For a Democrat so shunned by party leadership she's virtually been thrown in a trash can and shredded with the office secrets, Leslie Wimes has the darndest collection of highly placed, in-the-know FDP sources.
So, when the outspoken founder of the Democratic African American Women's Caucus (DAAWC) tells me, "on the word of an iron-clad source," that Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party, is leaving his post to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, I'm going to take it to the bank.
I couldn't reach Arceneaux this weekend, but I reached around him. At least one colleague acknowledged his move to the Clinton camp but didn't want it attributed to him on this website.
Actually, Leslie hung the story on herWomen on the Move siteSaturdaylike sheets on a clothesline, for all to see. It's an open letter to Hillary Clinton under the headline, "Hillary Clinton, Scott Arceneaux Is Not Who Will Help You Win Florida!"
Why do I trust the news value in this story? Because Leslie has never steered me wrong. In fact, in similar fashion, she was first to break the news of FDP Political Director Christian Ulvert's ousting. Her Nov. 9 website column, "Christian Ulvert Is Out, but Is That Enough?" was posted more than a month ahead of Peter Schorsch's notice in SaintPetersblog.
It couldn't be more obvious. Leslie Wimes, outspoken critic of party leadership's failure to cultivate or consider the opinion of the strong bloc of African-American women voters during the last election, remains appalled that Arceneaux and party Chair Allison Tant have retaliated by failing to charter the DAAWC.
In her open letter to Hillary, she says, "You have to be aware of the underhanded tactics used by Scott Arceneaux to undermine black women in this state. If not, just ask the Association of State Democratic Chairs. They know all about it.Oh wait, that has yet to come out -- but its coming."
In a telephone interview Saturday, Leslie told me she wasn't entirely sure who could have recommended Arceneaux to Hillary Clinton. "Some of our people must have been talking to her people," she suggested. "I want Hillary to hear the truth about our situation in Florida."
She further writes in her open letter, "Florida is very important. We all know that, so why on earth would you recruit part of the problem that is plaguing Florida? What Democrat in this state honestly thinks Scott Arceneaux, or Allison Tant for that matter, has done a good job? ... Rewarding mediocrity isn't your style, Hillary. ..."
Leslie isn't the only liberal Democrat to question Arceneaux's value to the party. On Nov. 10, writers at the progressive blog The Florida Squeeze polled their readers. The question was, "Should FDP executive director Scott Arceneaux resign?" Some 61 percent of the site's respondents said "yes."
And in his "Ultimate list of Florida election 2014 winners & losers," Schorsch of SaintPetersblog lists Arceneaux as a loser. He has this to say: "Being executive director of the Florida Democratic Party may be the worst high-profile job in state politics, so my tendency is to cut Arceneaux some slack, but the dude has been in charge of the ship during its crash into an iceberg, so hes gonna have to go, right?"
He's going, all right. They're both going. Arceneaux upstairs, Ulvert to the curb.
Louisiana-native Arceneaux was hired in 2009 by then-party chair Karen Thurman. Most notably, he was the executive director for the Louisiana Democratic Party from 2001 to 2004, where he helped to re-elect Sen. Mary Landrieu and elect a Democratic governor. He also helped state Sen. Creigh Deeds to a primary victory in Virginia and he served as national political director for Chris Dodd's presidential campaign in Connecticut. He and his wife have a home in Jacksonville.
In his first strategy report to Democratic leaders in 2009, Arceneaux wrote, "The chaos in the Republican Party of Florida, combined with Floridians looking to throw the metaphorical 'Republican Bums' out of office, confirms that the national anti?incumbent environment works to the advantage of Florida Democrats."
In hindsight, Scott, maybe not so much.
Certainly, if Leslie got this one as right as she has on so many other news tips, Hillary's choice is going to leave a lot of Florida Republicans gleefully rubbing their hands.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
