What I gave to Chris King

I saw Chris King open a new office in Seminole Heights on Saturday, October 6. He's a great speaker. He's passionate, and he's progressive. I gave him a handwritten note, though, because I'm concerned that our progressive candidate for governor, Andrew Gillum, seems to be getting pulled to the center by former Hillary and Obama people who have descended upon our state in the aftermath of his win. Here is what I wrote:

"Hillary is hurting enthusiasm with progressives - you're losing support among progressives because of these associations.

Stop moving toward the center.

Communicate with your volunteers.

Reinvigorate the progressive themes that won you the primary got a lot of volunteer support. You didn't win because you're a Dem, you won because you're a progressive. Keep talking about those things!

He's starting to sound like Obama. Sound like yourself!

Organization needs work!

The Ybor City Stogie is disavowing you - that's bad!

Hillary is a distraction - I know she's a friend, but she's hurting your campaign.

Picture of Gillum is "too white" - did they put make up on him?"

Now, to give this a bit more context - the picture I'm talking about - I saw Andrew Gillum's skin looked ashen, and not at all like his normal skin color. This really bothered me when I saw it.

The main concerns, though, like Hillary and Obama people pulling him to the center, despite his promises and assertions that he's the candidate and in charge, come from the evidence I've seen, where his message was suddenly about "affordable" health care, instead of health care for all. Or how he was making statements that sound very much like Obama, rather than like Andrew Gillum. Progressives feel betrayed by these changes. They want the Andrew Gillum of the primary campaign, where he said things that excited all of us, and made us feel confident that our unapologetic candidate would be a strong and vigorous defender and advancer of our values, rather than another milquetoast Democratic candidate with no back bone in an effort to win the mythical "center".

I did see a course correction, though, today (Sunday, October 7) where at a rally, on Facebook live, he returned to his themes of the environment, and making the sunshine state into the solar state, and talking about trade school for kids who aren't college bound. His ads again say healthcare should be a right (though I wish he was saying that health care IS a right).

And meanwhile, I spoke with the owner of this blog, and was relieved to hear that each author's opinions stand on their own, and do not represent the views of the Stogie as a blog, nor of its owner. This progressive supports Andrew Gillum wholeheartedly, while at the same time, is pushing our mutual candidate in the left direction, and asking him to resist the forces of both our previously successful and previously failed candidates who would have him reflect his predecessors, rather than allow him to chart the path that lead so many of us to support him so enthusiastically.

I doubt my one little set of handwritten notes has made a huge difference, but I do hope that it was looked at, and considered as coming from one his grass-roots supporters.