HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried delivered a pep talk to disheartened party members in what has become an arguably red state at their annual Leadership Blue Gala.
It took place Saturday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood.
“Stop waiting to be inspired and start doing something inspiring,” she said.
A fundraiser headliner, us senator from New Jersey Cory Booker was there in part because Democrats in Florida are facing an uphill battle to win office.
“These are scary times,” he said.
Nova Southeastern Political Scientist Charles Zelden said bring Booker down was a good choice.
“He will rally the base, and he has a message that can play well with nonaligned voters,” he said. “The opposition is there. The Democrats are having trouble tapping into it. They’ve got lots to rally against, but they were really shook by the election of Donald Trump. Trump took a majority of the vote, a small majority, but a majority nonetheless shook the Democrats to their core, and they are still reacting to that shake-up.”
Republicans are now leading Democrats in voter registration in Miami-Dade County.
“Overall, what Trump managed to do was to take a percentage of the Hispanic vote, a percentage of the young vote, and move it to the Republicans,” said Zelden. “He still won the traditional Republican vote, but he made inroads into what had been democratic strongholds. That’s also the case here locally in Miami-Dade County, where the Hispanic vote, especially the young Cuban vote, the young Venezuelan vote, shifted to the Republican Party. And as long as they stay there, it does not bode well for the Democrats in Broward County.”