The War Within the State

The national wave of euphoria that is sweeping through Democrats across America today is not being felt in Florida. True, many local races saw Democrats beat their Republican counterparts, including a surprise here in South Florida where Ron Klein beat long-time Representative, Clay Shaw (26 years in the House). Bill Nelson sailed past Katherine Harris for the Senate (a no-brainer there). But, in the most important race, that of governor, Charlie Crist, Jeb Bush’s attorney general, beat Democrat Jim Davis. Essentially, Crist ran on the platform that he would carry on with Jeb Bush’s policies, especially in education (and this is what troubled me the most). I actually like Charlie Crist (other than the fact that he’s a Republican). He seems to have genuine warmth, intelligence, and compassion. It didn’t hurt that he was running against an empty suit (or chair if you saw the campaign ads showing how Davis was never there for his House votes). Once again, the Democrats ran a candidate that has no charisma, no evident warmth and, apparently, no platform. This happened in the two elections against Jeb Bush, and it has happened again. Surely there is someone of the stature of a Bob Graham in this big state that the Democrats could run. Isn’t there? One might wonder.

What this also points up once again is the differences between the various parts of this state. Davis beat Crist in both Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Yet, South Florida didn’t carry the day. In issues like casino gambling, South Florida always votes differently from the other parts of the state. This is not a new idea with me, but maybe it’s time Florida separated into two states: South Florida and North Florida. The line of demarcation could be up around Lake Okeechobee. Let them stay in the 19th century up there while we move into and grow with the future. Let’s see how they fare without our tax revenues. I’m ready. Meanwhile, we will be governed by someone who won the statewide election by some 336,157 votes out of the 4,623,861 cast for the two main candidates. Is that really representative government?