Anselm Weber and the spirit of 76

Anselm Weber (Photo: Anselm Weber for Florida House District 76)

Sept. 3, 2020 by David Silverberg

When Anselm Weber, the Democratic candidate for Florida House District 76, talks about helping working people, he knows whereof he speaks: Like so many starting out in life he’s held jobs in fast food and convenience stores. At one point he sold hot sauce at the Pepper Palace in Sarasota.

“I’ve had a lot of jobs with little pay,” recalls the 24-year old Florida native and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) graduate. “The highest pay I got was $10 an hour.”

He knows what it’s like to have money be tight. He lost his mother to a heart attack when he was 14 years old and was raised by his father, an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa.

His early jobs gave Weber a perspective on the world of work, the long hours, low pay and meager benefits and the needs of working people. Thanks to his history studies at FGCU, where he graduated this past December, he’s been able to put those experiences into a larger perspective.

One of Weber’s more recent jobs was with NextGen Florida, an offshoot of NextGen America, a progressive political organization founded by billionaire and former presidential Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer. There, Weber helped register voters and update their voting information, particularly on the Florida Southwest University campus where he engaged students and encouraged political participation.

“That experience helped confirm that more people felt the way I felt,” he recalled in an interview with The Paradise Progressive. “I was organizing a lot of young people. The ones who were engaged had a different worldview from those who were disengaged. Those didn’t feel incentivized.” Despite that, Weber believes his efforts helped over a thousand students.

Weber is now seeking to put that hands-on knowledge—of hard work and political activism—in the service of the people in Florida House District 76.

Water, water, everywhere

Florida House District 76

The 76th District encompasses the coast of Lee County. It starts at the northern Lee County line at Pine Island and includes Captiva and Sanibel Islands. On the mainland it includes Punta Rassa, Iona, Harlem Heights, Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs to the southern Lee County line.

Since 2012 the District has been represented in Tallahassee by Ray Rodrigues, a Republican politician who spent his previous career in Lee County positions. Rodrigues is term-limited and this year is running for the State Senate against Democrat Rachel Brown.

Water looms over all the District’s other physical attributes. Consisting of low-lying islands and coastal communities, it’s vulnerable to hurricanes, storm surges, sea level rise, erosion and all the ills of climate change. Polluted water from Lake Okeechobee dumps into San Carlos Bay and the Gulf, giving rise to red tide and toxic blue-green algae blooms. Here, climate change is not an abstraction; it’s a clear and present reality—and danger.

“We have 3 years left to stop a 1.5 degree rise in global temperatures, which is the threshold we cannot cross to stop massive climate catastrophe,” Weber’s written. “We have a plan for this in Florida. We are especially hard hit from sea level rise and increasingly harsher hurricanes. That is why several FL state candidates have come together and crafted a Green Jobs Program for Florida.”

Formally known as the Florida Climate and Economic Defense Initiative, the Green Jobs Program, of which Weber was a founder, will both combat climate change directly while also helping the District’s need for good-paying jobs, he argues.

But it’s not just the overall climate that presents a threat. The District’s water, Weber has written, “is constantly under assault.” Ray Rodrigues’ relationship with the sugar industry around Lake O brought him the most fire from his primary opponent, state Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen (R-78-Fort Myers). She accused him of being a puppet of Big Sugar.

When it comes to upstream water polluters, Weber says, “we really have to go after them. If we find polluters we revoke the licenses of farms that are polluting and we get the companies to pay back for the pollution. I think we can go after these companies.”

He is calling for reforming the Clean Waterways Act to manage Lake O runoff and sequester its polluting carbon, phosphorous and nitrogen.

A stressful time

While protecting and preserving the District’s natural environment is vital, it’s helping its over 150,000 people that really drives Weber.

He’s running in an unusually challenging time. There’s the coronavirus pandemic, a devastating economic crash and the uncertain future of the businesses built on tourism, hospitality and seasonal influxes. “People are struggling,” he says.

In Lee County rent increases have outstripped wages by 9 percent and with the economic crash 51 percent of renters nationwide are at risk of eviction, he points out.

“It’s abominable to throw people out of their homes while a pandemic is raging through our state. We need to keep the eye on the ball with this crisis. Working and poor Floridians are the most at risk because of this crisis,” he says.

“Before COVID-19, Florida had a 13 percent poverty rate and 56 percent of renters were spending 30 percent or more of their income on housing,” he has written. “The state minimum wage is $8.46, which is almost half of what a living wage is for Florida. Now with the harshest economic recession since the Great Depression, Florida is in desperation mode and we need people in office who will fight for working Floridians.”

What’s worse, all this is occurring at a time when people’s healthcare is under threat. President Donald Trump and his followers are relentlessly attempting to destroy the Affordable Care Act.

“I believe we need universal healthcare for the state of Florida,” Weber maintains. “We need to fight for universal healthcare for Florida so no one is foregoing essential medical needs simply because they can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs.”

He’s particularly incensed by the treatment of veterans’ healthcare needs. “The GOP in Florida refuses to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act,” he points out. “These men and women have served their country yet the GOP does not believe we should expand healthcare so our veterans can get the healthcare they need. I’ll fight for Medicaid expansion so no veteran goes without the healthcare they need.”

He’s also fully conscious that if elected one of the first issues he’s going to be facing will be participating in re-drawing the legislative maps based on the 2020 census. He’s calling for an end to gerrymandering and fair and equitable redistricting.

“We should district the state so the lines are proportional, fair and balanced,” he says. “I’m not in favor of Democrats doing the exact same gerrymandering as Republicans.”

Getting there

In the general election Weber is facing Adam Botana, from Bonita Springs, who calls himself a businessman although it’s unclear from his campaign website and social media postings exactly what business he’s in.

“Personally, he seems like a chummy guy. But he’s running on Trump’s agenda,” says Weber.

Botana, a first-time political candidate, is backed by corporate and ideological political action committees (PACs) like Novartis Finance Corporation, the Florida Beer Wholesalers Good Government Committee, the Associated Industries of Florida PAC and A Bold Future for Florida, a politically conservative PAC.

During Botana’s primary run his opponent, Jason Maughan, portrayed him as a wild party animal with a 2012 misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence and seven reckless driving citations.

Adam Botana, as depicted in an ad by his primary opponent, Jason Maughan.

No one is hurling accusations at Weber—yet. But is he worried about being smeared with the “Socialist” label that Trump and his minions are throwing around?

“The Republicans say you’re a socialist if you’re picking up groceries for your grandma,” he laughs.

Weber is fully aware that he’s facing an uphill fight. The District has long voted Republican, is overwhelmingly white (83.5 percent) and older (29.6 percent between the ages of 60 and 74).

Nonetheless, these are extraordinary times and they may yield extraordinary results—and extraordinary change. In this he may be aided by his support for the top of the Democratic ticket.

“I’m voting for Joe Biden, no matter what,” he says. “I think he’s the best candidate right now.”

For Weber the experience of running for office has its highs and lows—but the ultimate goal justifies the effort.

“It is stressful. It’s a lot to deal with,” he admits. But “it’s really exhilarating to really engage with people. There are a lot of moving parts but it’s a worthwhile experience. This gives me a good place to be advocating for change in Florida.”

To learn more about Anselm Weber see his website or Facebook page.

Liberty lives in light

RINO or lemming? The Republican dilemma

A rhinoceros. (Photo: World Wildlife Fund)

Aug. 28, 2020 by David Silverberg

The rhinoceros—rhino for short—is a mighty beast.

This author knows; he has actually seen one in the wild. It was an extremely rare, black African rhino and it was immense. It appeared to be about eight feet long and about six feet high at the shoulder and must have weighed a ton. It seemed like a creature from another time, more dinosaur than mammal. It was armor plated and with a horn that looked like it could pierce a steel plate. If disturbed or annoyed it could charge and do really serious damage. Our guides and those of us in a Range Rover on the South African brush treated it with extreme caution and respect.

The same respect is not shown for the RINOs of Southwest Florida or anywhere else in America for that matter. These animals, of course, are Republicans in Name Only.

It’s a derisive term leveled at Republicans who supposedly show less than sufficient ardor for Republicanism, or this year, in this political climate, complete and total Trumpism.

In the Republican primary race in the 19th Congressional District of Southwest Florida, the term RINO was thrown around with abandon. No candidate was sufficiently Trumpy not to get hit with it at least once and no candidate burned with a fiercer hatred of RINOs than whichever one had purchased the TV ad of the moment or posted the latest video.

But if a non-Trump believing, independent-thinking, traditional conservative Republican is a RINO nowadays, what animal best represents a true-believing Trumper?

The answer may lie, in of all places, the Republican Party platform and the Republican National Convention.

The platform—or non-platform

There’s a general idea abroad these days that party platforms don’t matter. That they’re a lot of trivial geekish verbiage that doesn’t mean anything that no one reads.

For those who think only in TV images and 280-character tweets that may be true. But in fact party platforms are important. It’s not just that they set out in detail where a party stands on numerous issues. They synthesize the different strains and factions in a party and bring them together in a single document so everyone can know where the party stands.

One of the most important roles of a party platform is informing down-ballot candidates of the party’s positions. A candidate running for local dogcatcher on a party ticket can go to the party platform and align his or her platform on issues that might not otherwise be present in a local race. If the dogcatcher candidate is asked where he or she stands on international trade restraints—and this kind of thing happens! —he or she has a ready answer.

Party platforms can be extremely important on a purely policy basis too and tiny word changes can have big consequences. In 2016 Delegate Diana Denman proposed language in the Republican Party platform calling on the United States to provide “lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine, which was fighting off a Russian invasion. The United States had provided Ukraine with equipment and training short of weaponry and some Republicans felt more needed to be done. However, two Trump campaign operatives insisted that the language be watered down to “appropriate assistance” on orders from the Trump campaign’s New York headquarters. With the change of three words, Ukraine was abandoned.

This year’s Democratic Party platform runs 91 pages and covers dozens of topics.

By contrast this year the Republican National Committee abandoned all efforts to formulate a current Party platform and instead adopted a one-page resolution that ignores all the events since 2016 and simply continues the Party’s positions from that time.

The document sounds like it was dictated by Trump and then dressed up in legalese. The establishing clauses (the “whereases”) state that whereas the convention is scaled down; the Party didn’t want a small contingent formulating the platform without broader Party input (actually the reverse of the way it really works—but someone would have to know how it worked in the first place to understand that); had the Party convened as usual it “would have undoubtedly unanimously agreed to reassert the Party’s strong support for President Donald Trump and his Administration”—no need for discussion there; the media won’t report it accurately anyway; and since the Party “enthusiastically supports President Trump;” basically, there’s no need for a platform.

Therefore, states the resolution, “the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda;” it “will adjourn without adopting a new platform until the 2024 Republican National Convention;” it calls on the media to report this all accurately and any attempt to amend the 2016 platform or change the procedures to make changes “will be ruled out of order.”

The resolution can be summed up as “Whatever Donald Trump wants, we give him”—and it conveniently ignores every national issue that has arisen since 2016 including the coronavirus pandemic and response, the economic crash, civil unrest and the quest for racial justice.

It’s really quite a remarkable American document and not in a good way. It abandons all Party mechanisms, legislative processes, popular input and surrenders to the whim of a single man. It’s a mind-boggling screed worthy of Adolf Hitler’s Reichstag or Kim Jung Un’s Supreme People’s Assembly.

Cult of personality

Kimberly Guilfoyle gives her all for Trump at the Republican National Convention. (Photo: Reuters)

On June 12, 2017, at a time when the country’s borders were in chaos due to Trump’s mistakes, his Cabinet secretaries gathered in the White House Cabinet Room and went around the room lavishly praising him and thanking him for the opportunity to serve in his administration. It reduced accomplished men and women and proud civil servants to slavish sycophants and craven toadies.

“On behalf of the entire senior staff around you, Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity and the blessing you’ve given us to serve your agenda and the American people,” said then-Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, 49 days before he resigned.

