I actually have something positive to say about Sen. Nelson!

OK, I am not used to this. But, here I go.

Nelson actually proposed legislation that would rid us of the Electoral College and allow us to have truly democratic 'popular voting'. Really!

And, apparently, he doesn't propose stuff to often. But, I would have to say this is the best election reform legislation I have seen. He is actually insisting on true reform instead of bills with fancy language that confuses voters (;a novel idea).
“As I have engaged in this quest, for me it’s fairly simple, it’s a case of fundamental rights versus party rules,” Nelson told Florida lawmakers

Of course, all of this revolves around our delegate situation. Included in the bill is something he and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) proposed in 2007: breaking the primaries up into regions and have them on a rotation. This idea didn't go too far, of course. But, coupled with a call for popular voting...it might make it.


I would like to encourage everyone to contact Sen. Nelson and THANK him for introducing common sense legislation regarding our voting system and ENCOURAGE him not to give in. Actually, you should all send this information to everyone you know and tell them to call their representatives and encourage them to support it.

"A number of Senate aides, both Democrat and Republican, tell FOX News it’s a near impossibility that Nelson’s new bill would be considered in the midst of a heated presidential election, despite one senior Senate Democratic leadership aide who said, “Election reform and efforts to increase voter participation are important issues that need to be addressed.”

“This country cannot afford to wait another 93 years before we fix the flaws we still see in our election system, because the blessings of liberty cannot wait. I believe the time for reform is now,” Nelson said, referencing to the fight Susan B. Anthony waged for women’s suffrage in the 19th Century."

Who knows when someone will introduce this again. Even now, it is not the main motivation behind the bill. There is going to be an uphill battle and we need to win it. (Now, all we need true campaign finance reform and re-districting and we would ahve a truly functioning democracy!)

The coverage of this hasn't been too positive; mostly focusing on the delegate situation.
CBS News
The Raw Story
CNN
The New York Observer

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This totally has nothing to do voting. But, some guy thinks Nelson should be picked as the Democratic VP. LOL Had to share.

(See, couldn't give the man one good post.)

Florida/Michigan: How would a recount affect the race?

Almost 294,000 voters (Source) are up for grabs in Florida and around 263,000 in Michigan if there is a re-vote.

That is not counting a surely increased voter turnout with actual candidate campaigning in the states and the increased interest in the race.

Florida:
Senator Bill Nelson wants a recount and have the DNC pay for it , but the DNC can't afford to help pay for the cost of the process. Right now, the cost is estimated at around 22 million dollars. Personally, the DNC and the FDP are trying to work out a solution and Nelson should keep his 'train wrecks' to himself.

Florida is trying to figure out how to hold a new primary and how to keep the cost down. More importantly, how to engage the largest number of Floridians. I say Nelson should put his millions where his mouth is to ensure broad-based democracy in a re-vote.

Hilary won 55% and Barack received 30% of the primary vote in January. Now, theoretically, if Obama could win all of the now unpledged voters, he would narrowly beat Clinton. This is not counting the heavy campaigning efforts, increased voter turnout or swing voters.

Florida will not be easy to predict if there is another primary. On the other hand if, for some reason, the FDP decides to go with a caucus I think Hilary would win.

Let's hope that we include the wider populace and not just party activists.

Michigan:
Well, Michigan has apparently had a plan all along (according to some)--to hold a caucus. But, there is still a lot of wrangling still to come.

I will not even try to predict what will happen here. Obama was not on the ballot originally. They seem to be Clinton leaning. But, with Obama's new lead and strong campaign....anything is possible.

To top it all off Clinton wants the delegates to be seated for both states. Obama seems to be opposed stating, " “I think that we have played by whatever rules the DNC has put forward . . . and we will continue to play by those rules,” he said. “And whatever the rules are, we think we’ll do well.”

Finally, a REAL fight between the two!

More Links:
Let's Do Nothing
The Zimbabwe Guardian - interesting at least.
Irish Inependent

Today Sen. Nelson & Rep. Hastings to try to help Florida count

OrlandoSentinel.com
State Dems take presidential-primary dispute to court
By John Kennedy ~ TALLAHASSEE BUREAU CHIEF

TALLAHASSEE — The state's top congressional Democrats will make one final attempt today to breathe life into the party's all-but-ignored Florida presidential primary by pressing a federal lawsuit against national party leaders.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, chairman of Florida's congressional delegation, accuse the Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, of violating the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by stripping the state of all 210 delegates to next year's national convention.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

By contrast, the Republican presidential contenders will gather Sunday in Miami for a debate hosted by Univision, the Spanish-language network. It will mark the third time in six weeks that the Republican field has flocked to Florida for a nationally televised debate.

"I think it's a huge advantage to us," said Florida U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. "Their candidates are not being known in Florida. They're not here.

"They're really kowtowing to New Hampshire at the expense of Florida," Martinez added.

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Full Article posted in comments. But, again, with the 4 state pledge, I don't think this matters.

LCYDs in the News

Democrat's homespun style wows 'em
Smith seeks primary win for governor

By Brendan Farrington
AP Political Writer
The Associated Press April 2, 2006

TALLAHASSEE · Cindy Satur changed parties when Ronald Reagan was president, switching from Democrat to Republican.But two weeks ago, the Port St. Lucie woman received a new voter registration card listing her as a Democrat again. The reason she switched back? Rod Smith.

She saw Smith and the other three major gubernatorial candidates speak in Orlando in January and was immediately impressed. "I felt that he offered more solutions and he didn't have the canned political response. I felt an honesty," said Satur.

She's a good example of why many people believe Smith, a state senator and former prosecutor from Alachua, can steal votes from Republicans and win the governor's seat -- if he can beat U.S. Rep. Jim Davis in the Democratic primary.

