In no uncertain terms, Senator Nan Rich declared to Orange County Democrats on Monday night “I am not getting out of this race,” with cheers from the audience. “And I’m not a spoiler, I’m the real Democrat.”
Senator Rich was the featured speaker for the April meeting of the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee and received a very warm welcome from local Democrats, including a standing ovation before and after her remarks. The fiery Nan Rich showed confidence, strength and growth as she rallied Democrats in the room ahead of a critical 2014 election against Rick Scott and made the case for a robust primary and debate with Charlie Crist.
“A strong primary will turn out voters and aid Democrats down the ballot in August,” Rich said. “As Senate leader, we had great candidates but we often got killed on turnout. If we had a Democratic primary, we could have engaged more Democrats statewide in these important races.”
“If we have robust Democratic primaries, it strengthens candidates. It hones your skills and positions and it is very, very important,” Rich added. “There are differences people need to know and that’s another reason why we need debates.”
Making a convincing argument, Rich detailed compelling differences between herself and her primary opponent Charlie Crist. “I don’t have that baggage,” Rich said about Crist’s negatives. “That’s his record. I have mine. I pride myself on not compromising my principles. I’m proud to be a lifelong Democrat.”
Rich also hammered away on core Democratic issues. While discussing education, Rich discussed how her leadership in the legislature helped stop the 2012 “parent trigger” bill.
“The reason I’m doing this is because I’ve had 12 years in the minority and I have the leadership to get things done,” Rich said. “When Republicans proposed parent trigger in 2012, it took working across the aisle to stop the bill. I worked to form a coalition of 12 Democrats and 8 Republicans. We got a 20-20 vote and killed it.”
Shifting to vouchers, Rich connected the dots on Crist’s past. “It’s important to talk about who stands for what. It’s important to know where these reforms started. Jeb Bush started it. Then Crist continued it. We asked. We tried. We were against vouchers and Crist pushed the largest expansion of vouchers at that time as Governor. Now Rick Scott is trying to continue what Crist did.”
That theme continued in her speech on issues ranging from healthcare reform, Medicaid funding, LGBT rights, sensible gun laws, and life-saving social services. The passion from Rich resonated throughout the audience.
“Florida has seen 16 years of undermining public education, in addition to cutting services to our children, seniors and disabled,” Rich said. “Florida has seen 16 years of policies undermining all of this. With your help, I can be the first woman governor in Florida and bring back Democratic principles.”
I agree, I think Nan Rich is by far the best candidate. She’s the only real Democrat, for one.
she sounds great. i wish she had a chance. she doesn’t.
I remember people saying that about a certain African American candidate running against a Clinton… I saw Nan Rich speak, and she totally fired me up. Bumper sticker is now on the car. Don’t count this one over just yet.
I was deeply disturbed to learn that the Democratic Governor’s Association (obviously Democrats from other states) felt it in their interest to give $500 K to the Crist Primary Campaign. What is that about? Should I be sending money to Primary candidates running against those incumbent Democrats in other states?