I spent the afternoon hanging out at the headquarters of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee, where a team of dedicated volunteers was taking care of all the last minute things that need taking care of on primary day: answering questions, giving senior and handicapped citizens rides to the polls, fielding complaints about discrepancies at polling locations, and helping point people toward where they need to go to vote. Despite all the national media coverage claiming that there's just a Republican primary here today, Democrats are voting today, too, whether or not their delegates will be seated. And their votes will matter on some level; they'll be reported in the press, and there's still the possibility that they'll be seated come convention time. But the press has done a pretty good job of convincing Dems here that their votes don't matter. The Hillsborough Dems received numerous calls from voters asking whether they were allowed to go vote. As I was sitting there, one man walked in and asked them, "Can I vote today? I thought it was just a Republican primary." And this guy was a relatively high-information citizen – a professor at a local college, lifelong Democrat, and regular voter.
The message that Democrats don't count is especially pernicious this primary, because there is a proposed amendment to the state constitution on the ballot that would change property taxes in the state, a move that would benefit average citizens very little and cause a major loss of revenue for local governments -- hurting schools, fire and police departments, and other municipal services.
But local Democratic organizations, volunteers working on behalf of the candidates, and regular citizens have been stepping up in the absence of the official campaigns here and working to counter the message that their votes don't matter. Susan Smith, a precinct chair in Hillsborough who was busy running people to the polls this afternoon, showed me a homemade Hillary Clinton flier that a 90-year-old man had been handing out in his retirement community. Up at the Marti-Maceo Afro-Cuban Club last night, volunteers from the local Barack Obama group were making get-out-the-vote calls on their own cell phones. In a state that has really been a battleground for Democrats and the butt of so many jokes since the 2000 election, Democrats are working hard to build their party and energize voters here. And that will make a big difference come November.
--Kate Sheppard
