Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke claims Democrats are missing in action in the governor's race.
The Democratic Party is out of sight and out of mind in the race for Florida's next governor. And that is messed up because the two Republicans running for the state's top political post look and act like grand wizards in the Ku Klux Klan.
Multimillionaire Rick Scott, who owned a company involved in the largest Medicare fraud case in our nation's history, promises to pass an immigration law similar to Arizona's controversial legislation. His opponent Bill McCollum, lagging behind in the polls and campaign cash, hints he would do the same, even writing a legal brief in support of the Arizona law. Neither one of them is good for Florida. But Democratic candidate and state CFO Alex Sink hasn't done much to raise her profile. No one outside Tallahassee knows who the hell she is.
If rumors are true that former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is a contender to be her running mate, the Democrats have a chance of saving the state from the Tea Party racists. Diaz was one of the best mayors ever. One day, Miamians will appreciate what he built during his eight years at the city's helm. Even though he is registered as an independent, Diaz has shown the Democrats a lot of loyalty. He endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2008 and then campaigned for Barack Obama. He's backing Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate.
Tapping Diaz means the Democrats have someone who would significantly help Sink in South Florida. Having a Hispanic on the ticket doesn't hurt either when it comes time to court voters who don't want Scott or McCollum to turn Florida into an immigration prison. The problem with the Democrats is that the party sits idly by while the GOP is very aggressive in getting its right-wing, racist message out. The Democratic Party needs to show some more backbone and fight back.
Scott is on television right now with ads trying to lock up the Cuban and Haitian votes. And if he wins, the first thing Scott will do is put on a policeman's hat and come down to Miami. He'll be on Calle Ocho locking up all the Cubans who don't have a green card. We are going to need the Ladies in White and the Democracy Movement to come out like they did for Elián González. And the day that happens, I will be standing with Cuban people.
Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1.
