Why James Bush III Beat the Meek Brand

By Adam Blackmon

Former state Rep. James Bush III scored a upset victory election day when he defeated the Meek brand candidate Cynthia Stafford. It was a combination of a name, a surge and a dissatisfaction.

Stafford was selected by the Meek brand to succeed state Representative Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall who termed out after eight years in office. Stafford is a board member of the Carrie P. Meek Foundation and former aide to Bendross-Mindingall. She had the endorsement of every union and political operation that counts. She was endorsed by both the Miami Times and the Miami Herald. She was the odds on favorite.

A Name

The age-old political adage held true – name recognition is everything.

To digress, back in the seventies, a bus driver by the name of Plummer ran for the state legislature. It was assumed that he was a member of the politically connected Plummer family. J.L. Plummer was a city commissioner and Larry Plummer was a state senator.

This Plummer was not a family member and more so he was Black. He never put out any posters and skipped all political debates. He won and the laugh was on the voters. Of course he only served one term.

Back to Mr. Bush. He was outspent five-to-one by at least three candidates. Yet, his tenacity, shoe leather and hard work out distanced them all. He had the one thing the others lacked. He had a house hold name. His block of voters supported him.

A Surge

Bush did not do it all on his own. A late surge in the polls by candidate Bess McElroy with the support of TEAM FLORIDA diminished the women's block of votes Stafford was depending upon. TEAM FLORIDA hit with a controversial slate featuring the image and name of Barack Obama.

The slate caused such an impact on the Stafford campaign that Congressman Kendrick Meek alerted the Miami Herald in an attempt to have the slate discredited. However, all the Miami Herald could do is report that the Obama campaign had no knowledge of the slate and did not endorse state level candidates. Unfazed, TEAM FLORIDA continued pushing the slate featuring several candidates including Bess McElroy.

A Dissatisfaction

Further, many in the Black-belt are upset that Rep. Kendrick Meek endorsed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama. And, well after it was clear that Obama would win, Meek continued to travel with former President Bill Clinton who had been chastised by many Blacks for playing the Race Card against Obama. Even South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn had to tell Bill to cool it.

The combination of Bush's name recognition, the McElroy's surge and a dissatisfaction with Kendrick Meek defeated the shoo-in Cynthia Stafford.

Nonetheless, Mr. Bush should take great care in serving his constituents this term. He only won twenty-nine percent (29%) of the vote. This means that seventy-one percent (71%) of the voters voted someone else. I can hear the knives sharpening now for 2010.

Nonetheless, Bush beat the Meek team which includes, former Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek, Rep. Kendrick Meek, former state Rep. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall and former county commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler. This is a political first that insiders are talking about.

Comments

[r]

Miami must make changes in our leadership. The ones who have been in power have not made significant impacts. Our communities do not show progress. We have the Spanish communities and other ethnic groups to compare to and their representatives fight hard and consistently for changes for their betterment. We believed in our leaders but we feel as though we as Blacks were decieved again. (this time by our own people)

I hope our communities rise up through their votes and make it known to the status quo leaders that if they are not fighting for every dollar to help improve our communities we will simply vote them out of office.