Democrats gain registration edge in Pinellas

For the first time in over 20 years, there are more registered Democrats in Pinellas County, the birthplace of the Florida GOP, than registered Republicans. Democrats had been gaining steadily in recent months, and are now on top 233,240 to 233,181.

"That’s awesome," said county Democratic chair Toni Molinaro. "In Pinellas County, we’re pretty tired of the same old, same old, it’s not getting us anywhere."

Though the GOP has been the stronger party in Pinellas for 50 years, the parties have changed leads several times. The last time Democrats were ahead was the general election in 1984. And the GOP still enjoys a cash and organization advantage.

"We expected it," said GOP chair Tony DiMatteo. "It's not indicative of how a party of a district will perform in November."

Comments

"We expected it." HA HA HA Dang right!

[St. Pete Tom]

This presents a very interesting scenario for the November elections. Given that Dem voters have outnumbered Repubs throughout the Primaries, the days of the good ol’ boy and gal republican network could be coming to an end in Pinellas.

Tony “The Meatball” DiMatteo and Neil “Duuh, gee Tennessee” Brickfield need to curb the Party’s arrogance this season. The local Dems wont keep pace in the money arena, but change is the order of the day, and money may not buy it this time.

Let us not forget Pinellas is the home county of the Governor and the single-most successful Congressional earmarker of the last 40 years...GOP has dropped the ball. Pinellas used to be the lone red county ina sea of dixiecrat blue.

What has happened.

[Liberal Democrats are sissies and want to destroy everything wholesome in america]

America used to be the “can do” country. Now apparently the land of hardy Pilgrims and pioneers often seems to act like sissies who wail and whine instead of solving problems that are fairly trivially addressed. One of those problems is high oil prices. Robert Samuelson:

What to do about oil? First it went from $60 to $80 a barrel, then from $80 to $100 and now to $120. Perhaps we can persuade OPEC to raise production, as some senators suggest; but this seems unlikely. The truth is that we’re almost powerless to influence today’s prices. We are because we didn’t take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.

It may surprise Americans to discover that the United States is the third-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. We could be producing more, but Congress has put large areas of potential supply off-limits. These include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and parts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. By government estimates, these areas may contain 25 billion to 30 billion barrels of oil (against about 30 billion barrels of proven U.S. reserves today) and 80 trillion cubic feet or more of natural gas (compared with about 200 tcf of proven reserves).

What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity.

At the moment oil prices look like they are declining or set to decline because of the end of a speculative frenzy and a worldwide recession or near-recession. But the long term trend is clear, and it takes a decade or more to get oil produced from places like ANWR. (The US could have been producing oil from ANWR for several years now but for the 1995 Clinton administration veto of an authorization to do so.) So it’s obvious that companies need to be able to start drilling — or have Americans sunk into the permanent state of “sheer stupidity” that Samuelson suggests?

Let us not forget Pinellas is the home county of the Governor (who has proven to be useless, except for photo-ops) and the single-most successful Congressional earmarker of the last 40 years (including jobs for the boys)...

GOP has indded dropped the ball. Pinellas used to be the lone red county in a sea of dixiecrat blue. (but the blue has had enough of it)

That's what has happened.

Right-wing nuts are criminal and have damn near destroyed everything wholesome in america

Uh-huh Uh-huh!

As a registered republican,, it is sad to say I have to vote democrat this year as I am tired of the people we have in office not standing up for the american worker and helping ship all of our work over seas. The current state of the economy shows the results of that.

[FLBobcat]

It would be interesting to know how many changed party affiliation in order to vote for Hillary in the primary. She's extremely popular, no matter what her own party affiliation may be, with the predominantly female elderly population throughout Pinellas County.

ummmm... the Florida Primary has passed. Any Republican changing to Democrat to vote for Hillary or Obama now... has simply come to their senses.

i think the increase is because of the dumbing down of america that has been the tactic of the elite liberal of the north east. they new that by dumbing down the average person to an iq below one hundred would therefore increase the registrations to the democratic party. and it is working.

[Mary]

I am one of the majority mentioned by FLBobcat and will certainly vote again for Hillary if she wins the nomination. If she doesn't, it's a totally different story.

[kitty]

11:10 a.m., you really need to stop eating those sour grapes and take a spelling class.

Time for Tony D to resign or for a vote of no confidence by the REC.

Time for Tony D to resign or for a vote of no confidence by the REC.

