Dems elect delegates

For folks who don't yet have any say in their presidential nominee, it was a remarkably upbeat group of Democrats who met at Gray Robinson in Orlando today to elect 27 party leader and elected official delegates.Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair Rhett Bullard received the most votes, surely because he distributed cookies and candy to everyone with a vote. The elected delegates - none recognized by the DNC at this point - are listed below.

Unpledged "Add-on" Delegates
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink (Hillsborough)
Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller (Broward)
House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber (Miami-Dade)

Pledged Clinton Delegates
County Commissioner Burt Aaronson (Palm Beach)
County Party Chairman Bret Berlin (Miami-Dade)
County Party Chairman Rhett Bullard (Hamilton)
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (Orange)
State Party Vice-Chair & State Rep. Luis Garcia (Miami-Dade)
County Party Leader Lori Ann Glasser (Broward)
County School Board Member Kathleen "Kat" Gordon (Orange)
County Commissioner Sally Heyman (Miami-Dade)
Parkland Vice-Mayor Jared Moskowitz (Broward)
County GLBTA Democratic Caucus President Sally Phillips (Hillsborough)
State Sen. Nan Rich (Broward)
County Commissioner Katy Sorenson (Miami-Dade)
County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin (Broward)
Precinct Captain Frank Williams (Leon)

Pledged Obama Delegates
County GLBT Democratic Caucus President Chip Arndt (Miami-Dade)
County Party Chairman Travis Bridges (Duval)
Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder (Hillsborough)
County Caribbean Democratic Caucus President Evelyn Garcia (Palm Beach)
State Sen. Anthony "Tony" Hill (Duval)
County Vice-Chair Wes McCarville (Brevard)
County Young Democrats President Florence "Flomo" Moss (Miami-Dade)
County Party Chairwoman Judy Mount (Jackson)
State Rep. Geraldine Thompson (Orange)

Senate Democratic Leader Pro Tempore Frederica Wilson (Miami-Dade)

Comments

no one from Pinellas? South Florida rules the party!

4:55 - I think that is a misleading statement given that Rhett Bullard, the top vote getter, is from Hamilton County - which, if you're new to this state, ain't nowhere near south Florida.

How many people from Pinellas were even in the ballot?
Good job Rhett!

[PBC Dem]

How can Burt Aaronson be on this list? Is he even still a Democrat? I heard he is helping Adam Hasner.

[Pinellas Dem]

Congratulations to Rhett and the rest of today's winners!

[Christine]

Rhett - you do us proud!

And evidently Adam, you've never met Rhett before - so sad. That's just Rhett - a very hospitable kinda guy.

Congratulations Tony Hill! You do me proud too!

[Eli]

2 MICHELLES, 2 AMERICAS & SHAME vs. PRIDE
By Michelle Malkin
(sometimes seen on Fox news)
Like Michelle Obama, I am a "woman of color." Like Michelle Obama, I am a working mother of two young children. Like Michelle Obama, I am a member of the 13th generation of Americans born since the founding of our great nation.
Unlike Michelle Obama, I can't keep track of the number of times I've been proud - really proud - of my country since I was born and privileged to live in it. At a recent speech in Milwaukee on behalf of her husband's Democratic presidential campaign, Mrs. Obama remarked, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."
Mrs. Obama's statement was met with warm applause from other Barack supporters who have also apparently been devoid of pride in their country during their adult lifetimes. Or maybe it was just a Pavlovian response to the word "change." What a sad, empty, narcissistic, ungrateful, unthinking lot.
I'm just seven years younger than Mrs. Obama. We've grown up and lived in the same era. And yet, her self-absorbed attitude is completely foreign to me. What planet is she living on? Since when was now the only time the American people have ever been "hungry for change"?
Michelle, ma belle, Barack is not the center of the universe. Newsflash: The Obamas did not invent "change" any more than Hillary invented "leadership" or John McCain invented "straight talk." We were both adults when the Berlin Wall fell, Michelle. That was earth-shattering change. We've lived through two decades' worth of peaceful, if contentious, election cycles under the rule of law, which have brought about "change" and upheaval, both good and bad. We were adults through several launches of the space shuttle, in case you were snoozing. And as adults, we've witnessed and benefited from dizzyingly rapid advances in technology, communications, science, and medicine pioneered by American entrepreneurs who yearned to change the world and succeeded. You want "change"? Go ask the patients whose lives have been improved and extended by American pharmaceutical companies that have flourished under the best economic system in the world.
If American ingenuity, a robust constitutional republic, and the fall of communism don't do it for you, hon, then how about American heroism and sacrifice? How about every Memorial Day? Every Veterans Day? Every Independence Day? Every Medal of Honor ceremony? Has she never attended a welcome-home ceremony for the troops? For me, there's the thrill of the Blue Angels roaring over cloudless skies. And the somber awe felt amid the hallowed waters that surround the sunken U.S.S. Arizona at the Pearl Harbor memorial.
Every naturalization ceremony I've attended, where hundreds of new Americans raised their hands to swear an oath of allegiance to this land of liberty, has been a moment of pride for me. So have the awesome displays of American compassion at home and around the world. When millions of Americans rallied to help victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia - including members of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group that sped from Hong Kong to assist survivors - my heart filled with pride. It did again when the citizens of Houston opened their arms to Hurricane Katrina victims and folks across the country rushed to their churches and offices of the Salvation Army and Red Cross to volunteer.
How about American resilience? Does that not make you proud? Only a heart of stone could be unmoved by the strength, valor, and determination displayed in New York , Washington , D.C., and Shanksville , Pa. , on September 11, 2001.
I believe it was Michael Kinsley who quipped that a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. In this case, it's what happens when an elite Democratic politician's wife says what a significant portion of the party's base really believes to be the truth: America is more a source of shame than pride.
Michelle Obama has achieved enormous professional success, political influence, and personal acclaim in America . Ivy League educated, she's been lauded by Essence magazine as one of the 25 World's Most Inspiring Women; by Vanity Fair as one of the ten World's Best-Dressed Women; and named one of "The Harvard 100" most influential alumni. She has had an amazingly blessed life. But you wouldn't know it from her campaign rhetoric and her griping about her and her husband's student loans.
For years, we've heard liberals get offended at any challenge to their patriotism. And so they are again aggrieved and rising to explain away Mrs. Obama's remarks.
Lady Michelle and her defenders protest too much.