There has never been a let up in Trump’s hunger for adulation. The same kind of obedience and flattery that was expected of Trump’s first round of Cabinet-level officials was on display at the Republican National Convention—and if anything, it was even more over the top.

Natalie Harp, a cancer survivor, praised Trump: “You have used your strength to make America strong again. Sacrificed the life you built to make America proud again. And risked everything to make America safe again.”

“Mr. President, lead the way. Millions in our American family believe in this path to destiny. Guide us to that horizon!” said Sean Parnell, a Republican congressional candidate from Pennsylvania.

No one, though, was more lavish and extravagant than Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Trump campaign aide and Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend. “President Trump believes in you!” she shrieked. “He emancipates and lifts you up to live your American Dream! You are capable! You are qualified! You are powerful! And you have the ability to choose your life, and determine your destiny!”

It’s reminiscent of the praise heaped on Adolf Hitler: “He is a pathfinder for those who devoted themselves to his idea, a man who conquered the hearts of his comrades in the midst of battle and never released them,” as Joseph Goebbels put it in one speech.

So if the rhino represents the free-thinking, independent, individualistic, traditional conservative Republican, what totemic animal best represents the obedient, adoring, bedazzled Trumper?

The choice

In a glass case in the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, there is a preserved, round, furry mammal about the size of a small Florida marsh rabbit or a large guinea pig, which it closely resembles. It lives in Arctic climes where it’s preyed upon so much it’s been characterized as the Arctic tundra’s “lunch box.” Its scientific name is Lemmus Lemmus. It’s known generically as a lemming.

Whether deserved or not, the lemming is famous for periodically gathering in large herds and migrating. Supposedly lemmings surmount all obstacles and ford streams, mindlessly moving on until they reach a cliff or the sea and unthinkingly and suicidally charge ahead to their deaths.

The danger of blindly following Donald J. Trump over a cliff to disaster is not new. In fact, it has a distinctly Southwest Floridian perspective.

“I’m definitely at variance with some of the people in the district who would probably follow Donald Trump off the Grand Canyon rim,” said Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) when he announced his retirement on Oct. 19, 2019.

The time has come when Donald Trump and his herd of lemmings have reached their cliff. Despite all the fantasies spun at the Republican convention Trump has utterly failed the nation, which is far sicker, poorer and weaker than when he took office.

Real Republicans can see this and they’re finding new ways to express their dissent. Long-time Republican political professionals have formed the fiercely anti-Trump Lincoln Project, which says it consists of “dedicated Americans defending democracy.” Republican Voters Against Trump state on their website that they are “a coalition of Republicans, former Republicans, conservatives, and former Trump voters who can’t support Trump for president this fall.” Veterans Against Trump declare that “We do not believe Donald Trump has the values or character to be our Commander-In-Chief and do not support him.” Former Republican governors John Kasich of Ohio and Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, former representative Susan Molinari and businesswoman Meg Whitman attacked Trump when they addressed the Democratic National Convention.

These RINOs can see the catastrophe that another four years of Donald Trump would bring and they’re doing something to prevent it. They’re awake, angry and charging.

Perhaps the term RINO doesn’t really mean Republican In Name Only—nowadays it really means Really Independent Nasty Opponent.

But whatever it means, the conclusion is inescapable: better to be a RINO than a lemming.

Liberty lives in light

Banyai, Donalds meet in first general election debate

Congressional candidates Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat Cindy Banyai debate at Cantina 109 in Fort Myers on Friday, Aug. 21. (Image: author via Facebook)

Aug. 24, 2020 by David Silverberg

It was raucous, impassioned, informal and there was barely any advance notice, but on Friday, Aug. 21, 19th Congressional District candidates Democrat Cindy Banyai and Republican Byron Donalds held their first debate.

The candidates met in person at Cantina 109, a Mexican restaurant and bar in the Gulf Coast Town Center before a live audience. The moderator was Brendon Leslie, anchor of Beach Talk Radio, a podcasting station that operates weekly from Fort Myers Beach over Facebook.

The debate, which was streamed live, was loosely structured, with the moderator drawing on questions from the audience and electronic feeds. Whichever candidate raised his or her hand first was the first to speak. The candidates had three minutes to make statements, followed by one-minute replies. The entire debate ran 1 hour and 47 minutes with breaks and covered an extensive array of topics.

In summary, both candidates held their ideological grounds, and differed deeply

A key debate point was the role of government.

“I’m working to make a Southwest Florida where the sun shines on everyone,” said Banyai, who explained that she was “bringing people into the process, the process of governance, the process of budgeting and making sure the voice of ordinary people is just as listened to and valued as much as those of politicians and CEOs.”

Donalds made a major point of limiting the role of government and he cited mask mandates, which he opposes, as a prime example.

“If you look at mask mandates that have been happening around Southwest Florida, I have been at virtually every county commission meeting that has existed,” he said.

“I tell them I have a stand that I am concerned for our citizens. I get that. I totally do,” he continued. “But does a city government have the legal authority to tell citizens that they must wear a mask? The answer is no—they have never been granted the legal authority. I understand it’s a pandemic. I know that citizens are concerned for their health and they should. But that’s not the question. The question is should government officials be allowed to create powers out of thin air because if you give government officials the ability to do it in a crisis they will keep that ability any other time that is convenient. That is not respective [sic] of American government.”

Both candidates cited the economy as a top issue, with Banyai saying that in Congress she would fight for investment and stimulus and jobs programs to benefit Southwest Florida and would support aid for small businesses.

Donalds also named support of the economy as a key issue but his solution relied on President Donald Trump: “Our next president will be Trump,” he said, and “his tax code will bring back jobs from overseas and we’ll have jobs in America.”

On the pandemic, Donalds said he was encouraged by the number of people recovering from coronavirus. Banyai stated that while she was encouraged, she was still upset by the 170,000 Florida cases that she called “a testament to the failure” of the federal and state government to respond.

In response to a question about the Second Amendment, Banyai said she supports it and “I am not touching the Second Amendment. I’m here to protect the Constitution in all its parts. I’m also a Moms Demand Action advocate.”

