If you already know about Annette and agree, go sign the petition and encourage her to jump into the race.
Taddeo ran a strong campaign against Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida's 18th District. Despite widespread support and much excitement generated by her candidacy, she was unable to overcome the popularity of the incubment, who had the vast resources of her office and long career in politics to hold off the newcomer. Taddeo did establish herself as a progressive politician to keep an eye on, though.
Upon hearing that she might consider running to replace Alex Sink as Florida's chief financial officer, several bloggers, Fried Gator and myself included, decided that this was something we really wanted to see happen. So, we've launched a new blog Draft Annette Taddeo for CFO and a petition to convince that this is the best way that Annette can serve the state and this is her best career option right now. Since she has expressed openness to running for CFO, we want her to know that she has the support of the people. Maybe that will convince her to take the plunge and join the race.
And this is the year to do it. It looks like the Republicans will offer up a slate of old white guys for Florida's state-wide offices. And not just any old white guys, the same old white guys that got us in the mess we are in now. Democrats, on the other hand, are looking to field a diverse group of candidates for office -- women, African-Americans, Jewish candidates. Wouldn't it be great to add another woman -- a Colombian woman -- to that field? And wouldn't it be great to see a cabinet with a gender make-up that reflected our actual population.
This is particularly true when the Colombian woman in question is so well-qualified for the job. She's got great experience to serve as CFO. She is the founder and CEO of LanguageSpeak, a company with many huge clients across the nation. LanguageSpeak isn't just any corporation, either, it's a company with the goal of bettering society built right in to its mission. They provide language services including translations, interpretors and tutoring in over 100 languages. Taddeo is working on bring the world closer together through better communication. Sounds to me like the type of person I want running our government.
During the 2008 campaign, Annette consistantly came down on the right side of the issues. She endorsed the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. She opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and the Bush global gag rule on abortion. She supported reporductive rights, domestic partnerships, renewable energy and the expansion of early childhood education.
If this sounds like the type of person you want in Tallahassee, sign the petition.
It was stances like those above that helped garner Annette widespread support from Florida bloggers. Florida Progressive Coalition endorsed her and she was frequently supported by blogs like Discourse.net and Miami-Dade Dems, among others.
Many of the best organizations on the left supported her candidacy last time around, showing that it wasn't just Florida bloggers who liked her. She was endorsed by Feminist Majority, NOW, EMILY’s List, Florida AFL-CIO, People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, DFA, Women's Campaign Forum, Congressional Hispanic Caucus' BOLD PAC, Russ Feingold's Patriot Corps and Red to Blue.
Another thing I love about Taddeo is that she's very plugged in to the Netroots and is supportive of bloggers and online activists. She appeared on a "Future Leaders" panel at Netroost Nation last year and her campain brought in attention from national blogs such as Daily Kos, Open Left, firedoglake, Swing State Project, Huffington Post, AMERICAblog, MyDD and many others. She raised more than $80 thousand on Act Blue last time around, putting her far ahead of most Florida congressional candidates.
Read more on Florida politics at the Florida Progressive Coalition blog (http://flaprogressives.org) and the Florida Progressive Coalition Wiki (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/).
Netroots Nation 2009 is fastly approaching. The annual convention of progressive and Netroots activists takes place in Pittsburgh this year from August 13-16. There are few events that I look forward to more each year than this one. There are few times it feels more exciting to be a blogger or a progressive activist than when one is at the meeting formerly known as Yearly Kos.
If you are an activist who uses the Internet to try to change the world, there is no better place for you to be. What could be better than being surrounded by thousands of like-minded people, all of whom are dedicated to the same things you are, all of whom have ideas and strategies on how to make change come alive. Regardless of the official program, the key reason you should be at Netroots Nation is the opportunities you get to interact with an undending stream of people from whom you can learn about how to better do whatever it is you do. It's also a great place to make contacts and connections that will further your own activism and your own career.
