Jacob Ogles
What’s a political campaign to do once their candidate loses?
The Andrew Gillum campaign vowed to continue as a movement and build Florida’s progressive grassroots.
An email headlined “The Mid-Terms are over … Now What?!’ was blasted out to supporters statewide Sunday evening, encouraging those who worked to elect Gillum as Governor to continue the fight.
“The organizing, canvassing, phone banking and hard work we put into this campaign has grown into a Movement,” the email blast reads.
The piece encourages volunteers to sign up for a “Next Steps” effort, linking to a website gathering information. Supporters can sign up to receive emails on the “Next Steps Conversation,” about voter registration, voter education, and engagement, or ballot protection, all priorities of Gillum in the wake of his ultimately unsuccessful bid for Governor.
Those options showcase efforts on the part of Democrats as they strive to compete in a year when the Governor’s Mansion and a U.S. Senate seat were lost by less than half a percent of the statewide vote.
Gillum supporters felt particularly stung on Election Day, as the Democrat went into voting ahead in most polls. The RealClearPolitics RCP average showed Gillum leading Republican Ron DeSantis by 3.6 percent on average, but DeSantis ultimately won by 32,463, or 0.4 percent of more than 8.2 million votes cast.
The email blast says Gillum fully supports continued campaign efforts and outlines three programs the campaign apparatus plans to continue.
Those include a “volunteer-driven organization” to address specific local and state issues and policies.
Next, efforts turn toward identifying and recruiting progressive candidates to run for office statewide.
Finally, the campaign looks to consult and deliver more effective campaign strategies to manage and run campaigns from School Board to Governor over the next four years.
What this means for Gillum’s political future remains unclear. New Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey was sworn into office on Nov. 19, replacing Gillum in his immediate past office.
The Next Steps Conversations themselves likely won’t begin in earnest until after the holiday season concludes, the email says.
22 comments
Malcolm Lewis Barnes
December 3, 2018 at 8:55 am
As a recent DC transplant, I was thinking along the same lines. Living in conservative Manatee county I still don’t have a sense of how to measure the cultural context of my local community and am glad there is an effort to continue the dialogue!
Barry
December 4, 2018 at 7:36 am
please – go back to DC. The last thing we need in Florida is another Obama Democrat. Why did you leave DC? And why would you possibly think we want that garbage here? Peop[le like you leave a hell hole and then vote for the same morons that6 created what you left.
Go back – please. before you do any further damage.
Victoria Sustana
December 5, 2018 at 9:43 am
Agree please go back
Kimberley
December 4, 2018 at 5:59 pm
Happy to have a thinking voter here. We do have to look around us, assess our situation, as you seem to be doing, see what is best for our community, as you clearly are doing, and then work for the greater good in a calm and methodical way. Any knee jerk reactions to any participant, past, present, or future, or from any location is simply ignorant. We must return to critical thinking in this country. What is best. Not how to win. Winning creates losing. Doing what is best creates a better world for all. Now, shall we all act like the presumed human who wrote the knee jerk response assuming you are an Obama fan, which is irrelevant to your post about how to plug in and do your best as a voter in FL, or shall we thoughtfully welcome all new voters to FL and all keep ourselves informed and vote on the actual issues and how they effect our communities going forward, or should we all sit in our red and blue sand boxes name calling and shouting “MINE”?
I, for one, believe we “be best” if every FL voter takes off his or her MAGA hat and/or his/her Nasty Woman t-shirt and Views each issue through the lease of people who have to live in our communities for the next twenty or thirty years and votes on those bases.
Thank you for your consideration
Lee Miller
December 3, 2018 at 9:35 am
I am interested in gerrymandering in Florida. Specifically HD 12 Bilirakis seat.
David Dignam
December 3, 2018 at 10:21 am
We all need to encourage everone to get involved in the political process, no matter what party you identify with. We should all want what is good and in the best interest of our communities. Dont sit back….make a difference and get active. We need to challenge our younger citizens to participate and share their insight. We need to put differences aside and make Florida the great state we all want it to be.
Liberty
December 3, 2018 at 10:34 am
I hear Cuba, Venezuela and Argentina have booming socialist economies. Maybe you can move there and join the leadership. At least they get to enjoy the luxuries of life while the rest of the citizens starve.
Mich C.
December 3, 2018 at 12:10 pm
I second that motion. ☝️
Victoria Sustana
December 5, 2018 at 9:45 am
👆
Jose Grunt
December 3, 2018 at 10:48 am
No, Gillum will just focus on getting felons registered to vote. That’s a major part of the Democrat constituent base.
Rev. Sandy Haxton
December 3, 2018 at 10:50 am
We can have our differences of opinion. That’s healthy. What we cannot tolerate is gerrymandering and suppression of vote. Those issues should unite us.
Steven Summers
December 3, 2018 at 11:10 am
Yeah…..good thing Desantis won.
Maryann
December 3, 2018 at 12:49 pm
We need to stop the GOP corruption in Florida
And we need to educate people how to vote. And more Democrats need to be elected everywhere in Florida the more the better.
Jose Grunt
December 3, 2018 at 10:51 am
And remember, all good things can be paid for with more taxes. Especially a state income tax! Vote Socialist!
