Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Democrats just keep on digging that hole

By LUCY MORGAN
Published June 25, 2005

Can Florida's Democrats dig themselves in any deeper?

Hard to say. Just when you thought things were as bad as they could be, the Internal Revenue Service comes calling with tax liens because the party failed to pay employee withholding taxes while it was losing more seats in the Legislature and a U.S. Senate seat.

The bizarre thing is there are 368,757 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida, but the Democrats continue to lose ground. In the past decade they have lost the Legislature, the Governor's Mansion, the Cabinet and one of two U.S. Senate seats they once held.

Some would blame the losses on Republican redistricting, but they should remember that the Republican takeover began while Democrats had control of the process.

This is not the first sign of trouble and probably won't be the last, once the Federal Elections Commission steps in to review what the party has been doing with its money.

Some think former U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman can turn things around, and she's certainly vowing to try. But she's off to a rocky start.

For instance, the party could be more upfront about what is wrong and what happened. This week was not a good beginning.

When party officials learned that two reporters were listening to a meeting of the party's budget and finance committee, some demanded the reporters be tossed out. Thurman finally agreed that any reporter who was a registered Democrat could stay, since the party's bylaws guarantee access to Democrats.

If the party is to regain any feeling of trust, it might want to leave the doors open to whoever wants to look.

Records need to be open as well. If there is money missing, as some have alleged, a criminal investigation should begin. If former party chairman Scott Maddox and others signed campaign reports knowing they were false, they should be prosecuted. It is, after all, a crime to file a false report with the Division of Elections.

Thurman has certainly inherited a can of worms, and much of the trouble apparently can be laid at Maddox's door. He was barely out of the building when federal tax liens hit the courthouse last month.

Some Democrats are furious with Maddox and think he has been spending party money to feather his own political nest in an attempt to gain the nomination for governor.

Some party officials are trying to protect Maddox while others would like to shoot at him. Many political observers think Maddox's campaign for governor is all but over.

Imagine a TV ad quoting top party officials who have blamed Maddox for the problems, and you can hear the sound of a campaign crashing.

But this escapade also damages other Democrats, particularly state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua and U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, the party's other candidates for governor.

A party that cannot be trusted to raise money and account for it cannot help its nominees on Election Day. It was already hard for Democrats to raise money in a world controlled by Republicans. They are discovering a lesson Republicans learned long ago: Money flows to the party in power.

It's clear the Democrats are broke. They've had to borrow money to pay the employee withholding taxes they failed to pay in 2003 and 2004.

Asked about the situation Thursday, Gov. Jeb Bush called the party "pathetic."

After all, everyone should know federal payroll taxes have to be paid.

It will not be easy to recover, but Floridians - even Republicans - should hope the Democrats find a way to regain credibility.

Florida needs two major political parties. Without the new ideas that come from the other party and the checks and balances that come into play, the Republicans would soon trip over their own toes.

Besides, we like it better when the two sides are more equal - they are more likely to rat each other out!

[Last modified June 25, 2005, 00:34:16]