Sensing Cuba shift, Democrats target trio of House Republicans in Florida

[seafan]

It will be a happy day indeed, when all three of these self-absorbed dinosaurs are rejected.


http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/sensing-cuba-shift-democrats-target-trio-of-house-republicans-in-florida-2007-10-18.html">Sensing Cuba shift, Democrats target trio of House Republicans in Florida

By Ian Swanson
October 18, 2007

For decades, Miami Cuban-Americans have been a reliable Republican voting bloc and three GOP incumbents who represent that community in the House have rarely faced significant opposition.
Now Florida Democrats are trying to mount a meaningful challenge, in part by convincing Raul Martinez, the colorful former Democratic mayor of Hialeah, to take on Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), an eight-term incumbent and scion of a powerful Cuban émigré family.

Martinez is exactly the kind of candidate Democrats would need to seriously challenge Diaz-Balart because their battle would take place in a district where cultural ties matter more than party affiliation, according to David Wasserman, U.S. House editor for The Cook Political Report.

.....

Martinez, who like Diaz-Balart is a Cuban émigré, fits that bill after 25 years as mayor of Hialeah, which is the fifth-largest city in Florida, boasts a huge Cuban population and is 90 percent Hispanic.
A battle between the two well-known Miami politicians would also test the claim by Florida Democrats that the political climate in Miami’s Cuban-American community is changing.

National Democrats this week began running Spanish-language radio ads against all three members criticizing their votes against the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This is the first time the national Democratic Party has targeted advertising toward those districts, another indication that Democrats believe the seats are in play.

.....

Besides Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Garcia is also recruiting for races against Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Lincoln’s brother, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a third Havana-born Cuban émigré. Garcia himself is thought to be a potential candidate, and in an interview said he’d consider a race if his party asks him.

“I think a lot of people are very dissatisfied within the community,” Garcia said.

.....

Still, state and national party Democrats point to a variety of changing factors, including a national political tide that continues to run against Republicans. They argue non-Cuban Hispanics are increasing their numbers in the region, and that younger Cuban-Americans born in Miami are not as Castro-obsessed as their parents and are shifting the political culture.
For example, a July poll by FrederickPolls, a Democratic pollster, indicated that residents in the Diaz-Balart districts increasingly have the same views as other Americans. In the poll, 51 percent of those responding mentioned affordable healthcare as a top priority for their congressman, while 49 percent mentioned getting out of Iraq.

Getting Fidel Castro out of power, in contrast, was only cited as a top priority by 11 percent in the poll.

.....

[nightrider767]

1. When Miami Falls For The Republicans

The whole state falls.

That's huge. What a wonderful idea. The Dem's will have additional momentum as many of the Cuban AMerican population is rapidly growing tired or the over zealous restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba.