A Message to my Friends in Florida’s 14th Congressional District

As I remember the 2004 campaign, I am pleased with the new acquaintances I made. From Englewood to Marco Island and Naples, from Charleston Park to Cape Coral, from Dunbar to Port Charlotte I met good people who share my concern for our country and cherish our system of government. We worked hard to elect our friends and met with only limited success. Nevertheless, we hold our heads high and are proud that we were participants in the process.

Now is the time to look forward to the elections in 2006. If we do not focus ourselves today, sixteen months early, we will find that opportunities will be lost. Now is the time to begin to find candidates to represent us at all levels of government in the 2006 campaign. Now is the time to craft our issues. Now is the time to perfect our skills. Now is the time to form and fund our federal PAC’s.

My research indicates that there are approximately twelve offices to be filled in partisan races in each of the three counties (Charlotte, Collier and Lee) that compose Florida’s 14th Congressional District. These are the offices to be filled:

1. United States Senator
2. United States Representative
3. Governor/Lt. Governor
4. Attorney General
5. Chief Financial Officer
6. Commissioner of Agriculture
7. State Attorney
8. Public Defender
9. Florida State Representative
10. County Commission, usually two seats, sometimes three.

There are other races, (School Board, Hospital Board, Mosquito Control, etc.) but they are usually non-partisan. State Senator, which is a partisan race, was not mentioned on this list because we only elect State Senators in even-numbered districts in 2006. There are no even-numbered State Senate districts in Florida’s 14th Congressional District.

We need to make it our business to find qualified candidates to fill each and every one of these races. More candidates bring more excitement. More excitement means livelier debate of the issues. Livelier debates mean more Democrats elected to office. More Democrats elected to office means the pendulum is stopped and returned to the center.

Having been around candidates in the last three presidential election cycles, I have heard all the laments and complaints candidates have about being a candidate. Chief among the complaints is a perception of lack of party support. It is no secret that Democratic candidates in Florida have struggled to find support. The State Democratic Party has had its own difficulties and was not in a solid position to support local candidates.

To this end, I have made a pledge to myself to become part of the solution in the 2006 campaign. I have made a pledge to myself to contribute $10.00 to each Democratic candidate in a partisan race that would appear on my ballot in November 2006. I will send my $10.00 check to Bill Nelson and ask him to represent me on the ballot in 2006. At this time, no one has announced, but if someone does, I will send $10.00 to a candidate for United States Representative. I will send $10.00 to each of the three announced candidates for Governor. I will send checks in the amount of $10.00 to any Democratic candidate that announces for any of the other nine offices listed above.

Ten dollars doesn’t seem like much of a contribution. If there were at least one candidate in each office my total contribution for the 2006 campaign would be $120.00. Even with the three Gubernatorial candidates, my total contribution is only $140.00. What disappoints me, and even scares me, is that some of the races might not field a Democratic candidate. In that instance, my contribution would be less.

The best thing that could happen is that the 2006 campaign costs me $360.00. A cost of $360.00 would mean that three candidates appeared for each race. The Democrats would then enjoy the free media coverage that comes with a primary. Wouldn’t it be great to have a Democratic primary in which to participate?

Will you join me? Bill Nelson will hardly notice a check from Robert Neeld for $10.00. But if Bill Nelson received a $10.00 check from Robert Neeld and one thousand of his friends, the amount becomes $10,000.00. If Robert Neeld has 10,000 friends in the district, the Nelson Campaign now has $100,000.00 from the 14th Congressional District. If every Congressional District in Florida raised $100,000.00 for the Nelson Campaign, Senator Nelson would have $2,700,000.00 for his re-election bid. I don’t need to tell you how important it is for Florida to re-elect Bill Nelson.

Will you join me? Ten Dollars becomes very much more important in the local races. Can you imagine the impact we could make if a Democratic Candidate for County Commission in your county received a check for $10.00 from Robert Neeld and 10,000 of his friends?

Will you join me? Remember EMILY’s List. Early Money Is Like Yeast. Can you imagine the impact we can make if a Democratic Candidate for County Commission in your county received a check for $10.00 from Robert Neeld and 10,000 of his friends sixteen months in advance of the November 2006 election?

Will you join me? I am not asking you to contribute to a candidate for whom you cannot vote. If you live in Collier County, please don’t send a check to a County Commission Candidate in Lee County. I am asking you to send a check to any Democratic Candidate whose name will appear on your ballot. And, I will help you do just that.

Will you join me? I will further pledge to you that I will post copies of my checks to candidates on this web site when my bank returns them to me.

If you you will join me in my pledge to contribute to Democratic Candidates, please click here. Don’t send your check to me. Send your check directly to the candidate. Bill Nelson can and will make good use of your early money. Send your check to him today. If you will help, I will make your contact information available to Democratic candidates in partisan races in Florida’s 14th Congressional District.

Visit my web site from time to time. The counter at the bottom of the contribution form will report the number of friends who have joined Robert Neeld in this pledge. Talk to your friends. Ask them to join with you in the pledge to support our candidates. Let’s run that counter beyond 10,000 and beyond 20,000. Let’s take action now to make our country better.