Time for the DEMs to run unopposed in 2008 after a vote of no confidence in the GOP from WE THE PEOPLE.

"Republican managerial expertise" has been shown to be a fraud. Look at the state of our nation as well as the insurance calamity in our state. All the republicans seem to offer is belligerence, sabre-rattling, religiosity, contempt for the less fortunate and rabid anti-intellectualism. Of particular note is the refusal of any sons and daughters of the prominent republicans to enlist for military service in Iraq, the mess of lies and nonsense sold to the public. They will be remembered for ushering in an age of decline for this once-great nation, now full of obese, unhealthy and poorly educated people.

11:30 AM

You are uninformed. McCain's son has served in the war zone. Don't broad brush all Republicans. How many children of the other Presidential candidates have served in the military? Better yet, how many of the current Presidential candidates have served in the military?

Typical liberal b... s...!!!

11:30, 11:36 is right. McCain was present at Gettysburg, and received a vicious neck wound at Appomattox. He was captured and waterboarded at his own request by Robert E. Lee.

[Disgusted]

It does not matter if you are a Republican or Democrat, all politicians are liars and clowns. They are all self serving clones that when once elected get real stupid real quick and use the general population as pawns for their own personal gains. At this point I look for the candidate who will do the LEAST amount of damage, since we all know politics as we know it is a sham!! Billary, the terrorist or a war monger what freaking joke, lets all say a collective prayer regarding America's future!!

[kitty]

11:36 a.m. the 2000 & 2004 elections proved that military service really doesn't matter to the electorate. Remember how Al Gore, who served in a Combat Camera unit and John Kerry were denegrated and dragged through the mud by your ilk? I do, and so do the majority of voters.

As tough as it will be for some R’s to accept, the reason for the change is really quite simple.

1. Republicans are no longer the Party of Conservatism
2. Republicans are no longer the Party of Moral Values
3. Republicans are no longer the Party of Honor & Duty
4. Republicans are no longer the Party of Americans who “Get it”
5. Republicans are no longer the Party worthy of control

It’s really that simple.

I honor McSame’s service to our country, but it in no way validates his ability, or lack thereof for that matter, to run this nation. For God’s sake, the man can’t say the Pledge of Allegiance without a teleprompter.

We’ve had 8-years of a walking and talking disaster… and we do not need another 4-years of it.

LOL are you democrats still sore over John Kerry the WAR HERO being painted as a COWARD? He's such a flip flopper he flip flopped on his own war record. He's a F'N war HERO for christsakes and BUSH came out looking like the HERO and Kerry a Coward.

And you're going to do it again with OBAMA! hahahahaha

We're laughing all the way to the white house.

[Chris Brudy]

To “Liberal Democrats” 10:34: “We are almost powerless to influence oil prices.” Nonsense. The House of Saud could double their production within a week. All we would have to do is threaten to stop protecting them. Without our military around, the Arabian people would dump the royal family, after it's decades of abuse, overnight.
The left wing has opposed drilling and adding more refining capacity, it is true. However, the oil industry itself is not interested in putting new supply on line because the industry's current inventory would lose value. David Rockefeller of Exxon-Mobile does not want more supply. He likes the artificial shortage, which is the real reason we are in Iraq: To keep them from pumping another 3 million barrels a day.
To 11:10: Dumbing down the population has been a Republican tactic for years. Leave the average Joe just smart enough to turn on Fox News and believe the wall of lies.
Finally, are you better off than you were at the turn of the century? After all this Republican “leadership”?
Please, the Democrats have taken the registration lead because people are waking up to the truth: The GOP is of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. And all the rich want to do is to take as much as they can from the non-rich.

Chris- You have no idea what you are talking about.

David Rockefeller just got into a major dispute with the Chairman of Exxon-Mobile becuase they are not focusing more on renewable energy. He urged shareholders to support a change in the corporate structure.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/ebe58d726b1c0e96b9d92a1642a32ced.htm

Chris- it's the refiners who are slowing down the process and holding supply becuase their margins are being affected by the rising price of crude.

[Disgusted]

As our esteemed lawmakers in Tallahassee are looking to trim the pork filled budget, THEY ALL HAVE FREE HEALTH INSURANCE and they will not give that up, it is their right (they think). We as citizens need to clean house both locally as well as nationally, what a bunch of idiots or maybe we are the fools.