[Old Salt]

Given Rhett's vote count, purhaps Romney should have relied on cookies instead of dollars. Good work Rhett!

Rhett is pathetic trying to buy his way in. Rhett, get off the boards. Whoever you are, this ain't the PTA. Pathetic.

Who cares? The Republican candidate will win again. We have messed up a great opportunity and our candidates are a huge embarrassment. A memopausal screemer and a racially mixed American hating terrorist!

Gray Robinson is Jeb's favorite law firm - they managed his campaigns. Why did the Demos meet there? And why was Alan Katz, Obama's top guy in
Florida and a national committee member left off the list? Are the Demos really this disorganized? What a train wreck.

[Bill]

What a surprise...the children of the Executive Committee members with the most votes (Glasser, Moskowitz - 58 votes each) get elected delegates.

There is so much inbreeding in the FDP it's embarrasing.

9:02 - Alan Katz is a DNC member, hence a super delegate, and doesn't need to be elected. Not that he'd want Florida to have a delegation, anyway.

[DemDame]

If you think FL Dem Party, FL Repub Party or any other FL political party is that far removed from a local PTA group, you are sadly deluding yourself.. While the ideas and ideals may be different, humans organized into any type of group will operate in pretty much the same manner, i.e. food works!! :)

[suwanneegal]

Rhett Bullard's election speaks volumes! Rural Florida deserves to be represented! With new progressive leaders like Rhett Bullard the Florida Democratic Party is surely to make a come back.

Mazel tov to all electe, especially all the GLBT delegates!

[Sam Smith]

Rhett Bullard won, not because he gave away cookies and candy, because people respect him and recognize him to be one of the many up and coming leaders in the FDP. It also works to his advantage that he represents the small counties well. Period.

I'm shocked that none of our party leaders got picked to be delegates from here in Pinellas. I was under the impression that Pinellas County was a battle ground county for us in November. Did anyone from Pinellas County get picked for the GOP spots.

DEC Member

6:04-- did anyone from pinellas apply for one of these spots? I ask honestly, because I don't know.

Parkland is in no way a "big" city. So I assume that Jared Moskowitz is really a Party Leader.

What has Jared done for the Democratic Party?

If it just pushing through your kid, shouldn't he have been an at large delegate versus a Party Leader?

Rhett Bullard is unknown and not liked. He's a complete nobody. The only thing Rhett has done besides give away cookies is get on here and post about himself.

Whoever this guy Bullard is, his posts are a joke. Sounds like an official member of the Bullard family!

[Disgusted Dem]

Geez - who are you people? I'm seriously hoping most of the people posting to this blog are not involved in the party. You sound like you're in high school - how about you quit whining about who got chosen as delegates and start focusing on how to win this election and turn this country around???

[Disguised Republican]

10:03 Mega Dittos.

I know Rhett Bullard - he has not been on this blog at all. He won because he's one of the most effective Democratic leaders in the state. Good job, Rhett!

[D Martina]

Mr. Bullard is an asset to have from the State of Florida. South Florida needs to realize that they don't run this state. They seem to forget the middle of the road people from Central Florida like myself and the conservative vote from North Florida. Rhett Bullard will represent us well/

[D Martina]

Please delegates, go vote for Hillary at the convention, so I won't be forced to vote for McCain in November!