by Dave Roberts

Now that I’m back home in cold, damp Wiltshire, the heat and humidity of Florida seem along way off, as do the frenetic last days of the US midterm elections.  My endeavour to help rescue the Democratic congressional seat of Ron Klein failed spectacularly, and the Republicans have taken firm control of Floridian politics.

Republican candidates won all the marginal congressional districts, took the governor’s mansion, the Senate seat and the top three positions in the state legislature – attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner.  The Democrats, as President Obama said “took a shellacking”.

Last Tuesday was a horrible night to be a Democrat.  I was in the Ron Klein campaign “boiler room” as results began to come in from across the country.  There were a few bright moments when extreme Tea party candidates Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware failed to win, but on the whole the mood was down beat.  Our own campaign in Florida district 22 had failed and the Tea party and Fox News favourite Republican Allen West won the seat.  The race for the Florida Senate seat was always going to be a shoe-in for the Republican favourite Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott narrowly beat Democrat Alex Sink to take the keys to the governor’s mansion. (more…)