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Columns

Stephen Bittel Thinks He Doesn't Need Large Florida Counties?

January 27, 2017 - 10:45am

Is new Democratic Chair Stephen Bittel wearing blinders? It appears that's the case,  because his $100,000 program recently rolled out to incentivize voter registration only includes small and medium Florida counties (read: working-class white voters).

This program, geared toward protecting (former) Sen. Bill Nelson, is not going to achieve its goal. Bill Nelson is still going to lose.

I guess it's good that Bittel & Co. isn't there for the urban community, because the urban community won't be there for them.

Like it or not, Bill Nelson is going to lose. Deservedly so. What should be happening is we should be looking for a candidate to replace the old geezer.

Where is Tim Canova? Where is Pam Keith? Why are we hanging onto people like Bill Nelson, who clearly should be put out to pasture?

The thought process here is that Hillary Clinton relied too heavily on turning out the vote in the major Florida counties.

Yes, Hillary Clinton lost Florida, and lost the Election Day vote by a large margin.

However ...

Has anyone paid any attention to the turnout of the black vote for the General Election?

It was 12.5 percent. Down from the previous presidential elections. Just as I said it was going to be.

Black folks just were not that into Hillary Clinton, and they are going to be even less into Bill Nelson.

When I said the black community would not turn out for Clinton, so many know-it-alls here in Florida wanted to say I was wrong.

They pointed to early voting. They pointed to Souls to the polls.

They said Leslie Wimes didn't know what she was talking about.

Where are they now? Now that the official numbers are out, and I have been proven right, those "experts" are no where to be found.

They're so quiet, you can hear a mouse peeing on cotton.

Mark my words. Bill Nelson is going down. He has not made himself a presence in the black community at all, except to put his finger on the scale in the Florida Democratic Party chair's race.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: No Democrat can win statewide without the black vote, and I don't care how many small and medium counties you go to.

Let's see how a Democrat will win if the black vote drops to 11.5 percent or 10.5 percent.

Keep playing.

You will wander in the desert another 20 years, Democrats.

What Hillary Clinton failed to do, and what Democrats keep failing to do, is actually engage the black community.

You give lip service.

You give phony optics.

All to get votes. Now, as you can see, you are no longer getting the votes you need. It started as a trickle. It's going to get worse.

The way to change that is no secret. There is no big mystery. You have to engage our community.

The bottom line is that you just don't give a damn.

You keep playing those same plantation politics with black people, and only black people.

You run through our churches a few weeks before election time.

You pick a few black surrogates you think we listen to (we don't).

What other demographic goes through these same gyrations? None. 

You have to actually deliver tangible things in order to get their votes.

What's sad about this is Hillary Clinton's loss didn't wake you up, and Bill Nelson's won't either ...

Leslie Wimes is founder and president of Women on the Move and the Democratic African American Women Caucus, www.daawc.com. Follow Leslie on Twitter: @womenonthemove1

Comments

more sour grapes...yawn...

Whines says the obvious and non-thinkers believe she is a genius. OF COURSE fewer blacks voted in 2016 than 2012. Who was the candidate in 2012? For Whines fans - do you have enough sense to know who is hurt by persuading blacks that Democrats take their votes for granted? BLACKS!!!! All Democrats would have to do is move away from fighting for equality and against voter suppression, and Dixiecrats would vote for Dems instead of Repubs.

United Blue should read again what Leslie wrote. Maybe this responder should reconsider the freshman opinion that he/she submitted. Get a job United Blue! Stop sucking off legitimate taxpayers. .

Hmm. Well, if Hillary with her name recognition and money could not win Florida it may very well be difficult for Sen. Nelson and the nominee for governor win in 2018.

You are the worst. So abusive. No context. Just slings and arrows. Ever wonder why a Republican rag lets you spew your hateful rhetoric? We don't. As usual you are not interested in anyone but yourself.

Since when is the truth hateful, Unite Blue? I get what Leslie is saying, and has been saying all along. This sister has been on point, and frankly, more of the black community needs to stand with her and speak out. Our vote has been taken for granted by the Democratic Party and if you are honest with yourself, you know it. Why do you think Rick Scott picked up some of the black vote back in 2014? Why do you think Rubio picked up some of the black vote? Instead of trying to bash Ms. Wimes, you need to listen to what she has been saying, unless you want to continue to lose. She is telling the Party to engage the black community and you are saying that is hateful? No wonder democrats can't win anything in Florida.

Calling an great older American Senator/Astronaut a GEEZER is pretty hateful! Saying he was too old, understandable, but an old Geezer is like calling a gay man a f... or a bl... just plain and simply hateful. Too large of a percentage of Black Americans did stay home in 2016, no doubt. This Black Michelle Bachman wannabe is not a rocket scientist to say Black voter participation is down after we have all been spoiled by having the greatest president "who happened to be black" serving us as president. Blacks, Latinos and all other groups including the millions of uneducated white men are going to suffer greatly under trump. So my bet is Bill Nelson will win again. Florida rarely gives up on a Senator D or R. Switching to a younger unknown like Patrick Murphy for example would be a huge mistake. Florida needs Nelson. Florida will be rebelling against an all powerful Republican party run amok.

You are a hater. Plain and simple. While everyone was running to the media singing Clinton's praises, Leslie kept it real. Leslie had the courage to say what needed to be said then, and what needs to be said now, starting with Bill Nelson is going to lose. To say that calling him a geezer is comparable to calling a gay person a f***** shows just how out of touch you really are dude. I'm not black, but I can certainly see how black democrats feel taken advantage of. I applaud Leslie for having to deal with neanderthals like you.

I love reading Leslie's columns for several reasons. First, she stands up for black folks and the Democrats that take the black vote for granted can't stand it. Second, she yanks people's chains like no other! If you don't like what she says, why do you read it? I don't understand that!

Same reason people stare at fatal car or train wrecks.

Leslie, there has always been a robust voter registration program for the larger urban areas, and they will continue to have engage those communities. The large urban areas have the most number of unregistered targets. However, Democrats have never placed much emphasis on the smaller counties. This is an opportunity for them to play catch up. Good job FDP!

So if the large urban areas have the most number of unregistered targets, where is the incentive to get THOSE people registered? Additionally, didn't you read what Wimes wrote? The turnout of the Black vote was 12.5%. Where is the incentive to get those folks to the polls? I'm with Wimes here. This is backwards. Work your base. If you can't get your base to the polls, you aren't going to win, no matter what you do in northern Florida, where they probably aren't going to vote for you anyway. Good God. Who put Bittel in charge of the Dems again?

Time for something new.

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