Daniel TilsonIn the wake of mistakes, failures and defeats, learning and adaptation opportunities abound.
Seen through that filter, the aftermath of Election 2014 is a chance for the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) to do some rebranding, and reboot for 2016.
Team Blue can talk itself blue in the face about almost $13 million in money bombs Gov. Rick Scott and his wife dropped into his campaign coffers at the end of the race. Most of it came from a supposedly “blind trust” where the governor’s personal fortune is stashed, and it bought him a 2-1 TV advertising advantage over Camp Crist in the final days.
More than a few FDP insiders and loyalists think it’s that final barrage of attack ads against Charlie Crist that pushed Scott over the top by Election Day.
So what.
Florida had the most expensive midterm election in the USA, with more than $345 million reportedly spent on all campaigns combined.
You had to have your head buried awfully deep in the sand to think Scott would not dig into his own pockets at the end of a neck-and-neck race.
But FDP hoopla over all the big spending did little to turn out wary, irregular and unlikely Democratic and independent voters in 2014. No doubt, many see Democratic and Republican candidates as equally responsible for a corrupted campaign financing system and the increasingly corporate-controlled government it creates.
When Republicans in control of the Florida Legislature passed a ridiculous campaign finance “reform” bill in 2013 and Scott signed it into law, the FDP had its chance to stake out some high ground by going on the all-out offensive.
Committees of Continuing Existence, or CCEs, had become publicly embarrassing personal slush funds used and abused by most Republican legislators. So the Florida GOP replaced them with a system of Super PACs able to take unlimited contributions, coordinate directly with campaigns, and funnel money to the state party.
In other words, they rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic that is our sinking electoral system.
If ever there were a moment for the FDP to cry “foul!” and launch a major public education and organizing campaign against the corrupting influence of unlimited corporate money and personal wealth on politics, government and the Republican Party…that would’ve been it.
With so much of the underlying disengagement among Democratic and independent non-voters rooted in the assumption that both parties are corrupted by corporate money and influence, taking a bigger, bolder stand against it in 2013 could only have helped the cause in 2014.
Democratic handwringing about being “forced” to play the same dirty fundraising game as the GOP hasn’t gained credibility. Nor has it served as effective damage control with turned-off voters.
Boldly exposing and opposing our shamelessly corrupted system for what it is and going all-out in promoting an alternative might have helped deal with being outspent so badly in 2014.
Couldn’t hurt heading into 2016 either.
Alienated and apathetic non-voters wonder what the Democratic Party really stands for, what it will fight for. They hear about the minimum wage, public schools, health care and more. But they see a political system so corrupted and divided by special interest money that meaningful progress on these and other issues seems out of reach.
Knowing that, the FDP has a golden opportunity to make lemonade out of the Election 2014 lemons, by fighting vigorously to fix Florida’s broken campaign financing system.
Daniel Tilson has a Boca Raton-based communications firm called Full Cup Media, specializing in online video and written content for non-profits, political candidates and organizations, and small businesses. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