She added: “We can be here and talk about the Constitution but I am also here to protect women and families from wanton violence. I would like to see things like bump stocks eliminated, high-power weapons not brought to market, because we don’t need them. Let’s keep them in the hands of people who can use them, like our military.” She also expressed concern about weapons in the hands of people committing acts of domestic violence.

Analysis

Ultimately, what may have been most important about the debate was the fact that it took place at all, demonstrating that both candidates are willing to submit their ideas to each other and the public.

This is a stark contrast from 2018 when Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) simply told the League of Women Voters that he had “no future availability” to debate and “everyone knows my positions”—and Southwest Florida civic groups and media accepted this at face value.

This election is already clearly different and there will likely be more formal debates in the future. It’s unclear whether this debate reached much further than the people in the cantina and the few who may have tuned in on Facebook.

The candidates certainly didn’t convince each other of anything although there were areas of agreement on the need to assist the economy and protect the environment and water—although here Donalds credited Trump with funding Everglades restoration when in fact the President initially shortchanged it and only relented under pressure from the entire Florida congressional delegation.

The divide here, as in so many other things, is President Donald Trump. Donalds staunchly and repeatedly praised Trump and his works.

In her closing remarks, Banyai put this in perspective: “We have a choice here between someone who has pledged their undying loyalty to the community and to the people and does not have any financial backers who are going to sway that and somebody who wants to hitch their wagon to Donald Trump and all his failures. So that is what is really on the ballot here. Are you going to help the people of Southwest Florida or do you want more crises after crises after crises? I am ready to fight for ordinary people,” she said.

Liberty lives in light

US House votes to protect, fund Postal Service; Rooney opposes, Diaz-Balart, Steube absent

Aug. 22, 2020 by David Silverberg

Tonight the US House of Representatives voted to protect the US Postal Service (USPS) from disruptive changes designed to impede mail-in voting and provide $25 billion in funding to ensure its continued operations.

The Delivering for America Act (House Resolution 8015) passed by a vote of 257 to 150.

Among Southwest Florida representatives, Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) voted against the measure, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-Fla.) and Greg Steube (R-17-Fla.) were absent.

“…For the sake of every senior who is delayed in getting his or her Social Security check, every veteran who is delayed in getting his or her medication, every working family who is delayed in getting their paycheck and every voter now facing the prospect of choosing between their vote and their health, we need to pass this bill,” House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) urged her colleagues in a speech on the floor.

She recounted a conversation with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy: “He said to me frankly, and I have to give him credit for his honesty, he said, ‘I have no intention of replacing the sorting machines that we’re removed from the Postal Service – offices. I have no intention of replacing the blue mailboxes…’ that have been ripped from our neighborhoods and he had no plans for ensuring adequate overtime, which is critical, critical in the timely delivery of the mail. He said he had no intention of treating ballots as First-Class mail.”

Documents released by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-12-NY), chair of the House Oversight and Government Committee, have revealed that DeJoy had deliberately misled Congress and could not be trusted.

DeJoy has since announced that the Postal Service will be treating ballots as First-Class mail.

In a pair of tweets today, President Donald Trump denounced the bill: “Representatives of the Post Office have repeatedly stated that they DO NOT NEED MONEY, and will not make changes. This is all another HOAX by the Democrats to give 25 Billion unneeded dollars for political purposes, without talking about the Universal Mail-In Ballot Scam…. ….that they are trying to pull off in violation of everything that our Country stands for. Vote NO to the Pelosi/ Schumer money wasting HOAX which is taking place now. Then fight the $51 million unasked for Ballots. Only ABSENTEE BALLOTS are acceptable!”

Although Trump keeps drawing a distinction between mail-in ballots and absentee ballots, there is no difference. He has applied to vote by mail in Florida.

Steube also denounced the legislation in a tweet: “The latest political play from the Democrats is a conspiracy theory that Republicans are using operational changes to the USPS as a means to disenfranchise the American people. This is dishonest, ridiculous and even dangerous. Enough of the scare tactics, Speaker Pelosi.”

There were no immediate comments from Rooney or Diaz-Balart.

The bill now goes to the Republican-dominated Senate where it is unlikely to either pass or be brought up for a vote. Trump has threatened to veto it if it gets to his desk.

Liberty lives in light

Battle of the underdogs: Banyai vs. Donalds and SWFL’s state of play today

Aug. 21, 2020 by David Silverberg

The winners of the Florida 19th Congressional District primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 18 were both underdogs in their respective primary races—but that’s where their similarities end.

On the Democratic side, when the race began, Cindy Banyai was the new girl in town, starting from scratch—people didn’t even know how to pronounce her name. (Ban-YAY, with a hard A.) She was a first time candidate up against David Holden who had run for Congress in 2018. As a result of that run, Holden was well known in Collier County, had established fundraising networks, name recognition and a base of supporters. Banyai never raised his kind of campaign money–$85,548.50 in receipts as of July 31, compared to Holden’s $229,760.19, according to the Federal Election Commission.

On the Republican side, Byron Donalds, although already a sitting state legislator, entered a crowded field relatively late in the game. He was up against two wealthy, largely self-funded candidates in Casey Askar and William Figlesthaler, both of whom bought lots of TV air time. In his fellow state Rep. Dane Eagle (R-77-Cape Coral) he was facing an established political figure who spent his whole adulthood in politics and served as majority leader in the state legislature. In an additional advantage, Eagle was based in Cape Coral, the demographic center of gravity of the 19th District.

Although both Banyai and Donalds were underdogs, each responded to their underdog status in different ways.

Banyai simply worked extremely hard all the time from the moment she declared her candidacy in September, before Rep. Francis Rooney announced his retirement. She sent out a constant stream of tweets, pronouncements, statements and a direct mail flyer. She wrote op-eds that appeared on the environment and Social Security. She held weekly virtual coffees and town halls. She energetically built coalitions and networks, vigorously reached out to other candidates and actively sought their endorsements. In at least one instance her outreach included Republicans. With traditional in-person campaigning curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the constant digital campaigning stood her in good stead.

