Annette Taddeo may be the darling of Democrats in Congress, but in her own Congressional District 26, she is a pariah.
That's the cruel truth. She plain isn't well-liked by rank-and-file Democrats.
Taddeo is a political three-time loser in tries for county commission, Congress and lieutenant governor. This is a professional candidate we're talking about here, a candidate desperate to be elected -- to any office, anywhere, for any constituency.
Voters in CD 26 laugh at that.
"I don't like phonies," Miami's Elena Santos told me in April. "I knew Annette when she chaired the Miami-Dade DEC. She will say or do anything to get ahead in politics."
Explained Santos, "I nearly fell out of my chair when she told a group she understood them because she struggles in the middle class like they do."
How many self-described members of the middle class do you know who live in a 6,500-square-foot, $1.25 million mansion? That's Taddeo, and other folks in her district -- not just Santos -- know it, resent her lack of honesty, and are saying it by withholding contributions to her campaign.
Support. It's not happening fast enough or big enough. That's the point I want to make here.
Despite her camp's almost daily begging email, Taddeo isn't keeping up in the money chase. In all, she has just over $461,300. Compare that to incumbent Republican Carlos Curbelo's $1.2 million.
And the latest insult, investigated and reported by South Florida blog Political Cortadito, is that Democratic donors in Miami-Dade giving to Hillary Clinton are snubbing Annette Taddeo by the hundreds.
Political Cortadito matched Taddeo’s public campaign contributions up to Clinton’s Miami-Dade list of 690-some donors, figuring they would find hundreds in common.
"But guess what ...?" says writer Elaine de Valle, a.k.a. Ladra. " ... Only 29 gave to Taddeo, who is the ex-chairwoman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. You read that right! Twenty-nine!"
Weird, don't you think?
Why would so many Miami-Dade donors give to the female Democrat running for president, but not the local woman -- the only announced candidate in one of the party's top-targeted races?
Says Political Cortadito, "Maybe they are just tired of giving to Annette Taddeo for This or Taddeo for That. Maybe they might be willing to give to someone else -- like a candidate with a chance of winning instead of one with a losing streak."
Leslie Wimes, founder of the Democratic African American Women's Caucus, has followed Taddeo's career since before she was Charlie Crist's gubernatorial running mate.
"There are a lot of African Americans who stopped participating in the Miami Dade DEC because Annette Taddeo was chair. I don't see her as a uniting force down there, and frankly, it's time for someone new."
Asked Wimes, "How many times does she have to run and lose before she realizes that? The third time wasn't the charm, and this fourth one WILL be the curse. That district has a sizeable number of African Americans who will not vote for Taddeo, but probably would vote for someone who isn't stale."
Taddeo is flat-out vulnerable. The state Supreme Court's congressional district maps painted District 26 just that little bit bluer. Even though it's now a district Barack Obama won by 10 points in 2012, Taddeo's weakness has party rivals popping up like prairie dogs this late in the game, talking about primarying her.
No wonder the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, is trying to thwart challenges from former Rep. Joe Garcia and Andrew Korge, son of Democratic fundraiser Chris Korge. Taddeo is the congressional Democrats' chosen one. And the election year has begun.
Still ... Annette Taddeo can't pry money out of Hillary Clinton supporters. She can't do it. Think how that must scare the pants off Hoyer & Co. and give hope to Republican Curbelo.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
Comments
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