If you are a regular reader of Florida Progressive Coalition and follow our efforts, two of our key projects were birthed at Netroots Nation. The widely-popular Florida Progressive Radio, which existed before Yearly Kos 2007, had little direction or focus in its early days. Then one night in Chicago, I sat down with Alison Berke Morano, Susan Smith and Cenk Uygar, among others. Most readers probably know that Cenk is the amazing host of the Young Turks show, which was then on Air America. He gracefully sat with us in the bar and answered a seemingly unending series of questions about hosting a radio show and The Big Show with Alison and Kenny was born that night. Susan soon joined us as a host and hundreds of shows, scores of candidate and activist interviews and thousands of listeners soon followed. Our hard-hitting series of Republican watchblogs was also an outgrowth of information that we learned at Netroots Nation. In fact, I set up our first watchblogs via my laptop while sitting at the BlogsUnited booth in 2007.
The formal program of workshops, lectures, discussions and entertainment is also unrivaled when it comes to other similar events. For just about any topic you can imagine, there will be a session, led by experts in the field. Most of what I know about state-level blogging, I learned at Netroots Nation. The full agenda for this year's event isn't up yet, but there were sessions last year on various Netroots strategies, a multitude of issues, for fans of various blogs and Netroots organizations, author and candidate appearances, and opportunities to actually get involved and do something, whether it be the day of service, or phonebanking for a local candidate. The list of speakers and appearances at the event is too long to even begin to delve into, but suffice it to say that if someone is a significant player in the progressive movement -- politician, blogger, activist, journalist, whatever, chances are they'll be on site.
And that's great for those of us who are political junkies. You have ample opportunity to meet and talk to the people who drive progressive politics in America. My liberal bookshelf at home has books from more than a dozen authors I've personally met and talked to at Netroots Nation. And then there was the time that a congressional candidate from California, Steve Young (not that Steve Young), took me to lunch and we discussed strategy. Or there was the time that I made Al Gore laugh. Really. After his keynote speech, he was going down the line shaking hands and taking pictures. When he got to me, I told him that I was with a group of people from Florida and that we were sorry for the 2000 election. He laughed heartily. Then, quickly, he came back with: "Don't be sorry, I won Florida." Only at Netroots Nation.
There are many other positive things about Netroots Nation that I could talk about, but you probably get the idea. I could talk about the opportunities to explore local communites like Chicago, Austin or, this year, Pittsburgh. I could talk about the opportunities to appear on panels like the regional blogger panel or the self-starter sessions. I could talk about the parties, where you can be sharing a local microbrew with bloggers from New York and New Mexico while talking to a professional stand-up comedian. I could talk about the helpful people you'll meet, like the crew at DFA or the members of BlogsUnited who make the experience all the better. I could talk about the fact that I met more Florida politicians and activists at Netroots Nation than I have at most Florida events. I could talk about any of those or any number of other things, but I think I'll start packing instead.
If there is anyway you can make it to the Keystone State this year for Netroots Nation, you should. If you can't make it, donate money to help others get there with a DFA/Netroots Nation scholarship. I was one of those scholarship winners last year and the experience was invaluable. I couldn't have attended without the help of the generous donors who funded the program. You can have that impact on the people who attend this year. You won't regret it either way.
I'm Kenneth Quinnell and I approve this message.
Read more on Florida politics at the Florida Progressive Coalition blog (http://flaprogressives.org) and the Florida Progressive Coalition Wiki (http://quinnell.us/sspb/wiki/).
Today, as the head of National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, Chairman John Cornyn declared that he would be "proud" for his Senate candidates to campaign with former Vice-President Dick Cheney, the Florida Democratic Party has challenged both Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio to answer if they would appear with Cheney over the course of the campaign.
According to the POLITICO newspaper, at a breakfast, Cornyn was asked if Cheney should campaign for Republican Senate candidates in 2010. Cornyn said, "I'd be proud to appear with the vice president anywhere, anytime." Cornyn - the Senate's top Republican strategist - praised Cheney's growing role as the Republican's chief spokesman. Cornyn went on to say he's very open to Cheney barnstorming the country in support of Senate candidates in 2010. Cornyn proclaimed "I appreciate the vice president speaking out."