Lee County Democratic results (Lee County Election Office)

Collier County Democratic results (Collier County Election Office)

Donalds came by his underdog status because of the amount of money arrayed against him. He could not outraise or provide personal funds that could match Askar or Figlesthaler. But Donalds compensated by pledging his ideological soul to the conservative cause and winning the endorsement of organizations like Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity and the National Rifle Association. Super political action committees (PACs) that could spend unlimited amounts supporting his candidacy made up the difference.

Lee County Republican election results (Lee County Election Office)

Collier County election results (Collier County Elections Office)

It did not hurt him that, as he himself said: “I’m everything the fake news media says doesn’t exist: a Donald Trump-supporting, liberty-loving, pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment black man.” As one of the very few African American conservative Trumpers (another one, Herman Cain, died of COVID after attending a Trump rally unmasked), Donalds had the potential to inoculate the Trump right from charges of racism, making him extremely valuable to the Trumpist cause. Of all the candidates endorsed by Club for Growth, he was the only African American.

The outside PAC funding ultimately made the difference for Donalds, allowing him to narrow the broadcast advertising gap.

Although Eagle received a higher vote total than Donalds in Lee County, late on election night he conceded to Donalds, as did Figlesthaler. As of this writing, nothing public has been heard from Casey Askar or the other Republican candidates, although none of their vote totals came close to Donalds’.

State of play

As the general election battle begins, both candidates have their strengths and weaknesses.

Having won her primary, Banyai will now be receiving new endorsements (including one from David Holden, which should be coming since both candidates pledged to actively support the winner). Local Democratic Party organizations should be offering support, volunteer efforts and funding. If local media do their due diligence, they will acknowledge her campaign (in the past local media outlets have just ignored Democrats) and she may receive national media attention. Her fundraising should be enhanced and new sources will likely open up to her. This year, unlike 2018 when Rep. Rooney simply refused to debate and local organizations passively accepted his disdain, there may be actual formal debates where she’ll have a chance to explain her platform and gain a wider audience.

But in addition to her proven hard work and initiative, Banyai has the advantage of identifying with a popular candidate at the head of the ticket and a groundswell of urgency and desperation in the electorate that goes well beyond party divides. In Joe Biden, Banyai connects to a figure who has wide acceptance, as demonstrated by his consistently high polling data. There also appears to be increasing support from traditional Republicans repulsed by Donald Trump. What is more, the entire state of Florida is showing increasing signs of moving in a Democratic direction.

On the Republican side, having won his primary, Donalds will now receive the support of the local Republican Party organizations. Presumably the PACs that helped elect him will continue their support, although they may figure that having won his nomination in a safely Republican district they’re able to ignore the 19th and direct their resources elsewhere.

Most of all, Donalds has the advantage of the numbers on the ground, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats. As of this writing, in Lee County there were 202,553 registered Republicans, 129,245 Democrats, and 140,377 others including non-party affiliates (NPAs) and independents. (In Florida there is an Independent Party, so NPAs are not the same as independents.) In Collier County there are 112,044 registered Republicans, 54,380 Democrats, and 53,374 others.

The conventional wisdom is that people reflexively vote their registered party affiliation. In the past, that would be true in Southwest Florida. But now is not the past.

What’s new and different

This year, it would be unwise for anyone to blithely assume that the Republican primary is tantamount to the election in the 19th Congressional District.

There are several factors that make this an unusual year. One is the coronavirus pandemic. It continues to threaten lives, especially given the elderly population in Southwest Florida—and school-age children are at risk even as the state presses parents to send them to school. The national and state responses have been incredibly botched and even delusional. Another wave of infections may get worse. Voters have taken notice of the government response at the federal and state levels and people are frustrated, fearful and angry.

The local economy has crashed and the prospects for a quick recovery are dim. Instead, the economic effects of the botched pandemic response will continue to roll out in the days ahead, with more business closings and layoffs. With international trade disrupted by Trump administration trade wars and new border obstacles to international travel, the traditional influx of foreign visitors, snowbirds and investors is curtailed, further depressing an extremely seasonal economy built on tourism, hospitality and travel.

In the past, mail-in voting was the Republican secret sauce to winning local elections as people voted from the comfort of their second homes in the Midwest. Add to that the fact that the coronavirus has made mail-in voting essential for worried voters. In this primary election the majority of ballots were cast by mail but these were mailed out and returned before Trump and his Postmaster General Louis DeJoy attacked and disrupted the mail system. Having crippled the mails, Trump may have also crippled Republican mail-in balloting in Southwest Florida. Republicans may not be able to count on those absentee ballots to make up their majority despite the Florida state Republican party’s efforts to blur—literally—Trump’s attacks.

There is also always the possibility that natural disasters like hurricanes, red tide or algal blooms could occur in Southwest Florida but their political impacts are impossible to measure before the event.

But the single biggest political factor in the 19th Congressional District race right now is Donald Trump.

In Trump’s shadow

The 2020 election is a referendum on the presidency of Donald Trump—at both the national and local levels.

As a progressive Biden Democrat, Banyai offers an alternative to the current status quo. She is now the underdog in the race and the rebel against the existing order, both locally and nationally. Her task in getting elected is difficult but relatively simple: she has to win over enough NPAs, never-Trumpers and newly disaffected Republicans to form a majority coalition along with the Democrats who will support her. (To see a more detailed discussion of this topic see the article: “Passion and Pragmatism: The Democratic path to victory.”) It does not hurt that she’s a suburban mom with school-age children who can relate directly to mothers of all ages.

But the situation is much more complex for Donalds. Although the Casey Askar campaign played up Donalds’ various apostasies—voting for Barack Obama, saying nice things about Mitt Romney, having impure non-Trumpist thoughts in the dark mists of the past—Donalds loudly and emphatically proclaimed his total, undying loyalty to Trump.

He’s now the top dog in the race and he’s joined at the hip to Trump. He and the Club for Growth Action PAC played up his absolute, unvarying ideological obedience during his primary bid. In Southwest Florida that is certainly an advantage with the committed Trumpers who decided the Republican primary—but even so he barely squeaked by.

