A new website called "Fire Karen Thurman now" has been created by Saint Petersblog 2.0 blogger Peter Schorsch.
We're not surprised that in the aftermath of the electoral white-out that state Democrats suffered through on Tuesday night that dissatisfaction with party leaders is growing, and Thurman, as the literal head of the party, is the logical person that some disgruntled Dems will point fingers at.
David Royse with the News Service of Florida quoted state Senator Jeremy Ring earlier this week:
“It’s remarkable (Florida Democratic Chairwoman) Karen Thurman hasn’t resigned by now,” state Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, said just after Democrat Alex Sink gave a concession speech in the governor’s race Wednesday morning. “There needs to be new leadership of the party….All the success we had two years ago, they just let that die.”
Whether that's fair or not can be left to others to decide. This is all very deju-vuish of exactly 8 years ago, when Alex Sink's other half, Bill McBride, got skunked by Jeb Bush, losing by 14% after primary Democratic voters narrowly voted him in over Janet Reno. The party chair at that time was Bill Poe, who was soon ousted.
One Democrat who lost on Tuesday and thinks its totally a bum rap to blame Thurman for the GOP hurricane, tsunami, pick your weather metaphor is Dan Gelber, who told Royse:
"There were trend lines far broader than the state of Florida that affected this election. I don’t think Karen had the ability to do anything that would have stopped the headwind we were facing. The voters are so angry at Washington, they didn’t really care about anything else."
Democrats statewide have other theories as well. Democratic party strategist Screven Watson seemed to be putting some blame on Alex Sink in the Palm Beach Post:
Gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink didn’t inspire the Democratic voter turnout she needed to win Tuesday’s election, and she wasn’t helped by a weak slate of statewide candidates, says Democratic strategist Screven Watson.
He pointed to “abysmal” voter turnout by black voters and a lackluster showing by Democrats in general.
“Was there an enthusiasm gap? Yes, there was,” Watson said. “But I don’t believe a gubernatorial candidate can make up that gap.”
