throughout the year so we always have enough money to achieve our goals.”
- The total of all monies raised during the last two years was revenue of $385,144.
- Less than three months after our election, we held our first Lincoln Day, featuring Keynote Speaker Governor Scott and Special Guests RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day and Congressman Allen West. We netted $90,000.
- In June 2011, we held our Grand Old Party BBQ featuring Congressman Allen West and just about every Republican candidate running for office in Broward County. We netted about $15,000.
- In September 2011, Presidency 5 we had more than 170 attendees from Broward. This resulted in some $30,000 netted for the Republican Party of Florida, which in turn referred $4,000 to the BREC.
- We held our second Lincoln Day in May 2012 with Keynote Speaker Attorney General Pam Bondi and Special Guests CFO Jeff Atwater and Congressman Allen West.
- We collected tens of thousands of dollars throughout both years in our regular fundraising appeals and monthly sponsors at meetings.
- We opened a Federal Account thanks to the hard work of Treasurer Mark McCarthy – this enabled us to make purchases of Romney/Ryan signs, bumper stickers, etc. We distributed over 8,000 Romney/Ryan signs and bumper stickers throughout Broward – mostly paid for through contributions to the Federal account.
“5. Committees. There is a lot of talent among our Executive Committee members. We are all leaders of our own precincts. We need leaders for (a variety of) … committees…”
- We appointed various members to various committees. Colleen Stolberg managed our Membership Committee, and we added almost 200 new members
- Michael De Gruccio spearheaded our Registration Committee, and many of our members went out doing voter registration. The RPOF set a goal of a little more than 12,000 new Republican registrations. Together, Broward exceeded our goals with new Republican registrations of over 18,000 since the 2010 General Election.
- Richard focused on Candidate Recruitment, and we had more candidates than at any point in recent memory, and appointed members to various leadership councils and outreach committees.
- We held monthly charitable drives that were spearheaded by Heather Moraitis, wife of George Moraitis, our State Representative.
“6. Technology. As the county with the second largest number of registered Republicans in Florida, we need a website that is second to none. Campaigns have become increasingly focused on technology, and we need to keep up with these advances while remaining focused on the time-tested, effective grassroots techniques.”
- Richard redesigned our website and updated it regularly over the past two years.
- Richard established our Facebook Fan page in 2011, and it has over 20,000 fans today. We also utilized Facebook advertising to attract attendees and new members to our events and meetings.
- Our email list has attracted over 20,000 contacts.
- Utilizing sign-up forms online, we referred over 500 volunteers – many first time volunteers – to the Romney and Broward GOP Victory offices.
- Richard also reached out to new people via robo calls.
- We received accolades in local press for our advances in technology.
“7. GOTV Training. It can be overwhelming when someone first gets involved in our organization. Through regular precinct training, we can help our members succeed.”
- The Board created and designed, after consultation with the Club Presidents, the Broward GOP Precinct Training Manual, which was presented at four different training sessions throughout the four corners of Broward in November 2011.
- This training manual was presented by Richard at an RPOF meeting and it quickly became the model for all the RECs across the state of Florida.
“8. Shared Celebrations. Recognizing the efforts of our local clubs, volunteers and members will promote more goodwill throughout our organization.”
- We have thanked our members with mentions at meetings, presented lifetime achievement awards to our long serving members, presented awards to our elected officials, presented member-of-the-year awards, Young Republican of the Year awards, and recognized our host committee members for our various fundraisers in print and online advertising.
Lastly, beyond the Eight Point Platform, we also accomplished the following as an organization:
- We garnered national news attention when we unearthed evidence and were successful in having thousands of dead voters removed from the rolls in Broward.
- We fought the Broward Supervisor of Elections and successfully restored an Early Voting Site to the east side of Broward (this site had the highest percentage of Republican voters of all the Early Voting sites in the August 2012 primary).
- We fielded candidates in more races than ever in recent memory throughout the county.
- We had the liberal League of Women Voters Guide removed from the Broward Supervisor of Election’s website.
- We chased absentee Republican voters with robocalls, mailings, and phone banking, and had a higher return rate than the Democrats.
- We distributed 85,000 palm card voter guides for Early Voting and Election Day, and online recommendations were downloaded over 1,000 times.
- We remodeled the BREC HQ, and opened it up to all candidates.
- We defended Congressman West and multiple other candidates during redistricting hearings that many of our members and officers attended.
- We opened two Broward GOP Victory offices South of I-595, where tens of thousands of calls have been made to turn out the Republican vote.
- Broward saw the first Republican elected to the School Board since the year 2000 when Katie Leach was elected in August, and all of our recommended candidates either won their August races outright or made it to the November election.