His absolute Trumpism means that he buys the bad with the good—in addition to the credits he gets for fealty, he also stands with Trump’s lying, meanness, cruelty, indifference, narcissism, corruption, irrationality, ineptitude and, to use Trump’s own words, “hatred, prejudice and rage.”

It also means he stands with Trump policies and many of these are inimical to Southwest Florida, like destroying Social Security and trying to take away everyone’s healthcare; restricting border crossings and travel and hampering local tourism and investment; despoiling and polluting the environment; drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico; attacking immigrants and immigration, which hurts local businesses and agriculture; and excusing and justifying the sheer incompetence of Trump’s and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ coronavirus response—or perhaps better put—non-response.

Donalds has to defend and promote all this. He has no “Etch-A-Sketch” option, as one of Mitt Romney’s aides once so memorably put it. He can’t shake a toy and make all his previous statements disappear into the past and dissolve from people’s memories. Some memories are indeed short, especially among Southwest Florida’s elders, but others have memories like elephants.

Mercifully, both Banyai and Donalds say they want to conduct a clean, non-personal, dignified race that focuses on policy and Southwest Florida and appeals to our better natures. We’ll see how long that lasts, especially if the polling narrows and the PACs and consultants have their way in pushing the kind of negative campaigning and advertising that fills their coffers.

So by a sheer accident of nature, history and coincidence, sleepy, swampy, sweltering Southwest Florida this year is home to one of the most interesting congressional races in the country. It pits a totally ideologically orthodox conservative African American Trumper with a checkered personal past against a progressive Biden Democratic white suburban mom, who also happens to be a PhD and former professional prizefighter.

It would be fun to see the two of them go three rounds in a boxing ring. But short of that, we’ll have to settle for a political bout.

Voters have a stark and definitive choice. Don’t prejudge the outcome before the final bell.

Liberty lives in light

BREAKING NEWS: Banyai wins Dem nomination in congressional race; GOP contest still undecided

Aug. 18, 2020 by David Silverberg

With all precincts reporting, Cindy Banyai is the winner of the Democratic primary in the 19th Congressional District.

David Holden called her to concede shortly after 8 pm, Banyai told The Paradise Progressive.

“It’s such an honor to be selected as the Democratic nominee in such a year as 2020,” she said in an interview. “This shows that Southwest Floridians are craving real leadership by people ready to serve the people.”

Banyai brought in 28,731 votes or 58 percent to David Holden’s 21,192 or 42 percent, according to a WINK News tabulation that included data from both Lee and Collier counties.

Banyai celebrated with an online party and then put her three children to bed at 8:30.

In State Representative District 105, which held a Democratic primary, Maureen Porras was the winner with 63.5 percent of the vote, or 1,452 votes, to Javier Estevez who had 36.5 percent or 835 votes.

As of 9:00 pm, the winner of the Republican primary was not yet clear, with state Rep. Byron Donalds (R-80-Immokalee) leading in Collier County with 8,300 votes or 28.7 percent of the vote, according to the official count of the Collier County Elections Office, and state Rep. Dane Eagle (R-77-Cape Coral) leading in Lee County with 18,772, or 25.10 percent of the votes, according to the Lee County Elections Office.

In the hotly contested state Senate District 27, state Rep. Ray Rodrigues (R-76-Estero) was well ahead of state Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen (R-78-Fort Myers), by a vote of 47,935 or 74.8 percent of the vote to Fitzenhagen’s 16,115 votes or 25.16 percent. The Republican winner there will face Democrat Rachel Brown.

Liberty lives in light

Last chance to vote in primary tomorrow; mail-in voting heavy in Lee and Collier counties

Lee County voting to date. (Chart: Lee County Supervisor of Elections)

Aug. 17, 2020 by David Silverberg

Tomorrow marks the last day to cast ballots for the Primary Election in Florida and the final count of ballots cast so far.

While very heavy mail-in voting by voters of all affiliations may have already decided the various contests, in tight races the last few votes cast tomorrow may make the difference between victory and defeat for some candidates.

Despite deliberate slowdowns in mail delivery engineered by US Postmaster Louis DeJoy and President Donald Trump, mail-in voting proved very popular in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting clearly have not deterred Southwest Florida voters of any party affiliation.

In Lee County, as of this writing, 24.6 percent of 468,141 eligible voters have cast ballots.

Of those, the vast majority of 38,624 Democrats voted by mail (36,387) and only 2,240 cast ballots in person in early voting.

Of 60,980 Lee County Republicans who voted, 52,714 voted by mail and 8,261 voted early in person.

Among Lee County non-party affiliates, 14,065 voted by mail and 559 voted in person. Some 571 other voters voted by mail and 21 in person.

Collier County voting to date. (Chart: Collier County Supervisor of Elections)

In Collier County, 27.43 percent of 217,278 voters (59,594) have cast ballots.

Of these, of the 16,457 Democrats who cast ballots, the vast majority (15,323) did so by mail and only 1,132 voted early in person.

Of the 34,971 Collier County Republicans who voted, 28,838 voted by mail and 6,131 in early in-person voting.

Among non-party affiliated voters, 7,004 voted by mail and 468 voted in person. Some 281 other voters voted by mail and 22 voted in person.

Polls are open in person tomorrow from 7 am to 7 pm. In Collier County, vote-by-mail ballots must be returned to the Supervisor of Elections office at 3750 Enterprise Avenue, Naples FL 34104 by 7 p.m. Postage is not required for ballots that are dropped off.

Liberty lives in light

Commentary: Southwest Florida’s lying liars who lie—a lot

*Heather Fitzenhagen takes aim in her TV ad, “If you see Ray.” (Image: In Florida we Trust)*

Aug. 14, 2020 by David Silverberg.

Nobody likes to be lied about. Whether you’re in kindergarten or elder care, it’s hurtful.

People who run for public office know that they’re going to be maligned; it’s part of the process. You put yourself out there and anyone can throw a rotten tomato; it comes with the territory in an electoral contest. In politics, if you can’t take the hit, don’t run for it.

