Two days ago, I wrote my open letter to Karen Thurman saying that she, as well as much of her staff, should resign. Again, like I said yesterday, I am sticking to that until the end.
But since our letter, and Senator Jeremy Ring’s statement asking for a new chairperson of the FDP, a few other people have jumped on board as well. Lawton Chiles’ son, Bud Chiles, has also asked her resignation.
There has even been a website created asking for Thurman to step down called www.firekarenthurman.com. Therefore, it doesn’t seem to be just me and Senator Ring asking for her resignation. The movement seems to be gaining some momentum.
Still, even with these calls, there are some nay-sayers. There are a number of people who say that this isn’t Thurman’s fault. They are saying, like AG candidate Dan Gelber (who benefited most from the Democratic Party establishment outside of Alex Sink) that “there were trend lines far broader than the state of Florida that affected this election.”
True, the election defeats on Tuesday were nationwide, there is no doubt about that. But this isn’t just a 2010 problem in Florida. It is a 2008 problem, a 2006 problem, and a problem all the way back to when the State Senate split in 1992. Yes, we are not mad at Thurman because of this year alone, but mad at her for 2008 and 2006 as well. This isn’t a “one time off”, it is a trend.
But even with the resignation request from Democrats throughout the state, there is now some pressure on local DEC chairs to resign as well. In an article about Ring’s remarks, Palm Beach County DEC Chair Mark Alan Siegel might have indirectly turned up the pressure on himself. After saying that calls for Thurman’s resignation is wrong, but would consider taking the job if she left, a number of people in response to an article on the Palm Beach Post have said that Siegel should consider leaving himself.
Also in South Florida, there has also been some movements to get Broward County DEC Chairman Mitch Ceasar to resign as well.
Personally, I don’t know the situations in either Broward or Palm Beach Counties, but it does show that there are some winds of change possibly blowing on both the state and local levels.
We shall see what happens in the days to come. Will the pressure continue on Thurman, or will we see the pressure die down, like we almost see in all Florida Democratic politics? We don’t know, but it might be fun to watch.
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So..how were you actually involved in this past election process? Was this it…the Blog?
Do you think that really translates into Votes?
I am confused how one criticizes efforts that they did not involve themselves in and then take the short sighted approach of pointing to one person as the reason we elected a crook to lead Florida.
Lest we forget a personal 73 Million he spent of his own money to get elected. He sent a 3 page double sided smear about Sink that dropped on election day! There is a huge story yet to be uncovered about Rick Scott and you focus on “what” …..that can change nothing!
Started in 1992 with the Buddy Dyer for State Senate campaign, and since then work and managed a number of campaigns, from the Orange County School Board level to Presidential candidate (John Edwards in Washoe County in Nevada, and yes, I met Sharron Angle). I have worked and advised campaigns in Florida, Utah, Nevada, Illinois and Alabama, on all levels. Therefore my experience is pretty extensive.
You are talking about one election, that of Rick Scott for Governor. Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of Alex Sink, because I think she was just a DINO.
Anyway, you need to blame the person at the top after three election cycles of basically no gains. Again, Florida’s Legislature has as much of a margin as the Utah Legislature. Do you think that Utah and Florida are the same electorally? I think not.
For some reason, Celeste, you are just looking at one race. I am looking at the whole picture. In fact, in most cases, I specifically talk about State House races, and, honestly, I don’t even know if I have talked about the Governor’s race yet. Therefore, I don’t really think that you should put words in my mouth. That isn’t fair, now is it?