Florida has been fucked for decades. It should be a blue state.

[Cyrano]

There are 67 counties in Florida. Many are small and rural. Some are bigger and conservative.

However, the three most populous counties in Florida are on the lower South East coast. They are Miami-Dade County, Broward Country, and Palm Beach county. They represent half the voters in Florida and they are Democratic strongholds.

Yet, the state has been controlled by Republicans for decades due to gerrymandering.

Want proof of how blue Florida is? Look back to the 2000 election. Al Gore won it. But the Supreme Court (in it's infamous wisdom) appointed George W. Bush president. (That's called a stolen election.)

In virtually every election in the 21st Century, countless thousands of votes have been "lost" in Florida due to some unexplained reason.

Republicans control the state congress and the governorship and they pretty much get to decide which way Florida goes in elections for the senate and the presidency. So I guess the old saying, "It's who counts the votes that matters," holds true.

Florida has been fucked for decades and will likely be screwed again in this year's presidential election. (If all votes were to be fully counted in Florida, Joe Biden would be the next president.)

So what do we do about this? Beats me. When one of the most populous states in the country is consistently stolen by a party of thugs, how do you overcome it? Revolution? I don't think so.

But somehow, there must be a way to overcome the disease of fascism, racism and outright evil that is the Republican Party. And until that happens, too many people will continue to believe in the fiction that has, unfortunately, been labeled "Floriduh."

[whopis01]

1. You are 100% correct. n/t

[Awsi Dooger]

21. He's not even close to correct

We have no birthright in Florida. The results have been extremely logical. The state consistently reports 11-13% more self-identified conservatives than liberals during presidential years. That is a slightly right leaning state.

I could bore with lots of statistics but let's just say a state only becomes a left leaning state when the gap is 9% or less. That's when the likelihood of victory is astronomical. It is the reason those midwestern states in 2016 were such bizarre betrayal. Those states all reported a gap of 9% or less yet Hillary lost. It was a combination of lack of emphasis and certain demographics shifting in unexpected proportion. But the bottom line ideological numbers screamed that the states were still Democratic leaning at core. I posted that to countless rightwingers who were stupidly proclaiming that those states were now part of the GOP base.

During midterms the Florida gap between liberals and conservatives soars. Old white rightwingers vote while our minority and younger base stays home. The ideological gap was 39-22 in 2018 despite a heavy blue slant nationally. That's why we have so many problems in Florida, and the pessimism mounts. If Florida held gubernatorial races during presidential years we would win them all the time. We have had the candidate to candidate edge many times yet lost. It is the midterm turnout math that dictates those outcomes.

The GOP does a masterful job at cutting losses in certain areas of Florida, while maximizing their advantage in favorable areas. I have detailed that many times. It is blatant while watching it firsthand. They have superior messaging in Hispanic media. They have a year long ground game. They have relentless contact regardless of registration realities. I am a registered Democrat in Florida but easily receive far more contact from Republicans than Democrats over the course of a year. It is not even close. And the strategy is obvious. They look at my profile as a 60ish white male and deem me gettable. That's why I get on their lists and receive mailers from Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, etc. It is arrogant targeting and I'm sure it works in picking off a vulnerable type here and there. I get GOP phone calls and laugh at them. They don't care. They call again a week or two later.

Democrats pathetically bombard me with mailers only during the peak of primary season or the peak of the general election. That is it. This plays out every election cycle. It is the equivalent of crash studying for a test while your competitor has been learning the material all year long.

Only Donna Shalala since I returned to Florida in 2008 has contacted me regularly and demonstrated anything close to the sophistication I came to expect from Democratic operations while living in Clark County, Nevada previously, once Harry Reid fortified the situation there.

[RockRaven]

2. Their history of combining permanent felon disenfranchisement and the felonization

of minor drug crimes, then racially disproportionately enforcing those drug laws, was no accident. It was a purposeful program of non-white voter suppression.

[jimfields33]

3. So if half are in those counties then the other half is in the other 64 counties

Totally explains the 1 percent difference in results everytime. Hopefully we can get the one percent this time. Vote!!!!

[Cyrano]

4. Many Dems vote in those other counties --

more than enough to swing an election to a Dem senator, prez and governor.

But, as I said, "It's not who votes. It's who counts the votes."

When our current "governor," Rick DeSantis was put in office, he soon found a reason to get rid of Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections and he then appointed his own puppet. This is how things go in Florida.

If we ever got a fair deal, the Republican Party would be crushed, turned to ashes and never again hold any position of power in the state.

And I believe this is true countrywide. They are gangsters who have stolen America and they're making the "rules."

One way or another, they must be dragged away from the levers of power that they have been stealing for decades.

[stopdiggin]

17. and the truth is .. FL is fairly red for reasons

in and of itself. Southern state, retirees, Cuban population, anti-immigrant, bible thumpers ...

(which doesn't discount any of the points the OP is trying to make ... corruption? shocked, I tell you .. just shocked!)

[maxsolomon]

5. Once those with convictions get their votes back without having to pay their court fees,

the GOP is fucked.

Assuming that those people register to vote (and actually vote).