[kitty]

12:02 p.m., Kerry's defeat had everything to do with paid pundits swiftboating him and the "liberal media".

That being said, my point was that military service doesn't mean a thing to the electorate.

Which Democrats will show up in November? The Obama ones with the rev. or the Hillery ones that stole the nomination from Obama? The Dem's can win Pinellas in November if they double their numbers.

It's going to be a great Thanksgiving!!

REC Member

[kitty]

12:52, even though my candidate was eliminated months ago, I still intend to "show up" in November and vote for whichever dem gets the nomination. Yes, I am voting dem regardless of who gets the nomination because the alternative isn't acceptable.

P.S., if the dems are the majority in Pinellas, why would they need to DOUBLE their numbers? Are you implying the SOE is up to no good again?

[Johnathan]

LOL, the Demoncats are still upset with Gore losing. Who led us into WWII? A Democrat. Who dropped the A bomb? A Democrat. The Korean War? A Democrat. The Viet Nam war? A Democrat. Who got us out of Viet Nam? A Republican. Stop with the war monger arguments. It makes you look even dumber than you are. Democratic voter numbers increased? Sure all the promise of entitlements and freebies are bringing the bottom feeders out of the woodwork. Your taxes will sky rocket as they always do under the Democrats...that is if you are one of the few Democrats that actually work.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

oohh yes it is indicative of what will happen in November Tony, even you know it, that is why you acknowledge the issue without prompting.

1:10 LOL The blather of a desperate party hack.

[Poll Worker #827]

Anyone who doesn’t expect the Pinellas SOE to blow yet another election is naive. We’ll have the standard computer “glitch”, or a box or two full of ballots left out in the garage, or maybe even a “software” problem… but you can count on another debacle capped off with the obligatory “It wouldn’t have mattered anyway”.

[TRUE BLUE]

The long nighmare in Pinellas is finally over. No longer is the G.O. P. the party on the move, it is now the Dem's. We should get down and thank George W.for he has, at last, shown the true face of the Republicans which is they only care about their fat cats and corporations that have paid to keep them in office. At the local level,Chair Monanari has done a remarkable job of keeping the lid on the festering Dem's.

Poll Worker #827 is a blathering desperate party hack that is unaware of changes to voting equipment...

[kitty]

Poll Worker #827, the SOE will send absentee ballots to military personnel in late September. They she'll do it again in late October, advising military personnel and their dependents that even if they sent off the first ballot they received, to fill this one out as well to "ensure your vote counts" (twice). For some reason they believe we're all rethuglicans.

[kitty]

Poll Worker #827, the SOE will send absentee ballots to military personnel in late September. Then she'll do it again in late October, advising military personnel and their dependents that even if they sent off the first ballot they received, to fill this one out as well to "ensure your vote counts" (twice). For some reason they believe we're all rethuglicans.

Maybe it's time Tony D and company started focusing on keeping Republicans in partisan office and not trying to influence every non-partisan race. They haven't been too good at that either!

[Donald Lance]

I'm almost afraid to chime in on this because all comments are polarized - one way or the other. The fact of the matter is that NEITHER party, Dem or Repub, has done a damn thing for any of you other than steal your money and give you nothing back in return. How about the $600 Billion we borrow from China every year just to send to the Saudis? That's just smoking Dollar bills and paying the enemy. We get nothing out of that. How about Nanci peloci saying in 2006 that there is going to be a "common sense" strategy to energy? Where is it Nanci? That was 2 years ago and we still get nothing from you other than obstructionism. It seems many people on this post want to play the war car. Remember John Murtha? What has he said about the war since the Dems took over the house? Not a peep! You know why? Because it is the Dems who demanded a cut of the profits of war. Once the recieved them, they went quietly into the night. Which of these 2 parties will do anything for you? Neither of them is the only answer. Both are in the same position to take from you and give to their backers. But let's say the roles were reversed. It would be the Repubs who would be the obstructionists and still nothing would ever get done while this country continues to bleed at a faster flow to insignificance. Dems? Repubs? Why bother backing any of these parties since they are hell-bent on destroying this country! The worst thing you could do is take no action, yet that is precisely what you get out of this govt. So why vote for any of them?

[Marge]

Way to go, Pinellas County residents!!! You are finally beginning to wake up and see reality. You will be so proud of your new Democrat president!!

1:43 is a blathering desperate party hack that believes that changes to voting equipment actually matters...

