Obama to visit Florida, few details known except for Miami fundraiser
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 9:19AM Commentary by Kay B. Day
View of downtown Jacksonville from the Friendship Fountain. Photo by Kay B. Day.President Barack Obama will head to Florida on Monday, but only general information is available according to the Associated Press and The Florida Times Union. The T-U said the president will visit Jacksonville and Tampa, and he’ll also attend a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser in Miami. On the DCCC website, there’s a fundraising solicitation promising dinner with the charismatic president for one ‘lucky’ winner.
There’s a downside for that ‘lucky’ contributor—Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will also be at the dinner. The unpopular Speaker of the House currently has a 34 percent approval rating according to The Hill. The DCCC solicitation is in the form of a letter from Pelosi.
Obama is indexing his visit to getting “grassroots” support for his health insurance goals. The DCCC letter said, “The Republicans are well aware that this is their last opportunity to derail health insurance reform. I am going to need your grassroots support as we work to bring our final bill to a vote before the full House before sending it to President Obama for his signature into law…Since America's progress would not be possible without grassroots Democrats like you, I wanted to give you and a guest one last opportunity to have dinner with President Obama on October 26th.”
At the moment no one really knows exactly what “health insurance reform” will really look like in the final version. Senate Finance Bill S. 1796 filed on Monday spans 1,502 pages. This bill will probably be the primary blueprint, but other bills like HR 3200 may also impact the final legislation. For those with a lot of time on their hands, S. 1796 is available online.
Neolib senators like John Kerry (D-Mass.) have already quibbled over S. 1796. As predicted the projected tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans won’t just affect the rich. Politico said a plan that costs an individual more than $8,000 will also carry a 40 percent excise tax.
It’s hard to project exactly what will be in the final bill, but the DCCC hopes supporters will give money for, as Pelosi writes, “helping us fight in these final weeks for health care.” The winner also gets to have a photo opp.
The procedure for determining a winner begs a question. Is it legal to require a donation to be eligible for a drawing or other game of chance offering a prize in Florida? No information is given at the DCCC site regarding the process for choosing the winner.
Leading Dems in Jacksonville claimed ignorance on details about the president’s visit. Although Sen. John McCain won in Duval County, the difference between him and Obama came to 8,000 votes. The Republican Party in Duval has a strong presence, and the central headquarters in the county has one of the country’s only Minority Headquarters. The Jax GOP also recently added a new location at the beaches.
The president hasn’t been to Jacksonville since the final days of the 2008 elections. He and other Dems didn’t campaign here because Florida moved the primary date ahead, conflicting with party rules for both Dems and the GOP. Democratic candidates did solicit money from Floridians. Republican candidates visited anyway.
Jacksonville Republicans will host popular former governor Mitt Romney for the Lincoln Day Celebration Nov. 9.
The First Coast City is known for its congeniality as well as its size; politicians usually receive a mannerly welcome when they visit. Whatever our politics, we hope our president will be treated graciously.
Obama’s presence will excite supporters but will likely invigorate those who want to see a number of faces change from blue to red in Congress after the 2010 elections.
Reader Comments (2)
Plenty of time for basketball, golf, attacking conservative pundits, campaigning and fundraising - yet still no time for the troops dying in Afghanistan.
The current approach in Washington is modeled after LBJ's approach to Vietnam. Those of us who lived through that time remember the frustration of our troops.