- Though is was a tough year, redistricting hurt our prospects and the National Democrat surge claimed as many as five GOP incumbents (some in what many would consider “safe seats”) from the Florida State House (including the incoming Speaker Designate), two State Senate seats, and three Congressional seats, there were some bright spots in Broward County….
- George Moraitis was reelected by 10 points in a district that went from having a 7.5% Republican registration advantage to only a 1.1% Republican advantage after redistricting.
- Vincent Boccard was elected Mayor of Coral Springs, and Dan Daley is a new Coral Springs City Commissioner. Republicans now hold 4 of 5 seats in Coral Springs. Patty Asseff won reelection to the Hollywood City Commission. Jeff Nelson was reelected in Southwest Ranches and Jeff Green was reelected in Cooper City. Congressman Mario Diaz Balart will also continue to represent a portion of Broward County.
- Donna Korn won election to the School Board in the at-large seat, an amazing feat in Broward County against the former Democratic Leader of the Florida House!
While there may be good election cycles and bad election cycles, you can be assured that our promises made have been our promises kept. We will always work hard on behalf of our Republican candidates and the BREC.
All the best,
Richard DeNapoli & Colleen Stolberg
November 14th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Seriously, the Grand Old party just needs to re-assess, re-imagine, re-vision and reinvigorate. And it all begins with respect towards the electorate.
November 14th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
highly unlikely LaMarca will be re-elected and not because of DeNapoli. LaMarca may not be in an August 2014 primary, but come Nov. 2014 ballot Scott is up for re-election, which won’t happen with Broward votes.
November 14th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Anyone who speaks of themselves in the thrid person is a douchebag.
November 14th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Buddy,
Most BREC members that I have spoken with think Richard has done a tremendous job. From his improvements to fundraising, strengthening local clubs, recruiting BREC members, recruiting more candidates, not to mention donating his own hard-earned money to candidates, set him head-and-shoulders above other REC chairs. I’ve belonged to four different REC’s in the state, and Richard is by far the most engaged and effective leader I have seen. Although he has had the opportunity to run for offices in Broward, he has instead focused all of his efforts, at great sacrifice to his own personal life, towards helping Republican candidates. This is not about Richard, but about the improvements the party has made in the past two years, and the vision for the next two years which will be just as challenging. There is a big difference between people who talk and people who do, and Richard is clearly a person who gets things done.
November 14th, 2012 at 8:09 pm
I can’t believe that partisan leaders refer to non partisan seats as seats won or retained. There should be laws against such behavior.
November 14th, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Richard DeNapoli is a very odd duck who works hard for the party. Once you get past his constant self-promotion, you realize he is a dedicated Republican.
November 14th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Richard DeNapoli is one of the most paranoid persons I have ever worked with… they guy always has his girlfriend take photos of him as if he is the “man” around town. Everyone hates Richard in the BREC and the RPOF… the guy is such a grandstander when things are good and a blamer when things are crap. I was in Coral Springs two nights ago at a GOP club and Richard was blaming Romney for his piss poor job performance.. I am sorry, was Romney running Lamberti’s, Ellyn’s Adam’s, etc. race??? NOPE! The Republicans that won – Jeff Green, Katie, Daley, Donna Korn all had one thing in common = zero help from the BREC. Two strong candidates will run again DeNapoli… (both female). The party needs business people running it – not a Chairman that works in a cubical and a Secretary that lives with his mom and does not have a car… just sayin!
November 14th, 2012 at 10:10 pm
@ Gobeo, did DeNapoli run your campaign?
November 14th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
DiNapoli thinks the leadership exists to serve the members, and even more surprisingly, he thinks he’s accountable to the membership for his performance!
Where did he learn that kind of thinking??
It’s the exact opposite of Mitch Ceasarism!!
November 14th, 2012 at 11:07 pm
Richard worked hard for the candidates. He was at the events, encouraged the candidates, assisted with with every request, gave out of his own pocket, and set an example for the rest of the R’s in Broward. It is always easy to point a finger and blame someone else.
November 14th, 2012 at 11:47 pm
Chip has nerves blaming Richard for redistricting. Chip got hosed because he made a deal with non other than, Republican turned Democrat, Barbara Sharief. In the end, Sharief used Chip then screwed him royally! Chip got played on that deal because he trusted his former, Republican turned Democrat, friend and her Republican aide Tory Alston. Another case of Republicans turning on Republicans. Talk about Sunshine Law violations, huh!
November 15th, 2012 at 7:42 am
Thanks for the comment Bob Wolfe!
November 15th, 2012 at 7:54 am
@Robert Sutton , ahhh, yes, I forgot! DeNapoli helped your campaign as well. How did that work out?
PS – he was trash talking you all around town that you that could not raise money for your own filing fee. Don’t trust DeNapoli….