The biggest mistake we made was falling for the new Electronic Corporate Appointment System... errr... I mean Electronic Voting System.

[Tankster]

We have been a RINO county for a long time. We gave Al Gore a 20,000 vote surplus (too bad it wasn't 20,530!). Even the incompetent Bob Schrum and the Kerry campaign almost carried the county 4 years ago.

Wake up America! The people in power are not "Republicans"...the founders of the Ripon Society are spinning in their graves! The people in power who call themselves are, (with the notable and noble exception of Sen. Dennis Jones), people who want to spy on us, get government into our private lives, wreck the environment, dumb down our kids, schools and political discourse (a government of the folks, for the folks and by the folks). They now have gotten to where the "Birth Tax" is about $35,000 per child due to reckless borrow and spend pork mentality.

Throw 'em all out!

[rick from Largo]

I had been republican all my life until the 2000 slight of hand. I never in my life waited so long for an election to be settled. Seeing how Florida's votes were handled by K. Harris and others, and then this administration's actions--in protest I changed parties to a Dem. Right now I don't see much difference between parties at all. As usual, they can't get together at all. All I know is, thank God, Bush and Mr. Corporate, are going. I think they are traitors to the US. This is a corporate takeover of the Republican party and nothing more.

Rick, I hear you, the G "old" P has been replaced by the Corporatistas.

I hope they will require picture IDs at the polls!

I just hope they will require IDs at the polls... period! Lord knows how many illegals have already voted.

[Mike]

This born and raised Eisenhower Republican will be voting straight Democratic ticket. I weep over my grandfather's party allowing itself to be taken over by corporatists and haters like the right wing religious fundamentalists -- aka American Taliban.

But so long as the Republican party stands for taxing me and giving it to their corporate and church cronies via no bid contracts, and simultaneously building the largest beaurocracy in the history of the planet in the name of "the war on terror" -- read, "cameras everywhere you go/no habeas corpus/spying on your private communiques -- while they destroy the middle class with their slave wage trade policies, I'll be voting anything but R. Whether it's for president, congress, or dog catcher.

And until we have instant runoff voting, purportional representation, and publicly financed elections, that means I'm voting D, because a third party has no chance.

I'll be contacting each and every one who wins to make sure they're voting/acting in the best interests of all Americans. I hope everyone who visits this site will do as well.

It's our country. Let's take it back by being active. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Get in the game!

[Tony Lopez]

I'm one of those new ones here in Pinellas!!

Let's give "Change" a chance!!

Tony

[Reality]

Tony,

Welcome to Pinellas; glad to have you here!

[Donald Lance]

6:48 In response to your comment, I would suggest to you that voting 3rd party IS the way to go. What better message to send to the 2 parties that they are losing votes? It is only thru this action that they will come around to understand that we've had enough. By voting for the challenger, you are just giving them 4 years worth of profit taking at your expense. When the people stop voting for them, only then will they realize the game is over. Think about that before you start pulling switches for the "D's"

[CATherine]

WAHOO!!!!
Now if all of we Democrats - I mean EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US - actually go out on voting day and play on that machine ... we'll have a DEMOCRAT for President next time around. 'Bout time!
Cat-gurl

Pinellas was the last large county to turn blue, will the last working person leaving please lock the door and turn out the lights. Thank you, I'm off to China.

[Wendy Risk]

Happy days are here again.

Toni Molinaro:
And the democrats have you as a leader? "We're tire of the same 'ol, same 'ol and it's not getting us anywhere?" What county do you live in? What country do you live in? YOU democrats took over the United States Congress 2 years ago, with your great leader Pelosi in charge, promised to bring the troops home and the price of gas is so expensive people can't go to the the grocery store and you say you're tire of the same 'ol, same 'ol? well, then I guess your voting republican, because it is your Dems that did absolutely nothing over the last two years. And they could have made a big change in the US, a change they made a promise to make. Yeah, I am tired of the same 'ol, same 'ol also. And you should take some common sense classes before you speak publicly again about the same ol, same ol.

7:35
Same ol, same ol, yeap!! Read the SPT today GOP down according to Dr. Paulson because of outside factors, but GOP 100+ K to 13K, follow the $$$ this is America.

Finance Guy

Hillary and Billary have made over 100 million because of who they are. Nobody questions that, yet members of the House and Senate can't have outside earned income. Hello.