‘No such thing as a permanently red state’

Florida is a comeback state was the rallying cry out of the state Democratic Party’s gathering this weekend in Orlando.

Democrats are hopeful they are building on a string of victories — including flipping a state race blue that covers Mar-a-Lago — to be more competitive after GOP dominance.

“I’m here to remind you that there is no such thing as a permanently red state,” said keynote speaker Pete Buttigieg during Saturday’s Leadership Blue conference held at Disney World.

Buttigieg, the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Joe Biden, slammed Republicans as being unfit to lead.

“You need healthcare? They give you a culture war. You need better infrastructure? They give you a boat parade,” he told the crowd of 1,000 elected officials and Democratic supporters. “The problem is they want to be put in charge of the government but they’re bad at government. That affects everyday life for us and for our families.”

Instead of helping Floridians with high property insurance costs and their living expenses, the GOP are gerrymandering voting maps, he accused.

“The Republicans in charge here haven’t responded to policy failure by changing their policies. Instead, they’re trying to just change the rules,” he said.

Buttigieg took shots at the Republicans running for Governor which includes James Fishback who has faced criticism for his remarks and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds who is endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Buttigieg described them as “an unbelievably disturbing extremist” and the other as “ranked the second most far right-wing conservative in the entire U.S. House of Representatives.”

Winning laughter from the crowd, Buttigieg also turned to U.S. Cory Mills. “I’ll be old-fashioned, but I would argue that if you got a restraining order out against you,” you probably shouldn’t serve in Congress, Buttigieg quipped.

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine was not spared in Buttigieg’s roast.

“With the cost of living out of control, our nation at war, Rep. Fine committed his time in Washington to developing important legislation like the — I’m not making this up —  Protecting Puppies from Sharia Law Act,” Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg told reporters afterward he believes Florida is more competitive this election cycle than national pundits realize.

“I see enormous opportunity for Democrats. I see us competing in places that would’ve been written off just a few months ago,” he said. “The fact that Mar-a-Lago is now represented by a Democratic legislator right here in Florida, the fact that Miami voted for a Democratic mayor for the first time in basically a generation shows you that different things are possible.”

For its grassroots campaign, the Florida Democratic Party has launched voter registration drives on 12 college campuses in the past 18 months and targeted growing vote-by-mail, Chair Nikki Fried said Saturday.

With a backdrop of songs like  “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty, Democratic leaders, like U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, rallied the crowd and insisted Democrats can take back control of Congress and end the Republican supermajority in Tallahassee.

“Florida Democrats, let’s be honest with ourselves. Many in this nation look at our state and they don’t really see us. They see what we’re up against. Today, many see a state not worth fighting for, but I’m not concerned with what they have to say. In fact, I don’t really give a damn,” said Frost, an Orlando Democrat. “Our message isn’t about Democrat versus Republican. It’s about the people versus the problem. Florida Democrats, the mission is simple. Take our message to every end of this state with an open hand and an open heart and we will win.”