Who? Ana Cruz, a Tampa-based Democratic political consultant.
Sphere of influence: Cruz is influential in statewide Democratic politics, as a past executive director of the state party. She was also an adviser and point person to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.
How she makes a difference: Cruz is a tireless networker and booster of Democratic candidates and ideals, whether through her consulting or fundraising events held with her activist
CL: Why is the Hispanic vote so important in this election and in Florida this year?
Cruz: It's always been important; it's not just this year. Back in 2000, I had many discussions with Gore strategists about reaching out to Hispanic voters on a different level, more so than we'd ever done in the past. And the reason why it's so important is that we're the No. 1 largest-growing demographic in the country. No. 2, our numbers here in Florida are staggering, and they're concentrated. Where Hispanics live and work in Florida is concentrated.
Let's take Orlando, for instance. The Puerto Rican population, they're all right there in two counties. And quite frankly, they're up for grabs. Puerto Ricans in Central Florida, and across the nation for that matter, don't have immigration concerns. They haven't really flexed — and I should say we, I'm Puerto Rican — we haven't really flexed our political muscle yet. If Democrats really pay attention to that one demographic that has such a potentially strong voting power and voting bloc, it would be very wise for us to do so.
How is that demographic different than other groups, such as the African American vote or the youth vote? What issues push Hispanics' buttons?
In large part it is the way that you talk to Hispanics. We care about the same issues that the traditional Democratic base cares about, but we're also very familial in nature. We tend to be much more enthusiastic about our candidates. We tend to talk about them more. We get very excited about someone we believe in. we've very passionate about our candidates and our family and our work. Not to say that African Americans and others aren't. We're just a little more exuberant about it.
With that being said, all we want to do is know our candidates. And we want them to pay attention to us. And if they do, we talk about it with our families, when we cook in our kitchens, and we talk about our candidates to other people. We're not shy.
So word of mouth and peer-to-peer communication is much more important in delivering message to the Hispanic voter?
Yeah, I think you have to get personal with us. We want that. We want you to come to our coffee shops and show that you care about us, not just at election time but also in the off-season. We also want you to come and tell us who you are in the small newspapers that we read. Specialty media for the Hispanic community is such an important outlet, because they take these little newspapers, and they take them to the coffee shops, and they read what's going on and they talk about them for hours. West Tampa Coffee Shop is a perfect example of folks sitting around a table and talking about what they read in La Gaceta or La Prensa in Orlando, and we have to pay attention to that.
How much of the culture and life of Hispanics in Tampa Bay does the mainstream media miss?
They continue to miss the mark. They continue to miss that the Hispanic vote is going to be critical and pivotal in elections. Just this week I was trying to pitch mainstream newspapers on, look, pay attention to this Hispanic vote. Have you pulled the numbers [of registered Latino voters]? Have you done any polling? And I consistently get no, no and no. And they're missing the boat on this vote.
You recently sat in a room with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and about 40 Hispanic civic leaders. Tell me about that meeting.
It was by far one of the most profound things I've done in my career. It was such a contentious primary, and it was very rare to see both of them kind of unplugged, in a room with her, it was 40 of her closest Hispanic advisors from across the country, many of whom … sat in a room a year and half prior to that rolling out a Hispanic strategy, watching Hispanic focus groups and really talking about how we were going to reach Hispanic voters and what's the best means of doing that.
So this is a group that, we had worked together for quite some time.
I'll start from the beginning. It was 40 of us seated at a big square table. Sen. Obama came in, no pomp and circumstance, one [Secret] Service member and no staff. He came and shook hands with every single one of us and talked to every single one of us, then left the room and came back in with Sen. Clinton.
These people were her family; these people around this table had relationship going back 15, 20-plus years with her. Some of the folks in this room were civil rights pioneers relative to Hispanic civil rights movements in California and Texas. Some of these people, her and Bill Clinton would be in their back seat driving around southern Texas, campaigning for him in '91 and '90 and introducing them to their Hispanic leaders in their relative cities and parts of the country.
So this was a really meaningful meeting. It wasn't a rally. It meant a lot to her, and I hope it meant as much to [Obama] as it did to her. Because she was literally saying, 'Here are my top Hispanic advisers. Use them.' We asked him, 'Help us help you.'
Quite a few comments from the crowd were, 'Well, we don't know you yet. We're here because we want to get to know you, and we're here because we want to be supportive.'
Because he didn't campaign in the Hispanic community the same way Sen. Clinton did?
No, and he fully recognized the fact that her relationships run deep in the Hispanic community, and that's in large part they have worked so hard at it, and they have these longstanding relationship and friendships. We can't also forget that she represents a large Hispanic population as a senator from New York.
He also said I'm here to listen, and I'm here because I want to win your support.
Did you get the sense that her desire to work with Sen. Obama was genuine, and conversely, that he was truly willing to listen to the Hispanic advisers from her campaign?
Absolutely. This was no joke. This meant business; the stature of the people who sat around that table, you couldn't not pay attention to them.
You recently spent a lot of time in Orlando working on a tax deal for the Orlando Magic basketball team's new arena, new performing arts center and a renovated Citrus Bowl stadium. How do Orlando politics differ from Tampa Bay's?