[csziggy]

26. With their suits to block felon voter registration

I believe that the GOP is trying to string it out until too late for them to register. They've already blocked them voting in the primaries and even though a judge has ruled against them, DeSantis has vowed appeal yet again:

Gov. DeSantis vows to appeal court decision restoring felons' voting rights
Posted By Dara Kam, News Service of Florida on Sat, May 30, 2020 at 5:30 PM

Florida elections officials are moving ahead to comply with a federal judge’s order that could pave the way for hundreds of thousands of felons to register and vote without paying court-ordered fines and restitution, even as Gov. Ron DeSantis initiated an appeal of the ruling on Friday.

Florida Division of Elections Director Maria Matthews sent a memo Wednesday advising county supervisors of elections about U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s decision overturning major parts of a 2019 law requiring felons to pay “legal financial obligations” – fines, fees, costs and restitution associated with their convictions – to be eligible to vote.
Matthews’ email to the county elections officials included a summary of Hinkle’s decision and told them “to review the order in its entirety.”

The governor on Tuesday said the federal judge's ruling was expected.

“That was obvious from the beginning. It'll go to 11th Circuit and we'll see how it shakes out there,” DeSantis, referring to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, told reporters.

More: https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/05/30/gov-desantis-vows-to-appeal-court-decision-restoring-felons-voting-rights

[Roland99]

6. TraitorGOP Governors going back a couple of decades. A corrupt Florida GOP running the Legislature

it's pathetic.

Alex Sink could have easily won over pRick Scott if she'd been more aggressive in her campaigning and TV ads

[Wounded Bear]

7. Sounds like a microcosm of the nation...

Good luck turning Florida Blue. You'd think with how many of its citizens are dependent on Social Security and Medicare there would be more Dems there.

[Botany]

8. South Carolina should be blue too

35% black and 11% (and growing) hispanic

[Awsi Dooger]

22. South Carolina has 42-44% self-identified conservatives

Depending on the cycle.

I'm trying to be respectful but you guys are looking at the wrong categories. The self-identified ideological numbers absolutely overwhelm any of the trivial numbers being mentioned here.

[brooklynite]

9. Gerrymandering doesn't impact Statewide elections...

Florida voters chose to vote for DeSantis, Scott, Bush....

[Cyrano]

14. As I said, thousands of "lost" votes.

Did those people actually "win?" In the case of Bush, we know about the theft. Regarding the others, those "lost" votes were destroyed long ago. Gerrymandering has nothing to do with those three.

[obamanut2012]

16. Plus, so many of our POC voters disenfranchied

[Major Nikon]

19. In theory, no. In practice, definitely

Disenfranchisement takes many forms including improper voter registration purges and presenting never ending obstacles to voting which disparately affect D voters.

[appalachiablue]

10. K/R

[kimbutgar]

11. and the POS in the White House wants to open oil drilling off the Florida coastal waters

What could go wrong?

I think the GOP has perfected cheating, voter suppression, altering voter rolls and changing voter Totals. Florida has lived up to its reputation as a sketchy state of grifters. My sister in law lived there for work for a couple of years and hated it.

[Mr.Bill]

12. The man who committed the largest Medicare fraud in history

was elected governor. Twice. And then elected Senator. That's really all you need to know.

[secondwind]

13. Democrats are always obliged to overperform at the ballot box!!!

[DownriverDem]

15. My friends live

in Broward County and they hate it red state wise. I personally could never live in the south.

[Historic NY]

18. They have been losing dead people too

some are saying that the old people have figured out between Trump and the other "shithead" DeSantis , its like they want them all dead.

[LymphocyteLover]

20. 100% truth and it's outrageous

[McCamy Taylor]

23. "Florida has been fucked for decades." Truer words have never been spoken.

Part of how they do it is by pandering to the Cuban-Americans--promising the US will restore their property--even though it will never happen.

[Cyrano]

27. Younger Cubans have caught on to the scam

But there aren't enough of them to overcome the older generation of Cubans and the large number of rural voters.

[mcar]

24. There are more registered Democrats in Florida than Republicans

And now, there are more Democrats registered to vote by mail than Republicans.

If Broward County can manage to not screw up their ballot this year, we might have a chance.

[diva77]

25. Start by calling out the crooked SOS's and other elections officials. Prohibit any of them from

being operatives for the rethug party as well...just for starters...

[Corgigal]

28. I remember

Gov. Lawton Chiles. Everyone was a Democrat back then. I worked for a Hillsborough Sheriffs office, and our Sheriff was a Democrat too. Law enforcement agencies were blue back then.

Then Jeb Bush started marking noise in Florida. Finally won, and the state has tubed since then. Even had a high ranking in education.

Turn it back, all of it.

[Delarage]

29. We could always turn to the Supreme Court

Wait....I guess not.

But Florida is strange. My sister, born in Delaware, used to be a rabid environmentalist and considered voting for Ralph Nader in 2000. She decided the election was too important to risk throwing away her vote so she voted for Gore. We were both outraged and I took to the streets of DC on his coronation day.

In the years that have passed, she has become radical right-wing Trumper. Lives on the Panhandle (the part she used to call the Taliban region of Florida when she first got there). I have no idea WTF happened to her....but it has caused us significant problems. She excitedly talks about going to his "rallies," listens nonstop to hate radio, etc.



I almost can't stand going down there anymore....confederate flag rafts in the Gulf everywhere and a real creepy vibe.