November 15th, 2012 at 8:22 am
In fairness to Richard, most likely no one could have done better against the Dem/Obama wave this year. Many of the points he made in his email are accurate, a little skewed, but somewhat accurate.
The reason Richard is going down is Michael DeGruccio. This guy missed 2 redistricting committee meetings as well as failing to email his rankings of the proposed maps as all memebers did but him.
When called on it, DeGruccio told DiNaploi he never would have supported the map drawn by BREC because he didnt like how some Districts were drawn.
During this past election cycle, BREC for which DeGruccio is Secretary and beleived to be a paid employee issued their candidate endorements, one being Shelly Solomon for School Board.
Instead of being loyal to BREC, DeGruccio went out and created his own letter saying he endorsed Freedman. Then Freedman was seen at polling places representing she was endorsed by BREC when in fact she was not.
In light of the above, which some see as disloyal, Richard continued to protect DeGruccio by making excuses for him and/or laying blame on everyone else.
While the man at the top should be first judged by his successes and failures, he must also be judged by whom he delegates authority.
November 15th, 2012 at 8:30 am
DeNapoli is to be commended for putting up two stooges: James Gleason for House and Robert Sutton for Broward County Commissioner.
Both never had a chance.
He couldn’t find 2 more people to run in those races?
DeNapoli didn’t event support Karen Harrington in the Primaries mainly because she didn’t support his bid to become chair fo the GOP.
The local GOP needs a Moderate to come in and find qualified candidates to run for office and change will only come by electing someone other than DeNapoli.
November 15th, 2012 at 8:32 am
The local GOP has more problems than just Denapoli. They run negative campaigns which will not win elections. At the NW Reg. library, GOP workers kept calling Obama a socialist, screamed at Obama workers and called the police numerous times (CS police finally told them not to call anymore). This did not go unnoticed by the long lines of voters. Daley and Boccard won, not because of BREC but by running positive campaigns based on their own experience. Korn won because Sands was unappealing, not because of BREC. Sutton and Gleason were terrible candidates but still received no help. Denapoli should take some responsibility but the GOP has tarnished their brand nationally, which is seen locally.
November 15th, 2012 at 10:23 am
I agree with my friends David Gobeo and Bob Sutton. Being a Chair of anything is hard work and being a BREC Chair is sometimes thankless. That is why our LBGOP Club recognized the hard work of Chairman DeNapoli and Vice Chair Stolberg at a recent breakfast event.
It’s too easy for the missinformed, or missguided factions of an organization to place the blame on “other people”, in place of simple political reality. As far as I’m concerned our people worked very hard, dedicated to their respective campaigns and candidates, and that includeds our BREC officers and it’s membership of 400+ strong.
There will always be critics and cry babies in politics, my answer is simple: lead or get out of the way! Richard has certainly been a leader that has earned my trust. That is more than I can say for those of you that complain. Upward and onward – BW
November 15th, 2012 at 10:33 am
In an overwhelmingly democratic county it seems a bit childish to blame Richard DeNapoli for all losses. If you look carefully, the voters stubbornly just went down the ballot and voted party line – either all “R” or all “D”. The district for Jim Gleason for State House was 2-to-1 Democrat and that is exactly how the votes went. I spent months going door to door for both Jim and Bob Sutton to discuss the candidates and issues with the voters – to independent and democratic households. In most cases they looked at the literature we handed out, scanning it for the “R” or “D” and many gave it back when they saw the “R” listed. They were proud to exclaim that they could never vote for a Republican. Issues do not matter to people like this. Having a candidate under Broward State Attorney investigation (again) with a lobbyist husband also under investigation, does not matter to these people. They staunchly refused to vote for a Republican, no matter how moderate that person may be. Same thing happened in line the entire 8 days of early voting. It was brutal for us being Republicans and trying to discuss issues instead of a ricidulous label at the end of a person’s name. This was a very polarized election across the country. It was very evident while I worked all 8-days 12-hours of early voting. Women asked me about Bob Sutton’s stance on Abortion. I explained that the Broward Commission does not usually weigh in on such matters and they got hostile shouting that they want to know! They also shouted this about the local judges which is also ridiculous. Richard gave us considerably more support than our own local club did, both monetarily and with volunteers and resources. While people said that they wanted to help and volunteer in any way we needed them, in the end they just wanted to attend happy hours and not do the hard work of walking door-to-door or handing out literature or sign waving at the polls. Can’t force people to leave their A/C and participate. At the NW regional library we did have a good group of people representing the GOP all 8 days of early voting. We did call the police on one campaign that consistently violated state election laws with both 1st and 3rd degree felonies. No, the police did not