Democrats Unveil Plans to Beat Tea Party at Own Game in Brandon Meeting

 Democrats are in the process of setting up their own think tank in Florida, a party leader revealed in candid talk with Brandon supporters last night. 

Tired of ceding the intellectual high ground to their opponents, Alex Sink said the party is well on its way to forming its own think tank.

Sink, the 2010 Democratic nominee for governor, lost to Republican Rick Scott by a 1 percent margin.

“There has got to be a place doing thorough, honest research that people can turn to. We don’t want people saying Florida Democrats have no ideas.”

Sink, of Thonotosassa, former chief financial officer for the state, unveiled the plan at an April 12 meeting of the East Hillsborough County Democratic Club.

Decrying the abundance of think tanks and institutes on the right, Sink said it was time Democrats joined the fray. Helping small business growth, increasing employment and protecting the environment would be a few of the core ideas of the Democrat’s new think tank.

“We need to counterbalance (right-wing think tanks),” Sink said.

Ostensibly a meeting to discuss redistricting in Florida, Sink made the revelation toward the end of her remarks to local democrats at a small Causeway Boulevard restaurant.

On redrawing districts, Brandon and eastern Hillsborough County need more equitable representation in Congress and democrats hope an upcoming redistricting plan will do just that. But don’t hold your breath, Sink told local Democrats.  

“More than likely this whole thing will end up in the courts and a judge will end up drawing the districts. We can just hope for reasonable judges.”

Florida's voters last year overwhelmingly approved two ballot initiatives aimed at stopping politicians from trying to "favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent" when they draw district lines.

The amendments aim to stop lawmakers from drawing legislative or congressional districts that favor a particular political party. Lawmakers must finish drawing new Florida districts, including two new U.S. House seats, before the 2012 elections.

Even if a redrawn congressional district results in a Republican victory, Sink said she would be happy to have someone who was accessible.

“If we are going to have a Republican congressional representative, I’d just as soon take a Republican from Brandon you might run into at lunch. I’m tired of splitting our congressional representation over three people, none of whom lives near Brandon. Where’s our voice? We need to make these districts start making sense.”

Current voting boundaries are out of date and don’t reflect how Brandon has changed, said M. Gail Gottlieb, director of programs for the Democratic Club.

“(Sink) is getting to the root of the problem,” Gottlieb said. “This area is not represented well and the boundaries are antiquated. They don’t reflect the diversity and reality of Brandon today.”

Democrats are hoping for boundaries that reflect those realities when the lines are redrawn, Gottlieb said.

“Having a fair district is the start, after that let the chips fall where they may.”

Looking ahead to next year’s elections, Sink said Democrats can regain seats but they will need to work harder.

“Maybe we need to make the next election about dissatisfaction with Tallahassee,” she said. “We believe there will be a huge backlash favoring Democrats next year.”

If so, Democrats will need to do a better job getting their voters to the polling booths. Sixty percent of Republican voters turned out for last fall’s statewide elections with only 48 percent of Democrats showing up to vote.

“We can’t win if our voters are not motivated,” Sink warned.  “(Senator) Bill Nelson will be fighting for his life in the 2012 elections and our president will be on the ballot so we are going to need a very aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign.”

The East Hillsborough Democratic Club was formed in 2005 by supporters of presidential candidate John Kerry and has members in Brandon, Riverview, Plant City, Mango, Lithia, and points in between. The group gathers from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Giordano’s Restaurant, 11310 Causeway Blvd., in Brandon.

Information: Angie Angel, club president, 813-334-8376 or demsinbrandon@aol.com.