Perhaps nothing so clearly illustrates the positions of the two parties in Florida as the locations where each held its post-election/planning meeting this year.
The 76 Republican House members met at the luxurious, gulf-front Water • Color Spa & Resort in Santa Rosa Beach. The 44 Democrats booked a teachers’ union conference room a block from the Capitol building in Tallahassee. Both meetings were financed by the parties, not the taxpayers.
As the Republicans discussed their solid victories in the recent election and debated how best to rape and pillage the state in the coming year, they enjoyed such entrees as, “Grilled Petite Filet Wrapped in Applewood Smoked Bacon and Fresh Gulf Fish with Citrus Beurre Blanc Served with Roasted Potato Medley and Seasonal Vegetables.”
Meanwhile, the Democrats likely reviewed the fact that they only picked up one seat in what should have been a year of sweeping victories while trading halves of the sandwiches they each brought and passing around a bag of chili-cheese Doritos.
What the Democrats should have been talking about is their party’s vote on Dec. 20 for a leader. They can either choose to stay the course with the ineffectual Karen Thurman, who not only subcontracts for a Republican lobbyist but oversaw a boycott of the state by Democratic presidential candidates, or they can pick somebody new. There are a couple of hats in the ring so far and our only preference is this: Anybody But Thurman.
