Election Day Thoughts
BY BUDDY NEVINS
I still believe it is a Democratic year. Any Republican on the ballot has an uphill fight.
Browardbeat.com’s exclusive poll last week put Republican Sheriff Al Lamberti well in front of Democratic Scott Israel. GOP polls agree with our survey.
Still, I can’t shake the hunch that it is Israel’s race to lose.
Much of Israel’s campaign staff also is working on the Barack Obama campaign. That will enable Israel to ride the Democratic tide. Whether he can ride it to victory, remains to be seen.
I would give Israel the edge.
The same with any Democrat on the ballot. If the Ds can’t win this year, they will never be able to win.
This race has nothing to do with the Democratic candidates. It has nothing to do with Mitch Ceasar and the Broward Democratic Party organization.
It’s the economy, stupid. The lousy economy that voters blame on George W. Bush and the Republicans.
Anyone in Broward with a D next to their names is a favorite today. Anyone.
Unfortunately, we are going to get some real losers swept into office by the Democratic avalanche.
Israel and Lamberti are both experienced law enforcement officers.
But I don’t like the way Israel politicized his campaign, appearing in television ads that repeatedly reminded voters he was a Democrat.
There is no partisan way to do law enforcement.
Also, I fear that Sheriff Israel will be compromised and eventually absorbed by the Democratic machine. The machine is a clique of insiders that includes the ethically-challenged county commission and their bevy of lobbyist friends.
Israel’s campaign is being run by one of the most active lobbyists in Broward, Judy Stern.
Let’s hope if he is elected, Israel will be independent enough to tell Stern and company to take a hike before they get their hooks into the $100 millions in the sheriff’s budget.
Israel is a terrific choice compared to some of the Ds who may be swept into office today.
Raul Martinez. Need I say more?
Martinez is no shining beacon of good government, despite his Democratic label in the U. S. House District 21 race which encompasses Southwest Broward.
He was indicted three times, but hey, it was in Hialeah. He was mayor of that community for 21 years, which is all you really need to know. I always believed that Hialeah was so corrupt, any newly-elected mayor was handed their own brown paper bag along with the gavel.
Corruption has been part of Hialeah long before Cuban-Americans took over the town. Mayor Henry Milander was mayor for 30 years in the middle of the last century despite a conviction for grand theft
The result of this government for sale? Drive through Hialeah and see if the community looks like it was the product of smart decisions made in city hall.
Yet Martinez might just win because he is a D.
Not that I am a fan of U. S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, the incumbent Republican. The stench of lobbyists money has stuck to him for years. He is a clone of Bush.
All I am arguing is that Martinez is no better and may be worse. But he does have a D next to his name.
Martinez is just one of the questionable candidates that may be elected today solely because he is a D.
You can hear more of my comments tonight on Frank Loconto’s election show on BECON television.
OTHER ELECTION NEWS:
***The line in some east Fort Lauderdale precincts was more than an hour long this morning, indicating Republicans are turning out, too.
In one precinct, former U. S. Rep. Clay Shaw was musing to others in line that this is the first time in over three decades he hasn’t been on the ballot.
***Broward leads in requests for voter assistance in Florida, according to Toweleroad.com.
No surprise to me. With 786 precincts in Broward run by part-time poll workers, there are sure to be some problems. So far, Brenda Snipes is running a good election.
*** Lawyer Sam Fields, a volunteer lawyer for the Obama campaign and sometimes guest columnist for Browardbeat.com, reports at lunchtime that he has heard of none of the feared voter suppression effort by Republicans. Democrats believed that the GOP lawyers would make an effort to disallow the votes of many blacks by challenging their eligibility at the polls.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Israel will win. The poll was done by a Lamberti stooge. Why don’t you admit that, Nevins?
November 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Voting in Fort Lauderdale was easy and quick at 10 a.m. This is going to be a GREAT election.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
MORE SAM FIELDS! Shut up, Sam.
What has he got on you Buddy?
Are the views of an atheist leftist so intereesting?
November 4th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Relax about Sam, mister courthouse. He makes a good verbal sparring partner even if he is out in left field (both puns intended.)
November 4th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I firmly believe that the Sheriff should be non-partisan as are the School Board seats. They were partisan at one time but it was changed. Broward D’s are tough and hard to beat I just hope we take the entire state. Yes for a CHANGE. As for Judy Stern, she really gets around and gets the job done but I’m not so sure this time.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Beth: “I firmly believe that the Sheriff should be non-partisan . . .”
And I firmly believe the Sheriff should be appointed — there’s absolutely no evidence that an elected sheriff is any more competent or responsive than would be one appointed by the county.
Given the history of the BSO, it’s hard to argue that an appointed sheriff could be any worse.