Tuesday’s Top 10 takeaways
In the days ahead, much will be said about Tuesday’s election, but today we offer our Top10 takeaways.
GOP needs a Bigger Tent. Republicans continue to win big among older people and white men, but to maintain its competitiveness and relevance, especially in a diverse state like Florida, the GOP simply must increase its appeal to women, young people and ethnic minorities, particularly Hispanics.
Democrats had a good night. After suffering big losses in 2010, the pendulum swung to Democrats this year. The party mobilized an energetic ground game to retain the White House and pick up two U. S. Senate seats and seven U. S. House seats. And while a solid Republican majority will continue to control the Florida Legislature, enough Democrats were elected to prevent a Republican supermajority from shutting down two- party debate. At the local level, itwas stunning to see a tidal wave of-well- known Republicans— Ellyn Bogdanoff, Adam Hasner, Al Lamberti, David Rivera and AllenWest — go down to defeat in what must be viewed as a course correction.
The polls were right. People on both sides complained of polling bias this year, but while there will always be outliers, the polls were right. You can trust the polls.
Debates matter. We heard debates don’t decide elections, but the president’s lifeless performance in the first presidential debate temporarily changed the course of the campaign, offering voters the chance to see Gov.
Mitt Romney absent the filter of the media or negative ads.
Off- the- cuff remarks matter, too. But Romney lost his momentum– and the hearts of many undecideds – with his inconsidered remarks at a Boca Raton fundraiser, where he talked about giving up on 47 percent of Americans. Candidates simply must assume their remarks will be recorded.
Never underestimate the October surprise. With the race neck- and- neck in its final days, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy led a popular Republican governor, Chris Christie of NewJersey, to embrace Obama and the federal government’s rightful role in helping states – and Americans – survive natural disasters. ManyRepublicans believe Christie sealed the deal for Obama when he reached across the aisle in his state’s hour of need.
Money talks. Liberals feared the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision would give the fundraising advantage to Republicans, but both presidential campaigns raised and spent well over $ 1billion each. The real problem with money comes earlier in the race, when good candidates are eliminated because they can’t raise enough money, or when the parties pick favorites and steer donors away from qualified candidates.
Floridians like to vote early. Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers failed citizens last year by limiting the number of early voting days. The supposed goal was to prevent voter fraud, but a more likely reason is that more
Democrats vote early. Whilewe heard of voting lines that lasted five hours or more, we heard of no one who endured the wait only to show a phony I. D. The excuse for limiting early voting is flimsy and the governor should show leadership and reverse course.
Why can’t elections supervisors get it
right? Florida just can’t escape its dubious reputation for troubled elections. In Palm Beach, printing problems created problems with absentee ballots. In Miami- Dade, the last- minute drop- off of 30,000 absentee ballots ground the vote count to a crawl. In Pinellas, the supervisor of elections scheduled an automated phone call telling people they could vote onWednesday. Elections are complicated, no question. But supervisors should be held responsible for poor planning.
Florida voters want an independent judiciary. Voters soundly rejected the Republican Party of Florida’s campaign to unseat three Florida Supreme Court justices. They also rejected a constitutional amendment proposed by the Republican- led legislature thatwould have let lawmakers confirm or reject justices. Memoto state lawmakers: Hands off the judiciary.
Voters are weary of divisive politics. FromWashington, to Tallahassee, to city councils and school boards, citizens came away fromthis election fed up with the negativity. Wewant people towork together to solve problems. So enough, already. Stop the posturing. Make things work better. Start by stopping the bad stuff.