In the wake of Cornyn's comments, the Florida Democratic Party is calling on Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio to answer the simple question, "Will you welcome Dick Cheney to Florida to campaign on your behalf?"
"John Cornyn's wholehearted praise of Dick Cheney begs the question, will either Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio welcome Cheney to Florida to campaign on for them?," said Florida Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff. "Presumably Crist and Rubio share the NRSC Chairman's views and will welcome Cheney with open arms - if they disagree they should let the people of Florida know right now."
Despite his lofty status as one of the Republican's chief spokesmen, Cheney continues to be stunningly unpopular. According to the Washington Post, the last four personal favorability ratings for Cheney: 37 percent, 18 percent, 19 percent and 30 percent. Despite Cheney's unpopularity, Cornyn and the NRSC are poised to unleash him in battleground states across the country in 2010.
Cornyn Said He Would be "Proud" to Have Cheney Campaign With GOP Senate Candidates. At a breakfast Cornyn was asked if Cheney should campaign for Republican Senate candidates in 2010. Cornyn said, "I'd be proud to appear with the vice president anywhere, anytime." [Politico, 5/21/09]
Taking advantage of the warm spring weather Monday, Vice President Joe Biden parked his 1981 Trans Am in the White House driveway, removed his undershirt, and spent a leisurely afternoon washing the muscle car and drinking beer.
...
"Back in the day we used to call 'em panty-melters," Biden continued. "One babe caught a glimpse of those rims after a Cinderella concert in '86 and she couldn't get into that backseat fast enough. If any of you girls wanna take a ride, just let ol' Joe know."
For the remainder of the day, Biden occupied himself with hosing off his car, giving the side doors an extra coat of wax, and throwing out a variety of items from beneath its front seats, including crumpled-up fast food wrappers, a number of soft packs of Doral kings, an issue of Cheri magazine from 1991, and Senate bill S. 486.
The fact that he was drinking Coors, though, hurts his liberal cred.
Kendrick Meek can't tell if Gov. Charlie Crist is doing a good job or not.
Simple answers to simple questions: No, he is not. Our economy is in a shambles, our budget is a disaster and Crist knows its bad, so he's going to get the heck out of town. Meek, predicting that he might face Crist in the Senate race in 2010, should probably start hammering on Crist now. Or at least, he should start defending the interests of his constituents, who are being harmed by Crist's policies.
This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance – legislation that will enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association. I also urge the Senate to work with my Administration to finalize this bill and to take swift action.
For the old country, the benefits would be obvious. A more intimately sized Congress would briskly enact sensible gun control, universal health insurance, and ample support for the arts, the humanities, and the sciences. Although Texas itself has been a net contributor to the Treasury—it gets back ninety-four cents for each dollar it sends to Washington—nearly all the other potential F.S. states, especially the ones whose politicians complain most loudly about the federal jackboot, are on the dole. (South Carolina, for example, receives $1.35 on the dollar, as compared with Illinois’s seventy-five cents.) Republicans would have a hard time winning elections for a generation or two, but eventually a responsible opposition party would emerge, along the lines of Britain’s Conservatives, and a normal alternation in power could return.
The Federated States, meanwhile, could get on with the business of protecting the sanctity of marriage, mandating organized prayer sessions and the teaching of creationism in schools, and giving the theory that eliminating taxes increases government revenues a fair test. Although Texas and the other likely F.S. states already conduct some eighty-six per cent of executions, their death rows remain clogged with thousands of prisoners kept alive by meddling judges. These would be rapidly cleared out, providing more prison space for abortion providers. Although there might be some economic dislocation at first, the F.S. could remedy this by taking advantage of its eligibility for OPEC membership and arranging a new “oil shock.” Failing that, foreign aid could be solicited from Washington. But the greatest benefit would be psychological: freed from the condescension of metropolitan élites and Hollywood degenerates, the new country could tap its dormant creativity and develop a truly distinctive Way of Life.
