News & Public Affairs
Florida Democrats ponder their fate listen
11/21/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Politics, 2008 election, Barack Obama, Democrats
Although Barack Obama won the state of Florida and key bay area counties like Hillsborough and Pinellas, he carried few local candidates on his coattails.
The Florida Democratic Party won a total of one legislative seat in the 2008 elections, and there has been talk that Chairwoman Karen Thurman may be challenged for her job next month.
Jon Ausman, a member of the Democratic National Committee, based in Tallahassee, says the problem with Democrats not making larger inroads in Florida is...
Be the first to commentHoward Dean's influence on the '08 elections listen
11/20/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Howard Dean, Democrats, politics
Howard Dean will soon leave his post as the head of the Democratic National Committee. His tenure was at times controversial, such as his 50 state strategy of investing resources to state parties everywhere, and not just in so called “Blue” States.
In Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, political reporter Matt Bai wrote an article called, “The Other Winner”, in which he detailed how Dean had unleashed new progressives in the party.
WMNF spoke with Bai early Wednesday and asked him ab...
Be the first to commentMatt Bai on Lieberman imbroglio listen
11/19/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Yesterday, Senate Democrats chose not to penalize Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman for his brazen campaigning for Republican John McCain this year.
Democrats voted 42-13 to allow Lieberman to retain his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee.
Although the vote was secret, the Senate’s other Independent member, Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, told CNN he was one of the 13 who voted against Lieberman. Sanders has said that while millions of people worked hard for Obama, Lieberman...
Be the first to commentPinellas Democrats caucus in St. Petersburg
11/17/08 Jamie KidderWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Democratic Party, Democrats, Pinellas County
The Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee met Saturday in St. Petersburg.
Along with former paid Obama field coordinators, the DEC laid out how it plans to put Democrats into office in Pinellas.
Speaking to a crowd which consisted mostly of Precinct Chairpersons and other local political figures gathered in the St. Petersburg Public Library, Obama field coordinator Ella Coffee started off by talking about why she feels that Pinellas County went blue in the Presidental election...
Be the first to commentGOP consultant says Obama team outworked Republicans in Hillsborough listen
11/11/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Hillsborough County, GOP, Democrats, David Storck, Deborah Cox-Rousch, Mark Proctor, Sandy Murman
Hillsborough County Republican Party Chairman David Storck intends to step down from his leadership position next month.
Last month, Storck was involved in a controversy over an email he received from a volunteer regarding people voting for Barack Obama that was considered to have racist undertones.
April Schiff is a Republican Party political consultant based in Tampa. She says it's no surprise that Stock intends to leave at the end of his three-year term. She says the email was not h...
Be the first to commentObama supporters celebrate in Tampa listen
11/05/08 Emily ReddyWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Democrats
The Florida O-Train made its final stop last night in Tampa. Volunteers, staff and local leaders in President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign gathered at the Tampa Waterside Marriott to await election results.
An early surge for Obama in electoral votes, including a win in the coveted state of Pennsylvania put the crowd into an expectant but reserved mood. Then Ohio went blue, and most of the crowd seemed convinced he had won.
Alice Montalvo was overjoyed to hear that Hillsborough, w...
Be the first to commentDarden Rice concedes commission race listen
08/28/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Darden Rice, Renee Flowers, Pinellas County Commission District 3, Democrats
Darden Rice officially conceded her bid for Pinellas County Commission today after learning that even if she won all of the provisional ballots cast on Tuesday, it still would not trigger an automatic recount in her her Pinellas County Commission District 3 Democratic primary loss to Rene Flowers. A candidate needs to finish within half a percentage point to trigger an automatic machine recount.
WMNF spoke with Rice this afternoon.
Be the first to commentState Dems to pick Electoral College slate
08/11/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Democrats, 2008 Convention, Hillary Clinton
The Florida Democratic Party announced today a new meeting date to select a slate of 27 members for the Electoral College is set for Aug. 20 in Orlando.
A vote on those electors was scheduled to take place this past Saturday in Tampa, but was canceled after it was determined that a quorum was not present. With the Democratic Convention beginning in two weeks, and a state law requiring electors to be certified and sent to the governor’s office by Sept. 1, there was some pressure on nailing ...
Be the first to commentVic DiMaio on Obama's chances in Florida listen
06/20/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday
Tags: Democrats, Politics, Barack Obama
Earlier this year, DiMaio sued the Democratic National Committee for stripping the state of its delegates to its National Convention.
Although he insisted he was neutral in the Democratic Primary, it was mainly Hillary Clinton supporters who seized on the delegate problem, and insisted that that the DNC recognize all of Florida’s delegates.
Last month, the DNC’s Rules and By-Laws Committee settled for a compromise, restoring all of the delegates, but giving them only half a vote, which ...
1 commentsRFK's last campaign documented in book listen
06/11/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
It was 40 years ago last week that Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles, the night after he won the California Democratic primary.
The bullets ended his life ended at age 42 and his amazing but short campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.
Thurston Clarke has written a new book, The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America. WMNF spoke with Clarke yesterday and began by asking the author, who was 22 in 1968, what he was doing during ...
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