LAKE BUENA VISTA – They may not be able to pronounce his name, but Florida Democrats sure love Barack Obama.
He was introduced to 2,000 party activists as a “rock star” Saturday night, and the freshman senator from Illinois lived up to the grandiose billing.
In a late-night speech bracketed by standing ovations, the keynote speaker at the Florida Democratic Party’s annual convention portrayed President Bush as a weak leader who has shaken the faith of the American people.
Speaking in a crisp, serious tone, he ticked off one unresolved crisis after another, from the war in Iraq to low-paying jobs to post-Katrina despair in New Orleans to auto industry layoffs to “scandal and corruption” in Washington.
He spoke of mothers and children “living out of cars” in Louisiana, while the federal government issues no-bid contracts for relief work. He mocked the White House for photo-ops that show buzz words in the background, “as if we’re being hypnotized.”
“In Washington right now, we don’t see the kind of leadership that would give us faith,” Obama said. “It’s the timidity, the smallness of our politics that are holding us back.”
Hours before Obama spoke, the Republican Party of Florida cited Obama’s past remarks as proof that Democrats lack a unified message on Iraq. The GOP’s pre-emptive strike recycled remarks Obama made in Orlando this summer when he said Democrats “are trying to decide what our core values are.”
Obama, 44, a Harvard-educated lawyer, burst on the national stage last year as a showcase speaker at the Democratic convention in Boston. He has been traveling the country ever since, raising money for Democratic candidates and raising the spirits of party activists.
Nowhere is Obama’s optimism more welcomed than in Florida, where Democrats have dug themselves a deeper political hole in every election cycle since 1996.
He demanded Democrats ensure Bill Nelson’s re-election to the Senate. Otherwise, he said, “I’m not coming back to Florida I’m writing y’all off.”
