St. Pete Times: Obama means it's not politics as usual for Pasco County, FL Democrats

[seafan]

This, from Florida, is so gratifying, in the face of yet another day, week, month and year of outrage.



Obama means it's not politics as usual for Pasco Democrats

By Camille C. Spencer, Times Staff Writer
August 12, 2008

It's easy to see whom Laurette Thomas favors in the race for president.

There's the Obama '08 pin she puts on every day. The blue and yellow T-shirt with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's picture on the front that she plans to wear to work on Fridays now until Election Day. And the hours she spends volunteering at the Obama '08 election office in Dade City.
"His mom was a single parent, raising two children and working at the same time," said Thomas, 32, who works at a nursing home. "I am a single parent with two kids. His speech he gave on Father's Day, I support that. Not just black men, but men of every race need to step up to the plate."
Thomas, of Lacoochee, is one of a number of black Pasco County residents rallying behind Obama's quest to become the first black president.

It's hard to pin down cause and effect, but in the time since Obama announced his candidacy in February 2007, black voter registration in Pasco has risen 21 percent, to 8,503. .....
Harville Tait, 18, of Port Richey is a black man who says Obama's candidacy prompted him to register to vote.
"I want to see how the country would be with him as president," he said. "It would be interesting to see a new face."

Ebony Cooper, a black woman from Zephyrhills, has been called "the Little Preacher" for her fervent push to get young blacks registered to vote.
Whenever Obama debated or spoke on TV, the occupational therapist and her husband dragged their 20-inch TV outside and placed it on a card table on their porch. That way, people who weren't usually interested in politics could catch a glimpse of Obama.
Young black men would stop by and discuss politics with each other, Cooper said, giving her a chance to get them registered to vote if they weren't already. Between the impromptu TV viewings at her house and spreading the word at work, Cooper said she has registered 50 voters.

Cooper, 34, calls her house "Barack Headquarters."
"I think he (Obama) stands for what America is," she said. "I really relate to him. We both went through college with student loans, my mother was a single mother. He's Christian, and I am, too. … He's just an everyday joe. That really appeals to me."

Until Election Day comes, Obama backers like Thomas are continuing to spread the word.

"He's young, and he has a new vision," she said. "It's a new day and a new era, and we need a change."

[SteveM]

1. I was born in Dade City; Mom was from Zephyrhills...

Lacoochee was (is?) an old sawmill town which took in many of the survivors of the Rosewood invasion (Levy County, 1923). The lead attorney to get reparations for relatives of the survivors was Ms. Martha Barnett of Dade City. Her dad was the company doctor in Lacoochee. She became head of the ABA.

"She knew that some of the boys she dated were in the Klan, just like their fathers. To this day she says she wouldn't be surprised if her own brothers had been in the Klan, though she has no doubt her father was not. Back then Dade City had the largest Klan membership in the state." D'Orso, Michael, LIKE JUDGMENT DAY, Boulevard Press, NY, 1996.

Incidentally, William "Doc Willie" Walters set my Mama's broken ankle in c.1949. Small world, Florida.

[seafan]

3. Very interesting history. So many facets of this jewel called Florida.

Every day I learn something new.

[flvegan]

2. Nice, considering how diverse Pasco has become over the past decade.

Good sign.