Fort Lauderdale Commission Candidates' Presidential Picks !
And the candidates that are running for the Fort Lauderdale Mayor and Commissioners' seats have to make that choice in November just as you and I will !
I asked them all recently who they are supporting for President. One thing was a constant. Most preferred not to answer the question at all! And didn't!
You see, city races are non-partisan. That means that the candidates don't declare their party affiliation. And the candidates knew that answering the question might hurt them with one party or the other.
But this Presidential election is an incredibly important one, and who our local leaders support seems important and germane. So I was persistent, and most of them gave me at least some sort of answer. Quite a few dodged me altogether. If more replies come in, I'll update this blog post. Here are the results so far!
Mayoral Race
Steve Rossi - no reply
Earl Rynerson - "I don't like either one of them and I think it's a stupid question to ask in a non-partisan race"
Jack Seiler - "I am supporting the Obama-Biden ticket. Senator Obama is a dynamic speaker who will hopefully enhance our image around the globe, instill some hope and optimism here at home, and energize our country (especially our youth). Although Senator Obama lacks experience, I feel strongly that Senator Biden provides the necessary experience, veteran leadership, and foreign policy expertise. Together, they make a pretty good team.
Dean Trantalis - " I believe Barack Obama and a Democratic administration is our only hope for renewal and optimism. We don't need four more years of the same failed policies that have brought us economic ruin, international disdain, and a darkened pall that burdens our spirit. It's time to move on."
District One
Inger Garcia - "I am still investigating my vote"
Bruce Roberts - "I only wish the Fort Lauderdale City Commission could have such influence and sway in the Presidential election and Washington D.C.. Seriously though, I believe it is much more effective and efficient to keep our city elections non-partisan. Non-partisan means we work for the good of all people regardless of political beliefs or party affiliation. Non partisan avoids polarization and promotes clear and objective reasoning. Thanks for asking, but I'll just keep my presidential voting to myself.
Christine Teel - no reply
District Two
Howard Elfman - "Not commenting on this one. I have my own race to concern with"
Steve Glassman - "When I look at the two Presidential candidates, I see the past and the future. I also see a failed power structure that has not performed for the citizens of the United States. What is worse, I have seen no attempt to bring this richly diverse country together at a time when people are really hurting. That is why I am for Barack Obama - "Change We Can Believe In".
Charlotte Rodstrom - "That's a personal question"
District Three
Bobby Dubose - "Obama"
*I was unable to contact the other District Three candidates"
District Four
Jim Lewis - no reply
Coleman Prewitt - " I am concerned that stating preferences in the Presidential race might not provide the information the voters want. The issues that define the parties at the national level are not necessarily the issues we face on a municipal level. While one might support a Democrat in the national election, such person could still be a supporter of fiscal restraint, government efficiencies and law enforcement on the local level. It seems the national labels don't provide the same level of information in our local races. This might certainly be the reason that our races are wisely non-partisan.
Romney Rogers - no reply
Tim...you should have known the responses before you asked. With one or two exceptions it was: don't ask, don't tell! Duh...Gremlin
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What a great idea! The answers gave me some insight into these candidates, for sure! I've changed my vote on one candidate already.
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I join Ann Coulter when she suggests we should also look at Biden. Recall that he said, "Look, all you have to do is go down Union Street with me in Wilmington or go to Katie's restaurant or walk into Home Depot with me where I spend a lot of time, and you ask anybody in there whether or not the economic and foreign policy of this administration has made them better off in the last eight years."
It turns out that Katie's restaurant, where Biden gets his feel for the average American, closed 20 years ago.
Biden said, "When we kicked -- along with France -- we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon." Hezbollah was never kicked out of Lebanon.
Biden said, "I said and Barack said, 'Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't, Hezbollah will control it.'" Lebanon is not a member of NATO country, nor had any NATO country been attacked by Lebanon.
Biden denied that Obama ever said he would sit down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Liberals find it hilarious that McCain can't use a computer keyboard on account of his war injuries, but Biden is apparently unaware of the Internet, because there are clips all over the Internet of Obama saying exactly that during the CNN/YouTube debate last year.
Biden might have remembered that debate since: (1) He was there, and (2) he later attacked Obama's answer, telling the National Press Club in August 2007: "Would I make a blanket commitment to meet unconditionally with the leaders of each of those countries within the first year I was elected president? Absolutely, positively, no." Obama's own Web site says: "Obama supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions."
Biden also gave a long speech at the debate on vice president Dick Cheney's "dangerous" belief that "he's part of the legislative branch." The great constitutional scholar Biden cited Article I of the Constitution as proof that Cheney "works in the executive branch" and has "no authority relative to the Congress." Biden huffily added: "He should understand that. Everyone should understand that."
Article II, not I, describes the executive branch. The Constitution makes the VP the president of the senate every day of the week. I realize that Biden may not be able to count to two, but Article I says the vice president is president of one of the two houses of Congress -- the one Biden is in, for crying out loud -- which is what you might call "authority relative to Congress."
In one especially hallucinatory answer, Biden authoritatively stated: "With Afghanistan, facts matter, Gwen. ... We spend more money in three weeks on combat in Iraq than we spent on the entirety of the last seven years that we have been in Afghanistan building that country."
According to the Congressional Research Service, since 9/11, we've spent $172 billion in Afghanistan and $653 billion in Iraq. The most money spent in Iraq came in 2008, when we have been spending less than $3 billion a week.
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OUTSTANDING. LOVE IT. WHAT AN OBAMANATION.
BUT TIM THE QUESTION IS NOT GERMANE TO THIS RACE WHICH SHOULD REMAIN NON-PARTISAN.
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.........and this has WHAT to do with Tim's question????????????
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Tim-
Thanks for continually posting blog pieces that are informative and interesting to folks like myself that like to know what really is going on in the world around us.
Kudos to Seiler and Trantalis for having the guts to be honest about their choice for President-Elected officials ought to have conviction to stand up for what they believe in and not hide behind sensitive questions.
God forbid if the new Mayor and Commission sit back again and do nothing because they're afraid to ruffle some feathers.
I will put my support to the candidates with integrity,and one doesn't have that if they have to lie,or avoid certain issues for the sake of a few votes... Thanks again Tim for your audacity to post blog pieces that aren't all "sweetness and light".
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Typical politics as usual! Jack Seiler still gets my vote and so does Obama.
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It's as much whether they answered the question and how they answered as what they answered:
The fact that you couldn't get ahold of the other district 3 candidates.
Prewitt's answer that the support of the national democratic party is somehow at odds with fiscal consevatism?
The republicans , by philosophy if not registration, like inger garcia and charlotte rodstrom deathly afraid to say they support McCain-Palin.
And Earl's answer is scary.
thank's tim for for the enlightening post.
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The idea that Republicans have the corner on fiscal conservatism is just laffable.
Who is is that took federal budget surpluses and have turned them into the most massive deficits we have ever seen? A REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION
Wos is it that has turned a 4 trillion dollar deficit into a 10 trillion dollar deficit? A REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION
Who is it that has mortgaged our future for the sake of eight years of failed policies? A REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION
So don't give me your holier than thou attitude. Democrats, like Coleman Prewitt are probably better at managing our money than most Republicans today.
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Tim, Thanks for posing thie question. Of course, in a non-partisan election, the content of the answer is irrelevant. However, it has revealed much about Seiler and Trantalis.
What, you may ask? It shows them to be Socialist political hacks, for only such a person would support Obama, the man that will turn his back on Israel.
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