Steven Summers
December 3, 2018 at 11:09 am
Smoke another one comrade.
Meekins
December 3, 2018 at 3:21 pm
Good election, but I really didn’t get a lot of information from the secretive U.S. press. Is that man Gilliam a homosexual? There seems to be a quiet but known story, not reported…..
Victoria Sustana
December 5, 2018 at 9:48 am
Google he and Adam Corey FBI good article in Orlando paper Oct 2018 you will get your answer. Feel bad for Adam actually
Victoria Sustana
December 5, 2018 at 9:49 am
Correct
Get A Job!
December 3, 2018 at 4:07 pm
Next step for Gillum…
Jeb
December 4, 2018 at 7:32 am
This Soros-Steyer Obama look alike invention will be stopped in his tracks everywhere he turns. Floridians will never back a lying, corrupt socialist whose only power comes from his being a black man that dares anyone to call him that .
Florida and America have been through the race garbage with Obama and the more blacks and Democrats play this card – the more we turn away. Gillum offers nothing new. he is simply a Soros owned creation offering no knowledge of economivs, no background of government stability and no new ideas – just worn out Big Givernment spewnding and tired old Tax the Rich crap. The Soros formula and Steyer digital campaign can’t erase what Gillum is – nothing more thaqn a warmed over empty suit that would do to Florida what Obama did to America. NO THANK YOU.
Kimberley
December 4, 2018 at 6:32 pm
Happy to have a thinking voter here. We do have to look around us, assess our situation, as you seem to be doing, see what is best for our community, as you clearly are doing, and then work for the greater good in a calm and methodical way. Any knee jerk reactions to any participant, past, present, or future, or from any location is simply ignorant. We must return to critical thinking in this country. What is best. Not how to win. Winning creates losing. Doing what is best creates a better world for all. Now, shall we all act like the presumed human who wrote the knee jerk response assuming you are an Obama fan, which is irrelevant to your post about how to plug in and do your best as a voter in FL, or shall we thoughtfully welcome all new voters to FL and all keep ourselves informed and vote on the actual issues and how they effect our communities going forward, or should we all sit in our red and blue sand boxes name calling and shouting “MINE”?
I have such a hard time believing that there are people in this state where I grew up who failed to avail themselves of an education and actually believe that a Holocaust survivor chooses to back evil. George Soros survived the Holocaust. His only goal in supporting politicians is to see that we don’t have a Holocaust here. If you find fault with trying to prevent genocide in America, possibly your right to vote isn’t very informed. Also, Democrats aren’t generally Black and Black people aren’t all Democrats. That is a racist statement. Try making it in a room full of young black leaders for Trump who stand eagerly waiting for him to come speak to them in their MAGA hats. I suspect those would be fighting words.
It is always interesting to me that when a Democrat is confronted with an angry Republican, the Democrat comes back with a rational argument, suggestions of unity and forward progress. When a Republican is confronted with anyone that they don’t recognize as a full member of the tribe they go on the attack. More interesting is the weaponry chosen. Kindergarten namecalling. The words chosen, words the Republicans misuse or misunderstand or the names of politicians who are no longer in the ring. They don’t really go after any actual standing politicians. They are all just frightened children. We all just need to be kind and turn the light on in the darkness.
To our Republican friends, President Obama is no longer holding any political office. He did not run against Donald Trump. Trump’s legacy does not improve each time he strikes down something Obama did. It improves if he does something to strengthen America in his own name. Hillary is a footnote in history. The only power she has is what Trump and his fans give her each time they utter her name. The word Socialist in pure form is nothing like any of the governments you cite that use that title. Check out the happy, healthy countries which are democratic socialists like the danish countries. Healthy, happy people. I have never watched any subset of American people “win” so much and be so unhappy about it and maintain such anger at the “losers”. I’ve also never seen a President who never realized he won the election and therefore never came down off of the campaign trail and actually governed.
The Trump presidency is traumatic for all. For the Republicans because they are angry and defensive, even in winning, for Democrats because we watch in horror while Trump destroys the ideals of our founding fathers like Godzilla trampling through Tokyo and gets away with it the exact same way TV evangelists collect money for a bigger house from their followers.
I, for one, believe we “be best” if every FL voter takes off his or her MAGA hat and/or his/her Nasty Woman t-shirt and Views each issue through the lease of people who have to live in our communities for the next twenty or thirty years and votes on those bases.
Thank you for your consideration
Malcolm Lewis Barnes
December 4, 2018 at 11:20 am
Damn, there are some mean spirited folks in Florida. Indoctrinated with all the standard code words and DOG whistles – socialism, race garbage, felon constituency, Cuba, Venezuela, etc., and of course go back to DC, i.e. Africa – yah I’m BLACK just like family man Gillum!
Let’s see what Country Club republican desantis does for the average Floridian , other than carry 45’s corruption, lies and Gangster values to every corner of the state while keeping the STATUS QUO. The same thing he did in Congress – NOTHING but get a life time pension and gold platted health plan before he moved up the plantation ladder to become governor.
Keep your FOX NEWS blinders on and tune into CNN on Friday for the Mueller Reality Report!
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