Carlos Curbelo will get a taste of the national spotlight on Tuesday night when he offers the Republican response in Spanish to Barack Obamas State of the Union, even as a prominent Florida Democrat is looking at taking him on in 2016.
Curbelo will be offering a Spanish translation of Joni Ernsts Republican response to Obama. Still, its not a bad plum for a freshman congressman.
Heading into 2016, Curbelo faces a swing district which has swung wildly in recent years: for Republican David Rivera in 2010, over to Democrat Joe Garcia in 2012, back to the Republicans in 2014. Curbelo can be pardoned if he is constantly looking over his shoulder as he tries to win a second term, something neither Rivera nor Garcia did.
Curbelo is trying to claim the political middle, supporting the Republicans on fiscal and foreign policy issues, including taking on Obamas efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. But on key issues, including immigration, Curbelo has no problem breaking with the GOP. As the House GOP took on Obamas executive action on amnesty earlier this month, Curbelo voted on separate lines than most of his fellow Republicans.
There are plenty of South Republicans who have followed a similar path to the one Curbelo is currently walking. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who has broken with the GOP on issues ranging from immigration to same-sex marriage, is a prime example. So is Mario Diaz-Balart, one of the most prominent supporters of immigration reform in Congress.
In the meantime, Democrats are hoping they can once again recapture this congressional seat in a presidential election. Theres already plenty of talk that Annette Taddeo, fresh from being Charlie Crists understudy for the losing Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will challenge Curbelo.
Taddeo has shown a lot of potential but not much in the way of results in her political career. Her only real political experience comes from leading the Miami-Dade Democrats since every time shes sought elected office -- from Congress to a County Commission seat to gunning for lieutenant governor -- shes flopped.
Nor did Taddeo win stellar reviews as Crists running mate. South Florida, Taddeos home turf, did not come out for Crist the way Democrats expected it to. There have been plenty of complaints from Crist World about Taddeo being a bit of a prima donna who wanted more of the spotlight. As has been the case during her political career, Taddeo simply did not deliver on her potential.
Still, Democrats are far more competitive in Florida during presidential election years. Curbelos high-wire act, trying to appeal to his swing district while remaining in the GOPs good graces, will be interesting to watch even as Taddeo plans to run -- yet again -- for office.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis piece exclusively for Sunshine State News.