Let's start with the obvious, and that is that they have a strong-mayor form of government in the county. They have the county mayor and the city mayor. It was interesting because we had to negotiate with both. The city had to give us the land, and the county had to vote to allow a percentage of the tourist tax dollars to be used for this three-venues project. So it was a lot of back and forth. It was interesting to really watch those negotiations unfold over two and a half years.
Is that a better system?
You know, Orlando is an amazing town. I have to tell you, if it wasn't landlocked and I wasn't such a fourth-generation Tampa native, if I had to move anywhere, I'd probably move there. I say that because it's important to note that it's so lively, the city and the county. So something must be working, because they are able to get stuff done.
What works there that doesn't work here?
I have to give Mayor [Buddy] Dyer a lot of credit for revitalizing downtown and for getting those three venue projects passed, in addition to [Orange County Mayor Rich] Crotty. But downtown is the anchor there. It is lively. Businesses are bustling. There are restaurants that far outweigh ours, quite frankly, and I'm a big foodie. It's vibrant. It's a vibrant downtown.
Is part of the difference the quality of political leadership there?
In my opinion, Dyer's a true visionary. He is somebody that likes to make deals happen. And he makes them happen. The campaign that I helped run certainly gave the county commission and the City Commission the political will to be OK with voting for this, but at the end of the day, the two mayors really had to sell it as well, and had to believe in it, and had to go back and forth on it a lot. That city has been well served by those two very strong visionary thinkers.
The Democratic Party in Florida has won some seats away from Republicans in Congress and the Legislature. What evidence do you see that the party will continue to make gains?
No. 1, the climate is about change right now in politics, across the board. This is going to be a change election. We have some competitive races on the congressional level in Florida. Suzanne Kosmas is one.
Against Tom Feeney in Orlando?
Yes. She is moderate. She is not afraid to take him on. She's raising money.
It's not just about money; it's about challenging the incumbent. Look at where we are today. Look at the prices. If you have an incumbent who's been in there for a few years, there's a lot that you can go after because they have gotten us to where we are today.
And yet we continue to see this dynamic where voters disapprove widely of the job Congress is doing but love their own congressperson. Will we resolve that disconnect in this election?
If it doesn't happen this year, then it's not going to happen.
Is there a race in Tampa Bay that you are most excited about?
Kevin Beckner [who is running for incumbent County Commissioner Brian Blair's seat]. I think Kevin's a great candidate. He really understands growth management concerns.
For the record, my candidate, John Dicks, he really has a great opportunity here. A lot of people don't understand that 40 percent of that district is in Hillsborough County.
He's running in a primary for Gus Bilirakis' congressional seat?
Correct.
Let me get you to play prognosticator on a few issues. Everywhere I go, I get asked the same question: Will Obama choose Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential nominee?
That's the biggest question of the day. You think you get it? [Laughs] I get it every day, all day long. Would I like to see her as the vice president? You betcha. Barack Obama needs somebody who is older, white and great on foreign policy. And it doesn't get much better than her, in my opinion.
And it's funny, because I think that John McCain needs somebody like a Barack Obama, and Barack Obama needs somebody like a John McCain.
I'm not saying that they should be on each other's ticket. [Laughs]
That's an interesting concept. Prognostication No. 2: Is Florida CFO Alex Sink the next governor of Florida?
I'll tell you what, there is nobody in the state of Florida right now that I admire more politically. She has a real opportunity and shot to be our next governor.
Has Charlie Crist opened that door by seeming so opportunistic in his quest to be McCain's vice presidential pick?
For the record, Charlie's a dear friend of mine, and I do like him personally. But I am going to take my personal friend hat off and put my political hat on and say that, yeah, Floridians are suffering. We're in a budget crunch. And they want to be paid attention to. When you are in a change-election climate, even though he is not on the ballot, that change environment continues to resonate with voters and they being to question their incumbents, whether they are on the ballot or not. What are you doing for us? I think that's probably what we're seeing a little bit here.
As you said before, you're a foodie, by reputation, a very good cook. I've seen that same trait in other political consultants. What is it about food and politics? Where is that intersection?
A lot of as strategists are creative by nature. And so I think it is a way to be creative without having to fight with a candidate. The food's not talking back to you. Who knows?
It's also an outlet. We spend a lot of on the phone talking to people. Cooking for me is so therapeutic. I can create whatever I want to create. I don't have to talk to anybody.
Sunday afternoons for instance we have at my mother's house, what I call Iron Chef Tampa-style. One of my closest friends, Chef Jeannie Pierola [formerly of Bern's and Sideberns], comes over and we invite everybody [in the family and friends] and we're all in the kitchen together and we bring our A game, because we're so competitive.
It seems that there is a large part of it that it is competitive, even when you aren't in Iron Chef mode; you are constantly trying to make the dish better and different, competing against yourself and the way you have made it in the past. Same in politics.
Absolutely. I'm always trying to make a mail piece look better. I don't reinvent the wheel every time I run a campaign. I just try to make that wheel better each time.
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2008.