But there are political lies, shadings of the truth and spins of the facts, and then there are lies, malicious falsehoods of whole cloth, entirely made up, untruths so stinging and painful they can even get under the skin of a thick-skinned politician. They’re more than lies, they’re smears.

Swamp creatures

In Southwest Florida the smears are getting smearier and penetrating Republican candidates’ skins, like chigger bites. The candidates are getting irritated and especially for the novices and amateurs, that burning itch just has to be scratched, as can be seen in their television ads. Everyone is accusing everyone else of lying. The Republican field has steadily descended into a mud pit so deep not even a swamp buggy could escape.

As one example, take the battle between businessman Casey Askar and state Rep. Byron Donalds (R-80-Immokalee).

Donalds was so exercised by Askar’s advertising charging that Donalds once supported Barack Obama that Donalds was moved to retain a lawyer (Todd Allen of Naples) to send a cease and desist letter to Askar.

“There is nothing you could have discerned from Mr. Donalds’ social media activity or his political activities that indicates that he actually did vote for or support President Barack Obama. Despite having that knowledge, you proceeded with the allegation out of pure malice toward Mr. Donalds,” charges the Aug. 7 letter.

The letter goes on to point out that Askar has some thin skin of his own: He’s suing Andrew Duskin, a conservative activist in Naples, for $30,000 for alleging that Askar didn’t really earn the Harvard Business School degree he claims.

Stop leveling this terrible charge, says the letter to Askar. “If you choose to continue with these false statements, Mr. Donalds will follow your lead and protect himself from misguided and unfounded attempts to assassinate his character”—and we all know how terrible a crime it was to vote for Barack Obama, an offense committed by over 65 million Americans in 2012. But this is Southwest Florida and the two men are running in a Republican primary.

Chris Gober, Asker’s Austin, Texas-based attorney shot back on Aug. 10 with a 4-page letter of his own. In it he detailed all of Donalds’ Democratic transgressions, noting that he was a registered Democrat in 2003 and “did not register as a Republican until March 11, 2010, 484 days after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.”

“In summary, your letter does more to confirm the reality that Mr. Donalds supported President Barack than to rebut it”—a charge so grave that Mr. Gober was apparently unable to bring himself to type out the name “Obama.”

“In conclusion, I would be remiss if I did not explicitly state the obvious: The truth is an absolute defense to a defamation claim,” Gober wrote. “Thus, because your letter does more to confirm the reality that Mr. Donalds supported President Barack Obama than to rebut it, your client has no legal basis to demand that our campaign cease airing its advertisements.”

To the best of this author’s knowledge, this is the only time a cease and desist letter has been sent between political campaigns over so serious a charge.

And clearly, neither party is ceasing or desisting. The cost of those lawyers and letters might as well be banknotes burned in an ash tray.

Similar charges are being made against state Rep. Dane Eagle (R-77-Cape Coral). He’s an endangered species, states a TV ad that puts him in a gunsight’s crosshairs, because he’s a “surprisingly liberal Republican” who supported former Republican presidential candidate and Utah senator, Mitt Romney—the only Republican senator to vote for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

This charge came out of an independent super political action committee (PAC) called Conservative Outsiders PAC, based in Athens, Ga., according to Federal Election Commission filings.

One interesting bit of hypocrisy comes courtesy of the campaign of Dr. William Figlesthaler, who has tried to transition from enraged, belt-wielding gonna give you a whuppin’ dad to genial barbequing paterfamilias in his latest TV ad, “Choices.”

“I’ve been focused on one thing: fighting for you and the conservative values we hold dear. Because tearing each other down is no way to build our country up,” he says as he benignly serves up lumps of charred flesh. That’s a laugh and a half considering that Figlesthaler has been a serial violator of President Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment—“Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican”—in the 19th Congressional District race to date.

But no primary race has generated more heat and anger over lying than the one for state Senate District 27, which covers Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel, Pine Island and Fort Myers Beach. There, state Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen (R-78-Fort Myers) has characterized state Rep. Ray Rodrigues (R-76-Estero) as “Sugar Ray,” a lackey of the sugar industry, which is blamed for polluting Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River.

She in turn is being portrayed in TV ads as an abortion-loving, open borders-abetting liberal by Rodrigues and the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Fitzenhagen is so mad about what she says are lies told about her that she’s grabbed a gun in a TV ad called “If you see Ray.” The ad is produced by something called In Florida we Trust, formed in June and located in Bonita Springs. It is aimed—literally—at Rodrigues.

“If you see Ray Rodrigues, tell him to stop lying about me and my record. I’m pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Trump,” she snaps, blasting away with a rifle—presumably what she’d do to Ray Rodrigues if she ever saw him on the street.

Commentary: The father of all lies

Why all this lying? And why does it seem worse than usual?

Every single Republican candidate in Southwest Florida has pledged his or her eternal loyalty to the Great God Trump and there is no liar in this or any other universe like Donald J.

Trump built his 2016 campaign on lies: he lies as president; he lied in his inaugural address; he lied about Ukraine; he lied about coronavirus; he lies about people close to him; he lies about his opponents; he lied about his marriage vows; he lied about his oath of office; he lies about Russia; he lies about America; he lies on Twitter; he lies incessantly, compulsively, daily, hourly—he even lies when truth might help him and he probably lies in his dreams.

This is the man all these Southwest Florida candidates “stand with,” praise, exalt and swear undying fealty to—and base their own behavior upon.

The Republican candidates of Southwest Florida can see that lying got Donald Trump elected. Since he’s elevated as the model of perfection and he lies constantly, his acolytes clearly feel no compulsion to tell the truth about themselves or anything else. Since lying is acceptable at the very pinnacle of the nation and there are no consequences for doing it, why not lie about their opponents to get elected?

What they did not take into account is the impact of being lied about.

It hurts. It’s painful to have your life and career and motivations and intentions and actions twisted and distorted and even completely fictionalized. In Trump, they all identify with the liar but have no empathy for the victims. So while it’s easy to fire outgoing lies at opponents and perceived enemies, it’s something else entirely to take incoming lies blasting you. Put another way, they can dish it out but they can’t take it.