tell us to stop calling – in fact they were there helping us all week, and even stayed to help on voting day. I have to thank one officer in particular who was very concerned that everything was run fairly and by the law – no favoritism to anyone. The State of Florida hurt all GOP candidates with their redistricting. And if it is all Richard’s fault, how did large districts in Ohio and PA have almost 1 million votes and not one vote for Romney? This was class warfare across the country. So Critics, what should we have done? Fight dirty? Make up libelous and slanderous stuff about the Dem candidates just to win? What would you have done? Were you at all of the BREC and Club meetings giving your opinions, advice and help for all of our candidates? Somehow I did not see any of you at our walks or at our GOP table all 8 days of early voting. Just saying…
Oh – at least I have the courage to use my real name on this post, unlike some of you…
November 15th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Dear “MALE Man” and “RIP-GOP”. Your choice of anonymity and fake names say what you each are all about. Obviously you are too scared to let us all know who you really are. I must ask what specific knowledge do each of you have that all of us should believe that you know what you are talking about? If you are such experts then why don’t you yourselves run for BREC Chair or public office? And exactly what makes a “terrible candidate”? Almost every R in Broward was defeated. Vince and Dan were running Non-Partisan races, but you probably don’t understand what the difference is. None of what happened this year had anything to do with Richard D. Anyone that had anything to do with RBN knows what was really going on. And I am sure that I know both of you and you know how to get in touch with Bob and me so that you can tell us personally how bad we were as candidates. Face it, the election is over and I am not a sore loser. The voters decided. It had nothing to do with Richard D, who did what any candidate could expect and more. He helped personally and was always there. His ideas were refreshing has done a tremendous job. Maybe “MALE Man” and “RIP-GOP” should come to more BREC meetings to see for themselves, that is of course if they are really Republicans. And btw, name calling others does not make you or your views more credible.
November 15th, 2012 at 10:54 am
My comment was also meant for “RED COWARD”
November 15th, 2012 at 11:21 am
This is not Richards fault at all. He did an awesoem job giving advice to cannidates it is there choice if they wanted to take it or not. We cant blam him for the high turn out of “D” this election the “D” did not care if the person they were voting for was being investigated and was a lobbiest. No did there homework. I point blam at the voters they did not do there homework on the cannidates they just voted right down party lines. I cant belive you all are pointing blame at Richard you all are losers. who have nothing better to do then cause trouble.
November 15th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
“He who is without sin, cast the 1st stone”
My heart aches for those who are constantly being verbally abused, lied about, attacked personally, and made to feel unworthy. Is it to make you feel better? What’s in it for you, other than the attack itself?
I DO know ALL the players, both the “R” and “D”s. Whether you are complaining or conspiring about Chairman DeNapoli,Chairman Caesar, or anyone, how can you honestly enjoy the end result of what you post, and feel good about yourself?
Not once, in all the years I have known either Chairman, have they stooped to the same level as those who post here, and they, more than anyone else would have the right to do so, but choose not to.
I happen to know Mitch longer than Richard, and how you treat them both, along with candidates, is terrible. For those of you who so eagerly pen your painful comments and criticism, don’t you realize they have beautiful families, children,friends, and co-workers, who hurt and cry right along with those you joyfully attack?
Believe me when I say I have been there.You can search this site for my name and see what other humans are capable of saying. Believe what you want. My family & I cried over posts written here too. Do you feel any better now? I chose, like both Chairmen, not to respond to my attacks, and it may have cost me, but like Elton Johns song: I’m still standing ….
How any adult can write these posts, and enjoy the pain and misery of another, is beyond me, only God knows, and He does.
Chairman DeNapoli has given his time and money, placed his career on hold, missed events with his new wife and newborn son, to represent the outnumbered Republicans in Broward, and in the State. You don’t know what he does, and I DO! Richard is one of the nicest, generous people I know, his family too, but sometimes “confidence” can be seen as “arrogance”, and in his case it’s the furthest from the truth. No umpire or referee is liked 100%, 50% of the fans like or hate a call. Can you please everyone? No, but the attempt is what’s important, and that’s what Richard has tried to do from the beginning, and it is working, in spite of those who have no problem attacking unfairly. So, if you say to someone I do this for a living, and give a business card, it’s networking, but when Richard shows up, as the Proud REC Chairman it is self gratification? I am Proud to be the Gov Appointee to the Housing Authority, should I lower my head, and feel bad about that, because that’s what you want? Because we ( and other elected officials) are confident, we are arrogant, sorry to say, you’re wrong.
