Can a wild cat replace the donkey? Florida Democrats hope new mascot brings good luck

Democrats must have known changing their party symbol from a docile donkey to a fierce Florida panther would evoke some condescending snickers from the confident conservative Republicans who have dominated state politics for the past quarter-century.

The panther is, after all, on the endangered species list. Maybe the party thought a new emblem could change its luck, and the giant Burmese python was already taken.

“Florida panthers are making a comeback, they are resilient, and they don’t back down from a fight,” state Democratic Chairwoman Nikki Fried said at the party’s annual gala. “They embody our spirit as Democrats.”

Spirit is wonderful and Fried, a former agriculture commissioner who’s the last Democrat to win a statewide race, had to give a fired-up pep talk to the donors and party activists at the gala.

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Like President Joe Biden, she optimistically predicted that Florida’s 30 electoral votes are “in play.” And just as confidently, Gov. Ron DeSantis and state GOP chairman Evan Power scoffed at that notion.

Much remains to be seen on both sides. If pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention this summer evoke memories of Chicago 1968, Biden will look ineffectual. And if Donald Trump continues to behave like Donald Trump, a lot of voters will be tired of his shtick.

But whether the disillusioned or disgusted will switch their votes — or just skip the top race on the ballot — it probably won’t be enough to move Florida to the blue column.

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New mascots don’t win elections. Money, messaging and membership do, and the Democrats have a knack for falling short in all three categories.

Let’s start with membership. The National Wildlife Federation estimates a bit more than 200 Florida panthers are trying not to get hit by cars in our state. More Democrats lurk, many from Palm Beach County southward, but their number has been dwindling at a faster pace than the panther population in recent years.

For generations, Democrats controlled all, or virtually all, statewide offices and both chambers of the Legislature. Winning Democratic primaries meant winning general elections, so most people registered that way. A rare Republican governor or U.S. senator — like Claude Kirk in 1966, Ed Gurney in 1968 and Bob Martinez in 1986 — could win only when Democrats couldn’t reunite after divisive primaries.

For many reasons, everything turned upside-down over the past 30 years, and the pace of change has accelerated in the last decade or so. By November, the Republican advantage in voter registration will probably top 1 million. The state also has a few million no-party voters who, if they turn out, can swing a lot of contests.

Democrats are counting on severe new abortion restrictions, imposed by Republicans, to motivate women and younger voters to show up at the polls. But abortion is not a first-rank issue for many voters, compared to the economy and immigration.

Messaging matters in any campaign, and here the parties play the same game in different leagues. Democrats straddle, trying to respect feelings of all factions of their party, while Republicans put their heads down like stampeding elephants and charge straight ahead.

Democrats think no issue is so simple that it doesn’t need six months of analysis by an ethnically diverse task force, while Republicans believe no topic is so complicated that Kristi Noem can’t solve it with a gravel pit and a shotgun.

Messaging depends on messengers and, again, Republicans have an advantage. Trump has carried the state twice, and “Our befuddled octogenarian is not as creepy as your lecherous old goat” doesn’t seem like a winning slogan for Democrats.

In the other top-of-ticket race, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has won statewide three times — however narrowly and expensively — while Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell couldn’t hold on to her Miami-area seat in the U.S. House.

Then there’s money, the mother’s milk of all politics. Division of Elections records indicate the Republican Party of Florida raised a little more than $8 million in the last quarter of 2023 and first quarter of this year. The Florida Democratic Party collected a bit more than $1.5 million over the same six months. And that’s not counting millions more spread around to various campaign committees and individual candidates.

Whomping the same old mule hasn’t worked for the Democrats. Maybe the new kitty cat can change their fortunes.

Bill Cotterell is a retired Capitol reporter for United Press International and the Tallahassee Democrat. He can be reached at wrcott43@aol.com 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Donkey or kitty? New panther mascot unlikely to help Florida Democrats