While politics have always had an element of falsehood, Trump has lowered the bar to a whole new level. He’s dragged down all his adherents with him, even in places as remote and obscure as Southwest Florida. Most of these candidates have never run for office before and never experienced the slings and arrows of normal political brawling. When a lie punches you in the face, it’s painful and that’s a new and surprising sensation to them.

“You are not dealing with rational actors,” writes Republican political consultant Rick Wilson in his brilliant book, Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump—and Democrats from Themselves. “They are in service to an utterly amoral man, and by both inclination and necessity they will mirror his behaviors.”

So lies and insults are the order of the day among the Trumplettes of Southwest Florida.

Voters and television viewers can take comfort that the primary ordeal is almost over: this coming Tuesday, Aug. 18, the ballots will be counted and winners will emerge. Then will begin a simpler battle for the general election, when a decision will theoretically be rendered on Nov. 3.

If you haven’t voted already, in person or by mail, make sure you do, whatever your affiliation.

Keep in mind as well that this year nearly every race will have a Democratic candidate who will provide an alternative to this madness.

And instead of imitating Trump, you can take as your model someone else and follow his advice—to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Liberty lives in light

Trump executive orders threaten SWFL seniors’ Social Security benefits

Social Security recipients ponder the future of their benefits following Trump’s executive order.

Aug. 10, 2020 by David Silverberg

Southwest Florida seniors receiving Social Security payments and dependent on Medicare healthcare insurance are likely to suffer from President Donald Trump’s weakening of the social safety net programs in one of his latest executive orders.

The order, in the form of a memorandum to the Secretary of the Treasury, was one of four signed by Trump on Saturday, Aug. 8.

The memorandum directs the Secretary of the Treasury to “defer the withholding, deposit, and payment” of payroll taxes paid by people who make less than $4,000 per week ($104,000 per year) for the rest of the year.

Collection of the taxes is deferred, not eliminated, and they will be due in the following year. However, the memorandum directs the Secretary of the Treasury to “explore avenues, including legislation, to eliminate the obligation to pay the taxes…”

These taxes pay for Social Security and Medicare. If eliminated, they would effectively end the programs.

Trump stated at the signing ceremony at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ, that he would seek to eliminate the payroll tax if he is re-elected.

(The other three documents signed by Trump provide $300 per week for eligible recipients for lost wages due to coronavirus using disaster relief funds (generically called unemployment benefits) plus $100 of state funds, minimize foreclosures and evictions, and waive collection of federal student loans for the rest of the year.)

Trump’s order on payroll taxes circumvents Congress’ role in setting tax policy and came in for immediate fire from critics. Members of the House and Senate had been negotiating the next coronavirus relief package. The previous unemployment benefit had been $600 per week.

In a joint statement, House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blasted Trump’s action, stating: “We’re disappointed that instead of putting in the work to solve Americans’ problems, the President instead chose to stay on his luxury golf course to announce unworkable, weak and narrow policy announcements to slash the unemployment benefits that millions desperately need and endanger seniors’ Social Security and Medicare.”

Nancy LeaMond, executive vice president of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), stated: “Social Security is more crucial than ever as Americans face the one-two punch of the coronavirus’s health and economic consequences. But, this approach exacerbates people’s already-heightened fears and concerns about their financial and retirement security. Social Security’s guaranteed benefits are indispensable. Families impacted by coronavirus urgently need help, and we believe bipartisan congressional action on another coronavirus aid bill is the right solution.”

Florida Democrats immediately denounced Trump’s actions.

“Amid yesterday’s train wreck of neglect, Trump still manages to needlessly imperil seniors’ Social Security and Medicare benefits,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-23-Fla.) said in a statement.

Rep. Val Demings (D-10-Fla.), tweeted that “The American people desperately need relief. Instead, the president decided to defund Social Security and Medicare.”

Rep. Ted Deutch (D-22-Fla.) stated that Trump is “using the pandemic to gut Social Security’s funding” and “if he gets a second term, vowed to defund Social Security once and for all.” He noted: “The road to the White House runs through Florida and Donald Trump is about to hit a wall of angry senior voters who have just had enough.”

In Southwest Florida, 19th Congressional District Democratic congressional candidate David Holden tweeted: “First of all, Trump does not control the purse. Secondly, we CANNOT tolerate raiding Social Security under the guise of pandemic relief. This is a ploy. We need direct cash relief to every American (yes, even the ones married to undocumented folks) now.”

Democratic congressional candidate Cindy Banyai stated: “I’m dismayed by Trump’s executive overreach into the legislative process. The president doesn’t have the authority to fund programs, only Congress does, leaving many components of his most recent executive order unconstitutional. I’m particularly worried about the attack on Social Security and Medicare, which people in Southwest Florida rely on heavily. We must protect these vital programs, and our democracy, from the whims of a vanity president.”

As of this writing, none of Southwest Florida’s representatives in the 19th, 25th and 17th congressional districts had commented on the executive actions.

Of the nine Republican candidates running in the 19th Congressional District, only Darren Aquino responded to a request for comment, issuing a statement saying that he “stands with President Trump’s executive orders and President Trump’s refusal to remain hostage to the do-nothing Democrats.” He stated that the payroll tax cut was necessary to give workers extra money and as a member of Congress, he “promises to pass legislation that will forgive all deferred payroll tax payments.”

Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson retweeted a Trump tweet simply announcing the action.

While precise public figures on the number of Social Security recipients in Lee and Collier counties were not immediately available, according to 2018 Census statistics, 28.6 percent of Lee County’s 618,754 people are 65 or older (which works out to 174,488 people). Of Collier County’s 321,521 people, 32.2 percent are 65 or older (103,530 people). Both counties’ populations have been steadily increasing.

According to DataUSA, a private consortium that repackages government data, 14.7 percent of Lee County’s population is on Medicaid and 20.8 percent is on Medicare. In Collier County that is 12 percent on Medicaid, 24.9 percent on Medicare.

Liberty lives in light

An open question for Republican congressional candidate Dr. William Figlesthaler: As a medical doctor and biker and in light of the coronavirus pandemic, what is your opinion of the motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD?

05-19-20 Fig on bike