Quinnipiac University has a new poll out today on the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races. You can read here for more on that.
However, what deserves further discussion in that state wide survey is another example of how out to lunch the Republican led Legislature is when it comes to where the majority of Floridians are. Read this:
Florida voters support 62 – 34 percent the idea of a state constitutional amendment to ban drilling within 10 miles of the Florida coast and say 72 – 24 percent they want a referendum on the ballot on that question.
Of course, this is the same Republican led Legislature that just had two constitutional amendments they voted on be rejected in the past three weeks by a Jeb Bush selected judge in Tallahassee. If Karen Thurman and the Florida Democratic Party can't make inroads with this, they really are in worst trouble than one could presume.
Think about the above. Nearly 3/4ths of those surveyed by Quinnipiac wanted the Legislature to meet last week and approve a constitutional amendment, to at least give the public to weigh in on the outrage they feel towards such maneuvers just months after one of the country's worst environmental disasters ever.
The arrogance of those House Republicans, led by Larry Cretul, should not be forgotten. However, in the lopsided Republican led legislature, how many Senate or House seats can the Dems pick up this November? Yes, some of the districts heavily lean towards one particular party (and just for the record, we don't see that changing substantially if amendments 5 and 6 pass, but that's just us). But 72% said they wanted the chance to weigh in on this. If Democrats running for state office this November don't use that to speak about the problems with one party rule for the past decade plus in Tallahassee, then they deserve to lose.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2010.