As far as candidates and campaigns are concerned, most hire a consultant to tell them what they should do, whether a judge, or State Rep race, doesn’t matter.. The REC does not run campaigns, that’s why the candidate “Pays” the consultant, and not the REC. We provide guidance, information, and support. Chairman DeNapoli has written many personal checks to the candidates, including Karen Harrington. If a specific candidate, whether Judicial or other says or does something, it is the candidates responsibility, not the REC. We don’t say: “Go run a campaign of distraction” or go attack your opponent by saying this or that. The Chairman is not responsible for their conduct, whether good or bad.
If you can put aside how you feel about someone politically, then it has to be about personalities. We were ALL created with our own personality,and which one of you would want to change who you are, based on what someone else thinks you should be? How fair is that?
I’m almost 59, and like ALL of us have made mistakes in my life, and I have learned from them. But who I am, and who you are, is who we are. Please don’t hate others because they sin differently than you..
Those of you who choose (and it’s a choice) to spew daily hateful attacks, enjoying other peoples pain and suffering, knowing the family and friends hurt along with the person attacked, should read carefully, and remember what I started my post with:
“He who is without sin, cast the 1st stone”
Tearfully,
Rico
November 15th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Those of you on the Republican ticket posting on this blog have fallen for a very common trick; having a Democrat operative like Buddy letting you become willing participants in a public gnashing of teeth upon one another just like the Presidential Republican candidates did to one another in the Primary debates before Romney became the actual candidate. This forum does nothing to assist the Republican Party, its candidates or its members when it comes to cleaning up their own house. It should not be a forum to attack one another, but it should be used place daylight on the Democrat lies and cheaters. The Republicans are too eager to eat or not support their own; this is partly what costs elections.
That being said, there is common agreement the general population did not care what name was on the Republican ticket, or the lack of character of the person that was on the Democrat ticket. It is difficult to argue with those that are arrogantly stupid, or purposely blind to the facts. However, there was one overriding exception to that situation in the local elections where one of the Republican candidates did succeed in her grassroots campaign. The Republicans would serve themselves well to use it as a case study on how to win going forward, and keep the in-fighting off the public venues of the Democrats for future fodder.
FROM BUDDY:
“A Democratic operative..” Hmmmmm. Funny how the Democrats call me a Republican operative.
As my former editor at the Sun-Sentinel used to say, “If both sides are mad at you, you must be doing something right”.
November 15th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
@Buddy, don’t flatter yourself thinking or attempting to make us believe you do not present a Left leaning bias in your blog.
FROM BUDDY:
I frankly don’t care what you believe. I don’t give much weight to anybody who hides behind an anonymous name.
November 15th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Those damn Dem Operatives…
You mean the one’s like Mary Fertig and Mike Ahearn? You know those two who helped get Donna Korn and Katie Leach elected. Those dems did more for to help the Republican claim w’s than most Republicans.
November 15th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
@ Rico – When someone hypocritically talks on TV about the sanctity of elections, and then rigs his own re-election and makes all the ballots disappear (thus eliminating the possibility of a recount), that person fully deserves to be heavily criticized. Many people would say that such a person deserves much, much more serious consequences than mere criticism.
To be perfectly clear, if Ceasar is crying and in pain because of the criticism he is receiving, he fully deserves to do that crying and feel that pain.
Mitch Ceasar has usurped the position of Chair via an illegitimate “election”. He is in for as much pain as Democratic activists can possibly give him, for as long as he remains in that position.
———–
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/10/broward_democratic_chairman_mitch_ceasar.php
When the 2000 presidential election was stuck in Broward County and the world watched the recount, Democratic Chairman Mitchell Ceasar talked a lot about the sanctity of elections and votes.
Everyone deserves to have his or her vote counted, he said over and over again. It was a basic American right. “There are people all over this country and certainly Florida who feel that a great disservice has occurred, that their votes were not counted accurately or at all,” he solemnly told the Herald.
But when it comes to his own power base in the Democratic Party, those high ideals go out the window. Ceasar runs his party like a despotic fiefdom, say numerous party insiders, with more ballot-stuffing and vote-fixing than the worst of the old ward system in his native Brooklyn. And in one of the Democrats’ most important national strongholds, it has turned the party into a bitterly dysfunctional mess that does little to help Democratic candidates or anyone else other than Ceasar and his profiteering loyalists, like Diane Glasser, Barry Harris, and Jack Shifrel.
To understand the level of Ceasar’s hypocrisy — and the cause of so much outrage by on-the-ground Democratic activists — ask only one question:
Where are the ballots?
During Ceasar’s contentious reelection as chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee in 2008, there were rampant allegations of election fraud against him. An official complaint was filed with the state party; affidavits were submitted alleging ballot stuffing, wrongfully banning anti-Ceasar voters, stacking the rolls with pro-Ceasar voters who weren’t qualified (some unregistered to vote, according to affidavits, some who were actually Republicans), and myriad other irregularities.
