Booze's On Rod!
ShareReedy Creek Improvement District, FL -- 2,000 Florida Democrats convene at Disney World today to take the measure of their 2006 candidate slate. The marquee events will give the faithful a chance to hear the early stump speeches of three presidential hopefuls -- Vilsack, Edwards and Warner -- to delight in the aura of Sen. Barack Obama -- and to see whether Howard Dean says something controversial.
For one of the party's gubernatorial candidates, State Sen. Rod Smith, the conference provides perhaps his best chance to convince party regulars that he makes a better general election candidate than the man most think will get the nomination, Rep. Jim Davis.
On a national level, many Dems would prefer that Smith be their nominee, but early polls suggest that Florida Democrats simply like Davis better. Both men don't have statewide bases, and both aren't well-known, so both face a tough challenge in whoever the Republicans nominate, be it AG Charlie Crist or state CFO Tom Gallagher. Smith is a better crowd rouser than Davis, and if Davis performs poorly when he speaks tomorrow, the currents in his favor now may shift a bit. Make no mistake: folks here care more about how you say what you say than what it is that you say. (Read it over several times.)
One sign that Smith is going all out: his reception tonight for activists features an open bar. Not too interesting, perhaps, but consider that Disney's convention folks will charge his campaign $6 per drink. (Want to go? Put on your Kerry-Edwards hat and join us outside the Fantasia bar in the lobby of the Contemporary Resort hotel from 7:30 to 10:30. If you mention this blog, we'll, uh, buy you a drink. We're wearing a blue shirt.)
Davis's reception is shorter and they won't pay for booze. And he'll also greet guests at the entrance to the Contemporary Resort's convention center at 3:30 pm ET today.
Oh by the way: our friend Adam Smith at the St. Pete Times has this word of caution for those who think this conference has been historically decisive: "Modern Florida history is loaded with Democratic candidates who looked strong at the state Democratic conference and wound up as political footnotes. People in 1989 who watched Orlando state Sen. George Stuart's slick video featuring rock singer Corey Hart's Never Surrender anthem say that for 10 minutes Stuart looked like a shoo-in to be governor."
Stay with this blog for updates from the convention, as well as the skinny from tomorrow's DNC primary calendar commission meeting. [MARC AMBINDER]
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