While Davis has the backing of Bob Graham, a former governor and U.S. senator, and Rhea Chiles, the wife of the late governor Lawton Chiles, Smith evokes the spirit of the popular Democrats. He has a folksy charm and an appeal that could win over some Republicans, conservative Democrats and independents who have supported Republican candidates in recent years.

"Smith reminds me of people like Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles and Reubin Askew," said Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, who watched Smith, Davis and Republicans Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher at a Tallahassee event. "Just as sort of an image, the more the Democratic candidate can get people to think about earlier popular Democratic governors, the better chance they have to win."

Smith keeps pushing that message on his campaign stops. While speaking to Leon County Young Democrats this past week, Smith was asked how to stop rural north Florida Democrats from voting for Republicans."I don't know if I planted that question, but if I didn't, thank you," Smith said. He then went on to say people in his community trust him because of his law enforcement background and because he comes from a farming family.

And, as he often says, Republicans can't attack him on God and guns."I come from a part of the state where most folks have guns. They hunt. I've never had any real concerns about gun control until the vice president," Smith said, joking about Dick Cheney recently shooting a friend on a hunting trip.

Electability has been a campaign theme for Smith. He points out that there are still more Democrats than Republicans in Florida even if the GOP has won every statewide vote since U.S Sen. Bill Nelson's win in 2000.

"We have a 400,000-plus advantage in registered voters. Why aren't we winning?" Smith said. "We cannot lose if we hold our voters, but we've not been attracting independents, we've not been holding what some used to call the Reagan Democrat. There are a lot of blue collar workers who we lose over a lot of issues."

Satur knew nothing about Smith when he spoke alongside the other three candidates. Yet she was moved by what he had to say and how he said it, finding substance instead of a political rhetoric, she said.

"He represents the new Democrats, not so far left, not so liberal as they seem to be in the past," Satur said. "If there was an issue where he truly believed the Republican Party had a better solution or a better answer, that wouldn't bother him to support that.

Smith, though, has a long way to go if he wants to replace Gov. Jeb Bush, who can't seek re-election because of term limits. Davis has more money and, as a congressman from Tampa, is better known. He's also leading in polls, though most Democrats are still undecided.

Smith uses the underdog status to get crowds to warm up to him. He jokes about how he was introduced at one stop as Rod Stewart and at another a man named Smith forgot Smith's last name. Then there's his standing in the polls.

"The first time I saw a poll in this election they had me at 4 percent. That's the good news," Smith told one group. "The bad news: The margin of error was 5 percent."

The humor, combined with a rapid-fire, passionate delivery when discussing issues, has a way of winning people over. The same style worked well for him as a Gainesville area prosecutor, said Johnny Kearns, a public defender who faced Smith in many cases.

"I used to tease him that he was the reincarnation of Will Rogers because he talked like Will Rogers and he had those amusing anecdotes," Kearns said. "None of that stuff is prepared. Rod will assess a situation and he'll get on a roll and he's unbelievable. He's amazingly amusing and at the same time he has a point to all of his stories."

Before serving as a prosecutor, Smith worked as a labor lawyer representing unions. During that time he earned the respect of Peter Hurtgen, a Republican who was appointed by President Bush to serve as chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

"I found him to be a very fine lawyer, very honorable, very trustworthy, reasonable and frankly an outstanding person as well," said Hurtgen, who now practices in California. "I can't frankly imagine a guy better suited as far as background and personal skill set to be a public official at high level."

Smith is very talkative and not afraid to speak off the top of his head about almost any subject. Smith, who like Rogers was born in Oklahoma, says his parents were both quiet people, so he had to supply both sides of the conversation. He also said growing up, his minister was the only public speaker he saw, so the style rubbed off.

"He definitely is loquacious. He's outgoing. He's quick with a smile and a joke. It is endearing," said Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. "We always encourage him to talk slower, but it's his nature to get as much information out there as possible."

Smith also has a reputation of being able to work with Republicans. He helped then-Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, negotiate a compromise on a law that placed caps on medical malpractice lawsuit awards. The Senate succeeded in pulling Bush and the House away from the lower limits they wanted. He also helped form a coalition that stopped the House and Bush from passing a law to intervene in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case."

Sen. Smith has a good track record of working with Republicans in the Senate, in part because he's a conservative Democratic," said Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon. "He's the last of the north Florida conservative Democrats."
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Ammunition

Excerpt from the Orlando sentinel's Scott Maxwell's article yesterday:

Mel's bell gets rung

Survey USA recently scoured the entire country to see which U.S. senator had the lowest job-approval ratings -- and found Mel Martinez.

After polling voters in every state about their own senators, the polling company for TV stations reported that Orlando's freshman Republican beat out 99 others to have the lowest job-approval rating among voters in his own state: 41 percent. (Things like his office's involvement in the memo that claimed Terri Schiavo could do good things for Republicans in future elections probably didn't help.)Asked about the poor showing, Martinez spokeswoman Kerry Feehery said: "Senator Martinez is not driven by polls; he is driven by the needs of the state of Florida and its 17 million constituents."Um, those constituents are the ones they supposedly polled. Still, Martinez's senior Democratic counterpart, Bill Nelson, didn't do much better, finishing in an eight-way tie for 80th with a 48 percent approval rating.Topping the list was Maine Republican Olympia Snowe with a 77 percent approval rating. Also scoring particularly well was a trio of past and potential future White House aspirants -- John McCain, R-Ariz.; Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.; and freshman sensation Barack Obama, D-Ill. -- all of whom have hit Central Florida's campaign trail in recent years on behalf of local candidates.