Florida Keys Democrats

 

Welcome

We are focused on action and members are our most valuable resource. We look forward to working together with you in building a Democratic powerhouse in Monroe County. And as you can see in the images below from our 2009 Pridefest Parade, we have fun too! Please call or email me for information about our club. You can also check out our calendar for the specific time and place of meetings.

Sincerely,

Henry Woods
President
hwoodskeys@aol.com

Our winter conference will be held in St. Petersburg on February 26-28 at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel. In addition to several workshops on GLBT issues, we will hear from many elected officials and candidates as we prepare for the 2010 election season.

Please note that the cut-off date for our special hotel reservation rate of $139 (double occupancy) is THIS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27. There is a link on the registration page that will take you to the hotel registration site. Don't delay! We've been advised that they may be able to handle a last minute straggler or two, but you may not be able to get such a great deal.

We'll be announcing the Saturday schedule and speakers shortly, so check back often on our winter conference link below.

Registration, hotel information and reservations, schedules and additional information is now available on our website.

Early bird registration fees are now in effect. This promises to a great conference with valuable training, elected officials and candidates to prepare us for the 2010 elections.

Registration and Conference Information Is Now Available

We are just back from the state Democratic Convention in Orlando. Susanne has reported on the conference from the point of view of a community organizer, but when she went to the workshop for small county organizing, I went to the GLBT Caucus. George Maurer was there, too.

The first order of business was a report from the bylaws committee. Most of the changes were for clarification, or for implementing better communication in this long skinny state. The recommended changes were passed unanimously by all awake.

The room was quite full, and lots of candidates and their spokespeople came by to woo us. No surprise, the main concern in Florida is overturning the ban on gay adoption.

The first interesting thing I learned was from Ron Klein, a congressman from the Broward and Palm Beach area. He reported that 140 Republicans voted AGAINST the Defense Appropriations bill because it had the hate crimes component that included sexual orientation. Republicans never vote against Defense! It must be the tea party effect: sucking up to the lowest base. He also reminded us that in 1994 the Republicans gained 55 seats in the House because Democrats stayed home; Republicans came out in the same number as in 1992, no more.

Scott Maddox, one of four Democrats running for Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, spoke firmly in favor of same sex marriage, adoption, and equality for all. He said we beat the Republicans with a real Democrat in Obama, and must resist running as “Republicans Lite.”

Attorney General candidate Dave Arenberg has worked mainly in consumer fraud, and told a good story about apprehending a Jamaican seer on TV, “Miss Cleo,” who was neither a Jamacan nor a seer, and turning her (or him?) into a gay activist in Lake Worth. He promised never to use politics as an excuse for not doing the right thing because all he wants in life is to be AG. The current AG is appealing the court ruling that overturned the adoption ban; he would never do such a thing.

Dan Gelber, who appeared later, is also running for AG. He reminded us that we need candidates who will stand up for us not just in this room, but everywhere. Gelber and Arenberg are equally impressive speakers, but I noticed Gelber—who is a bit more fatherly in his aspect—didn’t vow never to aspire beyond the office of AG.

Randy Hatch, also running for Agriculture, is a real farmer, and not as impressive a speaker as Arenberg, but he did say, “Educated young people almost always become Democrats.” That’s why Republicans keep cutting money for education—they’re hoping to produce more Republicans.

Sally Phillips is high on Doug “Stonewall” Tudor who garnered 42% of the vote on his last run against Putnam; now Putnam’s seat will be vacant. Florida District 12 is ready to turn blue, and Tudor will support all our issues, state and national.

Leslie Meek (Michael Albetta was delighted to find she is a Brooklyn girl) spoke for her husband, though later he came in and spoke for himself. She’s a better speaker than he is, and while her arms are a little more motherly than Michelle Obama’s, they are quite lovely. She said African Americans and gays have faced the same “unfairness and evil” and promised that Kendrick would speak out against all unfairness. When he did come in, toward the end, he praised our caucus for being good at getting out the vote. He said Florida’s adoption ban should make national headlines, as we are the only state to have such a law.

In between the Meeks, we heard from Nan Rich, leader of the state senate Democrats, who said 2010 will be a fine opportunity to pick up Democratic seats, and urged us to find good candidates. And we heard from Mary Caster, who had been one of 6 state senators to vote against the adoption ban in 1977. She was stumping for Alex Sink.

Steve Kornell for City Council of St. Pete and Kevin Burns who will vie with Meek for the U.S. Senate are two out gay candidates. Burns isn’t likely to win the primary, but if he does he promises to ask Charlie Crist to come out.

Yoli Robeson, Haitian-American, has been in the state legislature 8 years and is running for the U.S. house from District 17.

Richard Steinberg (I was getting hungry—didn’t write down his office) has been working on domestic partnerships and adoption law.

Susanne wrote you about the general session, but she didn’t tell you that the Jones High School marching band had us dancing in the aisles, or that Bill Nelson was met with mega chants of “Health Care Now” and “Public Option.” He stayed unruffled, and finally said there is hope for a version of the public option in the final bill.

Alan Grayson has a future on the Comedy Channel. He told about a woman who called him up early Sunday morning and said, “Get off my TV!” When she wouldn’t understand that he was on a taped show, he told her “I can see you. Either put on your clothes or turn off the TV.”

Stuart Milk, gay nephew of Harvey who had accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama on his father’s behalf, says we are fulfilling Harvey Milk’s dream, proving that everyone has value.

Carmen Torres, uberactivist from Orlando told how the original 8 person “O for O” team grew to around 1500 workers for Obama and turned the I-4 corridor blue.

The four candidates for Ag Commissioner spoke; Nan Rich introduced state senators, and listed all the cuts and failures of the past session, claiming Republicans are stuck in the past.

By the time all the candidates for state legislature trotted across the stage, we were starving—but it was a pleasure to see what an ethnic mix they are. It came up quite few times that Florida is a microcosm of America as it is now—wondrously diverse.

Anne Shaver

Henry Woods- president
Joanie Pollack - vice-president
Mabry Binnicker - treasurer
Onnie Dickerson - secretary

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PRIDEFEST 2009

Mabry Binnicker and Henry Woods

2009 Pridefest Parade