Todd,
You would like to see our Democratic values in the Panhandle represented, recognized and addressed so you are supporting a republican candidate? With that kind of reasoning you should work for the Bush administration. If you had any state campaign experience at all you would know that for any democratic candidate, the priorities MUST be South Florida and the I-4 corridor where the majority of democratic votes are. This is campaign 101. If this were not the case with the Davis campaign I would be seriously concerned.
I have worked on campaigns in seven states and this is ALWAYS the case for both democrats and republicans. Yes, I am sure Mr. Crist has the Panhandle figured prominently in his campaign. He would be a fool not to since a large amount of the republican vote comes from this area. To choose to work for a campaign based solely on what you think that candidate offers for your area of the state is to abandon your moral compass. That type of thinking is exactly what has our country moored in a sink hole of debt.
Based on that reasoning if you were a resident of Alaska you should vote for your republican senator because he brings home the bacon in the form of bridges to nowhere and such, right? To hell with the rest of the country’s more urgent needs, this is about what he’s going to do for me, right? Excellent republican mantra. You’ll fit right in.  I also challenge you to truly examine the record of Charlie Crist, as limited as it is. His is NOT a record of bipartisan concern. It is a record of doing what is most beneficial to Charlie Crist’s political career, down to even publicly denying his sexual orientation.
If elected, he will be a figure head, loving the public appearances & pomp & circumstance. The John Thrasher and Brian Ballard types in Tallahassee will own him and let him know when they require his signature on some too-complicated-to-read bill. And just ignore that legislation of discrimination against gays and women that the republican-controlled house & senate writes into law during the next eight years, Todd. What is most important is that the panhandle gets its share of attention and money during the elections, right?
This election is not about Crist, Davis, or even what revenue our incompetent legislators can stumble home from Tallahassee with in the next fours years. It is and always has been about breaking up the power monopoly republicans have in our state, a power that they have consistently used to firmly plant the heel of their $800 designer shoes on the forehead of poor Floridians in their climb to the top of the heap. Being and voting democrat is simply an attempt to stem that tide, a tide that threatens to drown the less fortunate among us. You were never a democrat if you fail to see this.
To choose to leave the Davis campaign and support Crist is your prerogative. Good manners would have told you to go quietly into the night. To use your email list to not only criticize your former employer but to encourage others to join you in supporting his opponent is to demonstrate your resounding lack of character. Something future employers should take into consideration.
Please remove my name from your email list.
Melinda Hilterbrand
