Dem’s Downplay Loss of Florida 13th – a Swing District – Portents of 2014

From ABC News Republican candidate David Jolly bested his Democrat opponent in a special election yesterday in a Florida Gulf Coast Congressional District Race. ABC news suggests that Democrats believed this District an easy win due to Obama winning in both 2008 and 2012, and began to downplay as the race neared its finish.(ABC News) Jolly a Tea Party candidate, won on the issue of Obama care (Tampa Bay Times). One might suggest that this is just a special election, yet is obliged to recall 2010 when special elections in Virginia, New Jersey and then Massachusetts saw Republican candidates win handily – with the landslide coming in 2010 with Tea Party and Libertarian candidates pushing the Republicans into a majority in Congress.

The fact that the ABC news article suggests it is the Republican’s who have used Obama care and their opposition to the health care act, as a vehicle in the primary may be a bit off base – yes the Issue is part of the problems facing the voters today, but not the only one. From privacy issues that are key in the younger demographic, to the high cost of living due to inflation on food and necessities, as well as the stagnant job market, all demographics are now looking for alternatives. One might also suggest those alternatives do not include individuals who are heavily wedded to a Washington Lifestyle, and that crosses party lines.

If 2010 was a wake-up call to both major political parties that was ignored on the one-hand and demonized by both on the other – one might suggest that in 2014, the tide will turn against the “establishment” and one might see a different face, politically, in both Chambers of Commerce. It’s about time. Apparently, all the dogma, hard sell, lack of transparency, and two parties with leadership that makes it difficult to tell who is who, the nation appears to have had enough of the same old. Divisions within parties are there for a reason, and that reason is to redefine the political party, up to and including schism which will generate new parties. With the Democrats, one has the Progressives, and with the Republicans’ the Tea Party and Libertarian wings. As Americans reject big government as it has played out to be exactly what many feared, it will be a swing towards Liberty. Nothing was more apparent, considering the messaging from CPAC – leaning States Rights, Constitutionalist, Free Market and Liberty. That message is more appealing that it has ever been, and one believes it will carry forward into the Mid-terms and the General Election.