'Trinchi' rallied the condo vote
Amadeo Trinchitella, the powerhouse of Florida Democrats, has died at age 87.
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published February 8, 2005
DEERFIELD BEACH - The colorful kingmaker known all the way to the White House as "Trinchi" will be laid to rest today, and part of Florida political history will be buried with him.
For nearly three decades, Amadeo "Trinchi" Trinchitella single-handedly shaped one of Florida's biggest retirement communities into a Democratic political machine. He was courted by judges, members of Congress, even presidents.
Trinchitella, 87, died Friday after a heart attack. But he had been in declining health for years and seemed to personify the weakening of the once-formidable condominium vote. He was among the hundreds of thousands of New York retirees who came of age during the Depression, fought in World War II and retired to South Florida.
They embraced Franklin Roosevelt's vision of an activist federal government, cementing a lifelong bond with the Democratic Party and playing a big role in the political dynamics of Florida.
Trinchitella's neighbors rode trolleys to the polls and faithfully voted for candidates listed on palm cards Trinchi provided. It was not uncommon for candidates to get 90 percent of Century Village's 15,000 votes.
Election-eve rallies at Century Village's clubhouse were not to be missed for Democratic candidates, lest they offend the boss. U.S. Sen. Bob Graham considered the rallies his "good-luck charm."
Century Village helped Lawton Chiles stave off a strong challenge from Jeb Bush in 1994, and helped propel Bill Clinton to victory over George H.W. Bush in 1992.
The march of time and the demographic changes sweeping across South Florida have diminished the power that Trinchitella's generation once held over the political process.
Many of his neighbors have died. Their modest two-bedroom condos have been sold to Canadians, seasonal "snowbirds" or South Americans who do not have the same devotion to Democratic politics.
"It's the end of an era," said a teary-eyed Bob Butterworth, the former state attorney general, who credited Trinchitella for securing his closest campaign in 1986. Butterworth won by 1,000 votes statewide.
Trinchitella was the archetypical "condo commando," a gruff but soft-hearted New Yorker who belonged to the Teamsters and ran a supper club in Yonkers.
At Trinchitella's peak of influence, President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton used Century Village as a backdrop to unveil their ill-fated universal health care plan.
A few years later, Trinchitella anointed a young state senator named Robert Wexler for Congress. When President Clinton met Wexler, he called him "Trinchi's congressman," Wexler recalled.
At Monday's memorial service, a parade of politicians remembered Trinchitella, crediting their success to him. Butterworth recalled a day during the 2000 presidential campaign when he was aboard Air Force Two with Al Gore and learned that the vice president planned to campaign in another Century Village, a snub Trinchitella said made him sick.
Butterworth urged Gore to call Trinchitella to make amends.
"He calls for his scheduler to come up and says, "Trinchi, I think I can get there in about three weeks," Butterworth recalled.
Gore returned two weeks later.