The only way to get to the bottom of that election, as any other, was to inspect the ballots and do a recount. That was the first order of business for Ceasar’s challenger in the election, former Congressman Peter Deutsch.
When the vote was over, the ballots disappeared.
“They were never returned to the office,” says Coffman. “They were supposedly sent to Tallahassee, but nobody ever saw them again. For all we know, they’re buried in Mitch’s backyard.”
Understand that the election involving several hundred committeemen and women was done in a middle-school auditorium in Tamarac — Ceasar’s political base — and the votes were counted behind a curtain that had been set up on the stage by Ceasar and his controversial allies.
So much for transparency. Ceasar’s supporters, including Barry Harris, were also seen carrying handfuls of ballots, a violation of election rules and a sign of ballot-stuffing. […]
FROM BUDDY:
I’m not taking a position on who should be the next chair of the Democratic Party. That said, I believe Ceasar Crying left out some vital information:
Didn’t the state party hold a hearing in Orlando concerning these complaints about the local party election, taking testimony from four dissidents quoted in the New Times and rejecting their claim? Wasn’t there three state party observers watching the election at the time? Why didn’t Peter Deutsch, who was running against Ceasar, file a complaint?
November 15th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
http://www.browardbeat.com/state-demo-party-slaps-down-local-leader/#comment-649860
In what free and fair election does one candidate unilaterally control the vote-counting process? Josef Stalin famously observed: “I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how.” From the comments to “Chairman Ceasar and the Dirty Election”:
“Mitch announced that henceforth all Democratic Party ballot counting would be in a sealed room with no one admitted other than his hand picked vote counters and the candidate’s themselves (previously party officers could be present to observe the vote counting)”
“Mitch brought armed police to the voting area to remove observers during an open ballot on public property. I objected because if there were 6 people counting votes at the table and only 2 vote counters per table it’s a waste of time – it’s like watching a shell game – 1 observer per side can’t possibly watch six counters! the armed police were brought in to intimidate us – when we asked him to show us the rules – or quote them he couldn’t”
Other comments in the article “Chairman Ceasar and the Dirty Election” explain why these sworn affidavits and formal complaints to the FDP went nowhere…
“… they are the organizer’s of their own election, and when a grievance is filed against them at the next tier up – the Florida Democratic Party – the head of the Judicial Committee, Chairwoman Karen Thurman, is in Mitch and Diane’s pocket because she is running 2-3 weeks later and needs their heavily weighted votes to maintain her seat (did anyone mention the fact that she is also a lobbyist?). …”
“Ceasar and Glasser then voted for Karen Thurman, a lobbyist, to retain her position as Florida State Democratic Chairwoman. Browards votes count more than other counties as we have the highest % of dems, which guaranteed Thurmans victory. Thurman then covered for Ceasar/Glasser in their hearings about the December election because if their elections were found to be fraudulent so too would hers.”
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Only Peter Deutch, or perhaps Robin Rorapaugh, can answer Buddy’s third question. But in the meantime, I believe Buddy left out some vital information:
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http://www.browardbeat.com/no-need-to-hail-ceasar-he-does-that-himself/
[Buddy Nevins writes:] Now, I like Mitch. I’ve known him for three decades. We eat lunch together regularly.
November 15th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
I saw first hand how hard Richard work to get these candidates elected and to help them when they needed it he would give them good advice on different things to do. Richard really cares. I can’t believe that people would sink this low as to blam him for the losses in broward. Also R.I.P-GOP have you ever met Jim Gleason or bob sutton? They were awesome candidates who worked extremely heard much harder then there opponents did. They had a vision to help this state and county and well I think you are jealous of them and that you did not have the balls to run in there races and wellif you thought they were bad why dont you run next time? Jim and BoB are 2 people who care a lot about this county and state they live in. They are 2 average people that wanted to mke a difference.
~Amanda Fatigate
November 15th, 2012 at 6:06 pm
@mailman. You are a really mean spirited individual. You bully good people who care so much about this county and state that they decided run to help make life better for those in there district. A lot of times people bully others because they are jelouse of them and that’s what you are jelous. I would guess have NO friends? Also if Richard is so hated at BREC can you tell me why people continue to come back I see new members there every month so I think just you hate him it’s one out of the 300 or so that attend every month. You just need to get a life and stop bullying people.
November 15th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Buddy I’m with you! I don’t give much thought to posts from people using anonymous names. Maybe one day these peps will use real names.
November 15th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
3. DAVID GOBEO: But David, as a close friend of DeNapoli, you are a peach to say all that…
6. GOPapa: I guess Richard set his handful of acolytes on Buddy Nevins.
9. VERY INTERESTING: You must be thinking of a different Richard DeNapoli. The one I know doesn’t care about anything but his (future political career.
10. ROBERT SUTTON: What would YOU know? The GOP don’t trust you and for good reason.
14. IN RE: THE COMPANY YOU KEEP: AS I have said before: DeNapoli’s nouveau-Republicans make excuses for their off-putting leader and blame everything on those who have actually been doing the heavy lifting for the GOP for years. DeGruccio is a hard working, extremely knowledgeable fellow. More than anyone can say for DeNappie
17. CALFLORIDIA: Bob, do you need any help pulling your nose out from there?
18. BARB CAPELETTI: Hot air… And how did your “fundraisers” go? How were you reporting those donations? As checks to the candidates from each donor or as a single check from your group? More to come…
19, 20 JIM GLEASON: Come on Jim, you’re a stand-up guy. You just let yourself be dragged down by losers like DeNappie & Lour-Mouthed-Barbie.
21. AMANDA: Have you ever heard “The buck stops here”?
22. RICO PETROCELLI: Rico, he signs your paycheck. “nuf” said.
24 FREE BROWARD: Nanunanu…nanunanu.
November 15th, 2012 at 8:13 pm
BREC did have one excellent candidate the time (who lost, unfortunately, to a very bad D incumbent), so I happily voted for him – Jim Lewis for State Attorney. Here’s why:
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http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/10/attorney_general_candidate_jim_lewis.php
[…] Jim Lewis: Being a prosecutor for 12 years taught me that the state has limited resources to handle dangerous criminals, we only have so many prison beds, and we really can’t afford to build anymore. It makes no sense to waste law enforcement resources, court time, and jail space on marijuana users.
New Times: California and Colorado were out front on legalizing medicinal marijuana. Will Florida be next?
Jim Lewis: Legalizing marijuana for medical purposes only will accomplish little except making doctors who write prescriptions rich. Florida should take the lead and legalize marijuana for adults and get the tax revenue like we do for alcohol and tobacco products. […]
November 16th, 2012 at 8:25 am
I am sorry that I speak the truth. The BREC has been run by a bunch of losers for 2 years.
Is it so much too ask that the BREC officers have 1. A job, 2. A home that isn’t mom’s and 3. And office rather than a cublical at work.
Actually I have a lot of freinds and a girlfriend that I didn’t pay for!
November 16th, 2012 at 9:13 am
Rico is a great guy, a genuine guy. He cares about people. He really should be a Democrat. He cares about social services, housing issues, the disenfranchised. Rico, switch to the Party that cares about 100% of the people, not 53%…
And as much as I respect the Bud-Ster, the columns he wrote about in your re-election, were in my opinion, not representative of what you provided when you were a Council Member. You dared to question the entrenched powers in Plantation with an independent voice (as now being done by Dr. Levy, L. Stoner and S. Uria; hell, i just witnessed R. Jacobs stepping up to the plate in an independent and correct fashion) and that balance was necessary and your duty. There is nothing wrong with that. You were attacked by same, and that’s just the reality of politics. I hope you consider running again. And FYI, I respect many of the accomplishments of the past and present Mayors. The problem with politics is the us vs. them mentality.
…… but you should really become a Dem! Dems got bigger hearts!
and that is the bottom line ‘cuz Stone Cold says soooo!
November 16th, 2012 at 10:52 am
I advocate clearing the air. Let’s undergo a cathartic exercise by posing a few questions regarding the “Republican Business Network” (RBN).
Is it true that a RBN treasurer admitted to misappropriation of funds? If so, who, where, what and how? Does anyone have proof of such an alleged admission (i.e. board minutes or an email stream)?
Is it true that the RBN treasurer in question has worked on political campaigns? If so, which candidates, in what capacity and for what length of time?
Is it true that RBN board members (past and present) specifically campaigned against “certain candidates” (who were/are RBN members)? If so, did the alleged campaigning involve withholding monetary or volunteer support? If so, who, where, what, how and why?
Is it true that a “co-founder” of RBN is an elected official? If so, what type of gain, if any, does such elected official garner from such a title?
Is it true that RBN has a vetting process for membership including, but not limited to, searches in court records and on Google? If so, who is doing the vetting and who is vetting those who are vetting?
Is it true that Coral Springs elected officials are members of RBN? Is so, who and for how long?
Is it true that RBN members have sought and achieved appointment to certain Coral Springs City Boards? If so, who is appointed, to what are they appointed and which former or current elected officials approved the appointments?
What is the purpose of RBN? How is RBN formed? Who is in charge?
Thank you for your participation in this exercise!
