Election 2004

Democrats' call: Avenge 2000

Howard Dean gets the most cheers as Florida's party faithful gather to hear the candidates.

[Times photo: Willie Allen Jr.] Wesley Clark said Bush "started dividing America here in Florida by trying to take an election ... he didn't actually win."

LAKE BUENA VISTA - A mob of Democrats outside a Disney convention center Saturday cheered as a bagpiper serenaded two 20-foot-tall Uncle Sams waving Wesley Clark signs.

Inside, dueling chants created a political cacophony.

"We want Dean! We want Dean!"

"Ker-ry! Ker-ry!"

"Let's go, Joe! Let's go, Joe!"

For thousands of Florida Democrats gathered for their state party convention at Disney World, the spectacle was a long overdue chance to jump into the Democratic nomination contest. Florida's March 9 primary follows 29 other states, leaving Democrats with little say in choosing their standard bearer. By March 9, the nomination may well be decided.

Many are still bitter about the 2000 recount debacle and eager to seek revenge.

Lonnie Donaldson, a longtime Democratic activist from St. Petersburg, expressed the frustration of many Democrats in their limited role in selecting the nominee. "It's very frustrating because while some people say Florida is the key state, most of us know it is the state."

The crowd was overwhelmingly livid about President Bush and eager to find the candidate best equipped to beat him. They are angry about the war in Iraq, policies they say benefit mainly the rich and damage they say Bush has done to civil rights in the name of national security.

While many of these ardent Democrats are eager to engage Bush, their memories of 2000 remain vivid.

Six of the nine Democratic contenders paid homage to Florida's national image as the recount state, and the party activists lapped it up.

"Florida is the place where America's democracy was wounded," said Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

Former Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas said Bush "started dividing America here in Florida by trying to take an election that I think any reasonable person would say he didn't actually win."

Under pressure from the national party, state Democrats decided not to hold a nonbinding straw poll to show their preferences in the presidential race. But if decibels counted, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean walked away the winner.

The crowd of at least 3,000 roared and repeatedly leapt to their feet as Dean, sleeves rolled up and voice hoarse, exhorted Democrats "to stop voting for the lesser of two evils and be proud to be Democrats again."

At a chilly outdoor evening reception honoring retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, Dean was the star. Dozens of Democrats formed a circle around him, jockeying for handshakes and pictures, while Graham mingled off to the side.

Dean was the only candidate to take shots at his Democratic opponents by name, noting that most of the field had voted to invade Iraq, or in Clark's case, said supportive things about it early on.

"I think they made the wrong decision, and I don't think that's the kind of foreign policy experience we want in the White House," Dean said.

Dean's was the only campaign to pay the state party $50,000 to ensure a heavy presence at the convention. By some estimates he spent at least $100,000 plastering the hall with signs, stickers, brochures and supporters.

Still, the contest for the hearts of Florida Democrats is largely unformed. A St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll on Dec. 1-3 found nearly one-third of Democrats undecided. Dean, Clark and Sen. Joseph Lieberman were effectively tied for first place. The poll showed Dean and Clark as the strongest competitors to Bush in Florida, but each still lagged him by 8 points.

"I'm incredibly pleased about the Florida poll," Dean told reporters. "We hope that as goes Florida, so goes the rest of the country."

The candidates wooing Florida Democrats on Saturday: Dean, Clark, Kerry, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

The convention hall was sprinkled with "Re-Defeat Bush" signs and buttons with 537 imprinted on a map of Florida, signifying the Bush vote lead after 37 days of recounts and legal fights. Someone sporting a George Bush mask carried a "stop me before I steal again" sign.

Though many Democrats warn that harping on 2000 will antagonize swing voters who have moved on, party leaders Saturday clearly saw it as potent method for energizing their base.

"Al Gore won the state of Florida and we should never forget it," shouted Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe.

Former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek of Miami declared, "They stole it and we need a leader to help us get revenge." Gephardt was the only candidate to take a different tack.

"We can't just dwell on the past," he told reporters. "We have to look forward. Elections are about the future."

But Kerry and Edwards raised the specter of future elections being in jeopardy. Both noted that the head of Diebold, an Ohio-based election machine company, is a top Bush-Cheney fundraiser, who has promised to "deliver" Ohio to Bush.

"We're going to put together the strongest legal team in the history of this country and we're going to challenge those machines," Kerry said. "We did not break the back of Jim Crow only to see it restored in Jim Crow dot com."

At a grass roots training session for more than 200 Dean supporters, campaign manager Joe Trippi urged volunteers to prepare to fight to improve electronic voting machines.

"We have to have credible elections in this country," he said. "We have to have a paper trail."

The Democrats offered similar platforms, calling for expanded access to health care, a foreign policy that doesn't antagonize allies, more emphasis on alternative fuels and tax policies that help middle-class Americans and small businesses.

Several cautioned that Democrats need to give a positive vision, instead of just criticizing Bush. Most of the day, though, was about bashing Bush.

"Everything you care about is vanishing," Gephardt said. "Our good jobs are vanishing. Our civil rights are vanishing. Our clean air and clean water is vanishing. Saddam Hussein vanished. Osama bin Laden vanished. There's only one way to fix the problem: We need to make George Bush vanish."

Ralph Reed, who oversees the Bush-Cheney campaign in the Southeast, came to the convention to respond to Democrats and declared their campaigns are based merely on pessimism, protest and attacks. He said Democrats make a big mistake targeting their message to party activists.

Florida Democrats have seen little campaigning from the presidential candidates, who have spent most of their time in early-voting states. To many, the convention helped quench their thirst for attention.

"What the core activists like us really live for is to help choose the nominee for national office. The fact that, after the 2000 election being stolen from us, we have have very little role is really frustrating," lamented Jeff Shepherd, a state employee from DeLand. "To be able to see them here is great."

In fact, many of the campaigns are suggesting Florida may not be entirely irrelevant in the primary after all. There could be as many as three candidates still running on March 9. "There's at least a 50 percent chance that Florida could have a very big impact," said Bob Shrum, a top strategist for Kerry.

Lieberman, who is Jewish, missed Saturday's event to observe the Sabbath but is expected today. The Rev. Al Sharpton of New York was hosting Saturday Night Live, and former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun was sick.

- Times staff writer Steve Bousquet contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727 893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright