Mucarsel-Powell rallies faithful at PBC Democratic Party headquarters
The former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel Powell’s bus, which carried the message of democracy on the ballot along with her Senate campaign, pulled into this Democratic Stronghold Friday. She was accompanied by a friend whom others would describe as “the enemy inside.”
Mucarsel Powell is seeking to unseat Florida junior Republican U.S. Senator Rick Scott after a single term. She brought along Adam B. Schiff, a U.S. Representative from California, to energize and energise the crowd.
Some voter surveys show Scott as the winner, but others have him within the margins of error. Mucarsel Powell told the group that the circumstances are on the Democrats’ side.
“Here’s why I’m optimistic about this election…. Rick Scott never ran in a presidential race, only midterms. He has never won by a margin greater than 1%, and he’s never faced millions of women and men who will be marching on the polls to defend people’s rights,” Mucarsel Powell said. She was referring to Amendment 4 which would preserve the right to abortion in Florida for the next 49 years.
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She added: “He has never run against me, a Latina.”
The bus tour of Mucarsel Powell began last week in The Villages. It will continue to Miami. Schiff, who will be running for the U.S. Senate on November 5, joined us Thursday.
Mucarsel Powell, Schiff, and U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-West Palm Beach) received the rock star treatment by a group of 70 people who packed the Palm Beach County Democratic Party Office, leaving no standing room, with many waving signs. Smartwatches were triggered by the loud cheers of the mostly female crowd to alert them of potentially damaging sounds.
About a dozen counterprotesters outside waved signs, flags and vehicles decorated in red, blue and white. They were supporting the former Republican president Donald Trump.
Trump called Schiff, a Californian congressman from the state of California, “a lunatic.” He said that Schiff is a greater enemy of America than Russia or China. Schiff, as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee became the face for the first impeachment proceedings against Trump. This was related to an alleged pressure campaign on Ukrainian leaders in order to serve U.S. political interests.
Scott voted “not guilty” in the subsequent U.S. Senate trial in which Trump was found not guilty.
Fighter for democracy
Mucarsel Powell said: “Adam Schiff has been a strong fighter for justice and democracy.” “He has the courage and the courage to fight against one of the greatest threats to democracy we face right now.”
When asked about Trump’s threats after he addressed a group, Schiff said that he wanted to focus on Mucarsel’s Senate campaign, but added, “I think you should take seriously any dictator who tells you exactly what they’re going to do.”
He explained the importance of the upcoming election in a broader context to the group, predicting that Mucarsel Powell would be “one helluva U.S. Senator” and saying the hopes of the nation rest with Florida. Schiff recalled the days of Florida’s more purple color and when Palm Beach Democrats outnumbered Republicans.
Schiff: Moral arc bending in the wrong direction?
He said that nobody could have imagined how drastically things would change after the 2016 election.
Schiff: “We all grew up in the post-World War II era, when our freedoms expanded, and we witnessed democracies emerging, walls falling down.” “We thought that the moral arc was Martin Luther King, the arc of justice in the universe. We believed it to be the law of gravity.”
Schiff referred to today’s events as “a perilous time in history” when he said that the bending of the arc appears to be going the other direction.
Schiff stated that “when democracy is in crisis, people lose their rights rather than gaining them.”
He, along with many others, found it surprising that the race between Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris (Democratic Party) and Trump was so close.
Schiff, provoking laughter, said: “This was a guy sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office signing hush-money payments to a Porn Star.” “She was the only contractor paid,” Schiff said.
Pro-Trump crowd gathers also
Dianne Kaplan of Delray Beach, age 71, is not going to take the election lightly. She believes that the Democratic victory is the only way to fight fascism.
She lamented, “People read Holocaust books but it doesn’t ring a bell.” “There are no corrections available for those who lie.”
While outside France Miko of Boca Raton who didn’t want to reveal her age was among the protesters wearing a Tshirt that stated she had PTSD as in “Pretty Tired of Stupid Democrats.”
She said, “I came to show my support.” “I am pro-Trump.”