November 16th, 2012 at 11:09 am
To: Bodies Buried at: I am sorry you missed the point of my original post. Without anyone knowing who you are, I really don’t know if you know all the players that you speak about, and I do, and as a result you lend little credibility to your post, and yes Richard writes my check now, but long, long before that, I knew him as the man that I wrote about. You write intelligently, but how can we believe it? Is it a “Personality” issue with everyone you discussed?…
To: Male Man: I pray that you do have a good job,and things are going great for you, maybe you are blessed more than others, but don’t realize it. You don’t know the heart of the person you so joyfully are trying to demean, and wanting others to gossip about. I do know this person, and for a long time, and by your post, I know you don’t, or you could not write what you said.! Sounds like you are fortunate and educated.But by your post I can also see that you missed the point of my original post too. How can it feel good to you,to try to let everyone believe what you think, when in reality you don’t know anything about the heart of this person, and want to cause undue pain. And once again, I DO! What do you get from this? Does it left you up by tearing down? Sounds personal, again…
Please consider counting your blessings today, and remember:
“You without sin cast the 1st stone”.
To Buddy: We don’t agree a lot of times, but I’ll give you this one.. Basically without putting your real name to the post, it’s the coward’s way…
signed….
Rico
November 16th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Lorraine,
Many good questions for which there are answers and yes, documents and proof. 🙂
November 17th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Lorianne Hollister: Better questions:
1) When Barb Capelleti runs fundraisers for candidates through her little group, do the attendees make out their checks directly to the candidates or to Capeletti’s group which in turn writes a single check for the candidate? Money laundering anyone?
2) What’s with Robert Sutton’s propensity for bringing Democrats to republican meetings?
As to most of your questions: Try again. None of them matter since most of them are not only perfectly lawful, they are encouraged.
One exception: That crack about the RBN Treasurer could get you sued. But then a civil suit would hardly raise any eyebrows in a School Board where indictment, prison and resignation seem to be the order of the day.
November 18th, 2012 at 12:22 am
It is my personal belief that people who run in a primary have a team of people too support them. An when they lose they get there group to help the winner. We are in the same party together. I liked Newt but he lost so I supported Romney and have the gas bills to prove it.
However I firmly believe that those who do not come out and support the R in a race should be removed from the rolls f the party. An that goes for Newt, Perry, sanatorium et all as well as the 3 who ran against Karin Harrington who gave so much help as we banged on doors everywhere an scared the hell out of Schultz…..Rico thanks for trying all thou late in the race with the office in Pines it was needed an you did well thanks also for the 3 folks who came over to help me with the 17,735 early voters I sure was getting lonesome…..an for the swb gop clubbers at South west Regional I tip my hat for a great try between the 2 of us we cornered 40+ thousand early voters. As to the palm cards finally great job Mr Kennedy next time please add a secondary card in spanish………we tried but we blew it not just Richard but we all..I hate loosing BTW we should have supported the Dream Act there all-ready is 45,000 non citizens in the US Military an have been since 1957……Move the meeting location to mid Broward please….
November 18th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Guys: The election is over. Again, Richard, Rico, and BREC had nothing to do with what happened. It is just fact. The voters have spoken. Accept it.
Attention Mr. Anonymous (this time calling himself/herself “Only in Broward County”). If you were so knowledgeable then why not put your name where your mouth is and quit hiding.
I know Barb Capeletti and while things such as money laundering may happen with other people in S Florida that is not something that Barb or anyone who I associate even think about. Perhaps before putting misinformation out there maybe you should first look up what money laundering is and second do your research. Oh that’s right that is not part of the FCAT.
November 18th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
I’ll have you know that my anonymous series of 1776, Common Sense, was hugely successful. In relative proportion to the population of the colonies at that time, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. It presented the American colonists with an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of seeking independence was still undecided. It was “the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era”. Indeed, “It would be difficult to name any human composition which has had an effect at once so instant, so extended and so lasting.” “The impact of Paine’s thin little pamphlet upon the general call for independence, upon the other Founding Fathers and their construction of the Declaration of Independence, and upon the common folk, many of whom would soon join General Washington to fight the British military, was quickly spread and deeply felt. The moving words of Common Sense knocked colonists down off the fence and into the fight for independence.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Sense_(pamphlet)
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Anonymous communications have an important place in our political and social discourse. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the right to anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment. A much-cited 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission reads:
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Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.
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The tradition of anonymous speech is older than the United States. Founders Alexander Hamilton James Madison and John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers under the pseudonym “Publius ” and “the Federal Farmer” spoke up in rebuttal. The US Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized rights to speak anonymously derived from the First Amendment. […] These long-standing rights to anonymity and the protections it affords are critically important for the Internet. As the Supreme Court has recognized the Internet offers a new and powerful democratic forum in which anyone can become a “pamphleteer” or “a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox.”
https://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity