Ya que se las cago with the Cuban-American vote, former University of Miami President and congressional candidate Donna Shalala may be going after the Colombian vote in District 27 with a new gimmick Saturday aimed at endearing her with the Hispanic community: A chiva tour.
Ladra said long ago that Kristen Rosen Gonzalez was the only Democrat candidate who could beat Republican nominee Maria Elvira Salazar — who the most recent polls show head-to-head with or ahead of Shalala — because both are young attractive women who speak Spanish. But Democrat insiders insisted on Shalala and bulldozed everyone else out of the way.
Now, they’re not only losing a race they had in the bag a year ago, they should be downright embarrassed about how clueless Shalala is pandering to Hispanics — who make up more than 70 percent of the voters in the district — in a last ditch and plainly oblivious effort to stop the bleeding.
Read related: Donna Shalala is snubbed; missing on Obama’s FL endorsement list
First, she pretends to sing the Guantanamera on Enrique Santos radio show, but Santos really does the singing while Shalala shakes her head back and forth and utters a few syllables. I mean, who doesn’t know la Guantanamera?
Then, last week, the Shalala campaign launched a new Spanish-language ad reminding voters of Salazar’s interview with Fidel Castro and the words she used to complement him. They call it “Sinverguenza.”
“El Comandante… the man who captured our social imagination in the 60’s,” Salazar calls Castro in that interview, a clip of which is shown in the ad.
Salazar is also shown talking about it, explaining that all journalists called Castro comandante, which isn’t true, as evidenced by a series of clips where journalists refer to Castro as a dictator, instead. We held our breath and used the word president at the Miami Herald.
But while its true that Salazar was practically drooling in that exchange, it seems disingenuous for Shalala — who invited Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Lee to campaign with her in Coral Gables — to judge.
Read related: Dumb Dems invite pro-Cuba pols to stump for them in Miami-Dade
It’s like family. We can say Maria Elvira es una comemierda. Shalala — whose party embraces giving more opportunities to a government that continues to repress its people, jail dissidents and deny basic human rights — can’t.
The latest gimmick: A chiva — the traditional, colorful, folkloric two-tiered bus used in rural Colombia and Ecuador — will take the candidate to early voting locations in Shenandoah and Little Havana, as well as area parks, leaving from Coconut Grove Park, 3628 Grand Ave., at 3 p.m.
Ladra kids you not! Photo op!
Will there be yerba mate? Pastelitos? Tamales? Cigars? What’s next? Canvassing with mariachis?
All this is to substitute for the fact that Shalala does not speak Spanish and that’s not the only reason she doesn’t understand a majority of the constituency she seeks to represent — but it sure is part of it.
Y le van a pasar la cuenta.
In Spanish, that means that they’re going to hand her the bill, make her pay. In Cuban Miami politics, it means she’s toast.
So maybe that’s why she’s going after the Colombian vote now? Someone ought to tell her that voter bloc is in District 26.

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The congressional primary in dielection is too important. So I did something I thought I would never do. I registered as a Democrat.
Ladra has been a deep purple, card-carrying, proud NPA all her adult life. It started as a pragmatic choice by a journalism student who did not want to be linked to either extreme agenda. It ended up being perfectly suited to me since I found issues and problems in both parties that I was just unable to swallow. So I stayed NPA and proudly proclaimed it from every rooftop.
This year, I have already vowed to vote blue up and down the ballot because of Parkland. Yes, a school shooting at a Broward high school that took 17 lives did what LGBT rights and immigration battles, climate change and taxation and energy priorities and even the systematic privatization of what should be public education couldn’t do — it turned me into a single issue voter. After watching the Florida legislature debate gun control in the wake of those deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, I had no choice. Those creeps who said the MSD students didn’t know what they were talking about and put guns in our schools, they need to be voted out. We need a blue majority in Florida.
So, yeah, I am going to vote for the Democratz in November in both my House race (Jeff Solomon has my vote Aug. 28) and Senate District 40.
But I couldn’t wait for November when it comes to congressional District 27, because there is only one Democrat candidate in the primary on Aug. 28 that I know can beat the eventual Republican winner, who is apparently going to be Maria Elvira Salazar — and that’s Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.
I can hear some of you now saying that I am only doing this because I am a paid campaign staffer. That’s ridiculous. Do the people who worked for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only support her because they work for her? Do the people on Marco Rubio’s staff secretly wish they could support someone else but are there only because of their paychecks? Shame on you. If you think my vote is worth any amount of money, or that I would change my voter profile from my entire life, you are delusional. This is something I treasure. Nobody can pay for my vote. You have to earn it. And Kristen has. I was always going to vote for her. Rosen Gonzalez only invited me to be part of Team Kristen because I’ve supported her for the three years she’s been in office. Heck, I supported her candidacy two years prior to that, before she withdrew from the 2013 city elections on the Beach. So, yes, I am paid to help her with her messaging and media. But no, I am not paid to support her. I do that for free and happily because of who she is.
What is it about her? A few things.
A single mom, like me, she is the only candidate in the Dem #FL27 primary who has a full time job and lives paycheck to paycheck, like me. She recycles obsessively and drives a hybrid. She walks the walk, not just talks the talk. She is a teacher, with ten years experience as a professor at Miami Dade College and a real intense desire to make community college free for everyone, so higher education becomes a right and not a privilege. She has passed legislation to raise the minimum wage and protect hotel workers from sexual harassment, so she took on the hotel industry in a city that depends on hotels. Sure, she is often unpolished and sometimes says things off the top of her head that she later regrets. I kinda like that about her. Because at least she says something. Her answers are not pat rehearsed and practiced talking points written by someone else. Trust me, sometimes I wish she would stick to my script. She can’t. It is in her nature to be natural. She is the real deal.
She has also been campaigning the longest, having announced a bid for that seat before Ileana Ros-Lehtinen retired. So she was willing to challenge the congresswoman on her own turf. That takes guts. She has something slightly resembling gumption. Nobody else had the nerve. They only jumped in after it was an open seat, which makes them opportunists of a sort.
Most importantly, Kristen is the only candidate in the Democratic primary who speaks Spanish fluently. That is going to become important after Aug. 28 when whoever wins has to battle Salazar for votes in a district that is 73% Hispanic.
Ladra likes Matt Haggman. We worked together at the Miami Herald and he was a fine journalist. But he and his campaign are out of touch with the average voter or resident in my community. Ladra likes former State Rep. David Richardson. Despite his stupid trip to Cuba and the fact that he talks about being the first gay elected to the House like its his only achievement, I think he has good intentions. I love the fact that he took it upon himself to visit state prisons and evaluate their operations as a state legislator.
But neither of them speak Spanish very well. And when pressed to vote for a David Richardson or a Matt Anything against a Maria Elvira Salazar, I fear that a lot of the elderly, high performing voters in the district will go for the name with the Z in it. This is not racism. It’s clarity. Nobody is saying this is how it should be. Just that it is what it is.
And that Gonzalez has two Zs.
There are only a few hours left to change your voter’s registration, if you are an NPA like me and want to vote in the primary. You have to do it before midnight at this website here.
But this message is also or more for those of you already registered as a Democrat: Think about the impact of your August vote in November and don’t throw it away. Think about who would be the best match against the eventual GOP nominee before you cast your ballot. Think about who will best be able to represent the majority of the district, and speak to her constituency in their language.
Then vote for Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.

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Want to meet a candidate for office this year? You will have plenty of opportunities in the coming weeks before the Aug. 28 primary and practically simultaneous to the absentee ballots are about to rain on Miami-Dade voters. Get your calendars and your pencils out.
There are breakfasts with congressional hopefuls and meet and greets with incumbent state reps, potlucks with Democrat activists, town halls and candidate forums from Miami Gardens to Kendall.
But there may not be a single better opportunity to catch as many Democrats as possible in one  place than Tuesday’s “Political Palooza II” in Coral Gables, organized by RiseUp Florida. Confirmations are already in from:

State Rep. Robert Asencio, District 118 incumbent
Candidate Javier Estevez, State House, District 105
State Rep. Javier Fernandez, District 114 incumbent
Candidate Demetrius Grimes, Congressional District 26
Candidate Matt Haggman, Congressional District 27
Candidate Michael Hepburn, Congressional District 27
Candidate Dotie Joseph, State House, District 108
Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Florida gubernatorial candidate
Candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Congressional District 26
Candidate Heath Rassner, State House, District 119
Former State Rep. David Richardson, Congressional District 27
Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Congressional District 27
Candidate James Linwood Schulman, State House, District 115
Donna Shalala, US House of Representatives, District 27, candidate
Candidate Jeffrey “Doc” Solomon, State House, District 115
State Sen. Annette Taddeo, District 40 incumbent
Candidate Maryin Vargas, County Commission, District 6

Wait. Where’s Mary Barzee Flores? Or any of the three Dems running in Miami Beach’s open House seat? The Facebook invite says there are “more to confirm.”
And there will be representatives from the campaigns of the other four Democrat gubernatorial candidates — who seem to have given up Miami-Dade to Levine — and Sen. Bill Nelson‘s camp as well.
The palooza event begins at at 7 p.m. at Coral Gables Congregational Church, 3010 DeSoto Boulevard, Coral Gables. Questions will be solicited from the audience and simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be provided.
Read related: Promised ‘blue wave’ ends up being a little splash in state House races
 
There’s a candidate forum on Thursday that is a lunch meeting of the Palmetto Bay Business Association. Even judicial candidates have been invited, but the Facebook event page doesn’t say who has confirmed.
Then, on Friday, there will be another group sighting of candidates in the north part of the county. Barzee Flores and the three Dems from Miami Beach — former Commissioners Michael Grieco and Deede Weithorn and newcomer nobody Kubs Lalchandani — have confirmed for that one. Hosted by The Democratic Women’s Club of Greater Miami-Dade and FL Democrats for 2018, the event is free with snacks and a cash bar (but a $10 donation will be appreciated). There will also be repeat appearances by Grimes and Mucarsel-Powell for the FL26 seat, Richardson and Shalala for FL27 and Schulman, Asencio and Rassner for House Districts 115, 118 and 119 respectively.
Other confirmed attendees so far include perennial Florida House candidates Ross Hancock, in District 115 this time, and Cindy Polo in District 103 and state Senate candidates Julian Santos and David Perez, who want to fight State Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. for the open seat in District 36, and Jason Pizzo in District 38.
This event is the only local meet and greet with cabinet candidates — Nikki Fried for Commissioner of Agriculture and Jeremy Ring for CFO — and it begins at 5 p.m. (ends at 8:30) at the Country Club of Miami Golf Course, 6801 NW 186th St.
Then on Monday, Aug. 6, there will be a judicial forum for candidates to the bench — and there are plenty — hosted by the Gwen Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association, the ACLU and the League of Women Voters. It begins at 6 p.m. at New Birth Baptist Church, 2300 NW 135th St.
There’s another judicial forum from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 13 at the law offices of Stearns Weaver Miller, which seems kinda odd. Like the fox inviting the hens to come over for a bite. This is hosted by a bunch of attorneys, actually: the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Caribbean Bar Association, the Haitian Lawyers Association, the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, the South Asian Bar Association, and the Wilkie D Ferguson Bar Association. Admission is free (even for non lawyers) and light appetizers will be served at 150 West Flagler, Suite 2200. Haven’t you always wanted to see inside? Now’s your chance.

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If you had a political forum, and the Republican front runners weren’t there, did it still happen?
We shall see on Monday evening when the Kendall Federation of Homeowners welcomes every Democrat candidate and five of the Republican hopefuls to the District 27 seat vacated by the retirement of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
According to the email blast and KFHA President Michael Rosenberg, four Republicans — including the top three potential vote-getters — are not going to make it to the 6:30 p.m. powwow at the Kendall Village “Civic” Center, in the middle of the shopping plaza, at 8625 SW 124 Ave.
Maria Elvira Salazar, the Spanish-language TV news magazine star who everyone thinks has the lead now that Bruno Barreiro‘s wife lost her county commission race, had been out of town until Saturday, Rosenberg said, but was supposed to confirm after that and has not. Barreiro, Angie Chirino and Maria Piero have not responded.
“Bruno, I’ve invited eight times. Not even a response,” Rosenberg said, adding that he also texted Zoraida Barreiro, who used to respond quite quickly when she was running for office, and got nada back from her either.
“They want our vote, they just don’t want to talk to us,” he said.
Wanting to talk are former Doral Councilwoman Bettina Rodriguez-Aguilera, right, and four people you probably never heard of: Elizabeth Adadi, Stephen Marks, Michael Ohevzian and Gina Sosa. They have all confirmed attendance at the forum. For these people, a day without Maria Elvira, Barreiro and Angie Chirino is a good day.
On the other hand, every Democrat confirmed: Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Matt Haggman, Michael Hepburn, David Richardson and Donna Shalala all said they would be there.
Maybe that’s all that matters, since the Democrat winner in August has the advantage in November in what many are saying is one of the most flippable seats in the country. Maybe Bruno has the right idea in not giving it 110%.
“This will be a civil meeting to learn about these candidates. educate the community about these candidates,” Rosenberg said. “We are going to tell the candidates not to go off road, to focus on the questions and answer it so voters can learn about them. Otherwise it is a wasted meeting.”
Republican candidates will go first start at 7 p.m.  The Democrats start at 8:15. They will have two minutes to introduce themselves and then a minute to answer six questions. 
“That means you need to be right on point, clear, and not waste a second from the context of the question,” Rosenberg wrote to the candidates.
Each candidate will also get two one-minute challenges to use if another candidate specifically names them or misrepresents their position. So if it happens a third time, Ladra supposes they just have to live with it.
Or maybe address it in the end, where there will be a two minute summary or closing statement.
The KFHA also plans forums in the following weeks for candidates to the Miami-Dade County Commission (July 23) and to the Florida House (July 25). Hopefully, all the viable candidates will be there for that.

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So, Donna Shalala wants to be a congresswoman all of a sudden. Why? Because she’s “angry” at Donald Trump?
Aren’t we all? Most of us are not just angry but enraged at the current administration’s fear mongering, lies and conflicts of interest — just for starters. But if being angry makes you qualified for public office, well, then Trump has a lot more going for him than we thought.
The former president at the University of Miami may be angry now, but where has she been? She sounds like an opportunist taking advantage of the Trump rage fueling the blue wave across the nation. She also said at her announcement that she was disturbed at the lack of action after the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High last month. That’s opportunism for ya.
So why are some already giving her the congressional win in District 27, where there is a slew of qualified and good candidates already? Because they don’t live here. Ladra does. And let me tell you, the people of CD 27 are not falling for that internal poll she paid someone on her campaign team for. Have you seen the comments on social media?
Related: And then there were 16 candidates in the CD27 race to replace Ileana
Shalala’s announcement that she was going to, after all, run for Congress after thinking about it for a month came complete with a poll from Bendixen Amandi that shows her as the front runner in a Democratic primary against six other candidates. I call BS! First, because it is a paid campaign poll and like all paid internal polls is suspect. And also because we haven’t seen poll details, particularly the questions that were asked. Ladra suspects it was a push poll where the caller “tested” positive messages on Shalala until they got their desired results. There is just no way that she has a 32-point lead ahead of Jose Javier Rodriguez, who just spent close to $5 million in an overlap district to take the senator’s seat against Republican Miguel Diaz de la Portilla. They overshot.
And also, and this might be the most important, because the voters here can tell an opportunist when we see one. Like her saying she is running because she is angry at Trump. She is actually saying that because her poll showed 78% of the Democrat voters have a unfavorable view of the president (only?).
But when Donna has had an opportunity to actually do something for her community, she failed time and again. Shalala is a smooth talker and has pretty paper credentials topped by a recent stint at the Clinton Foundation, but she also has a ton of baggage that Dems will find particularly heavy:

She was serving as Health and Human Services secretary under Bill Clinton in 1996 when Congress passed a law banning the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from studying gun violence. Why is she hot on the gun issue now? Opportunism.
She parlayed that position into a gig on UnitedHealth’s board of trustees, where she ended up with tons of stock she sold in 2005 for more than $5 million. Now Shalala will have to convince Democrat voters that she will work for Medicare for all instead of the for-profit insurance industry that she used to work for and made so much money from. Opportunism. And hypocrisy.
For almost 10 years, she served as on the board of Lennar Homes, a major builder of crappy, cookie cutter homes credited with helping to create the housing and mortgage crisis in South Florida. Shalala only left after one of the company’s directors became a UM board member — only to join the board again two years after she left the school. Opportunism.
As president of the University of Miami, she twice fought efforts by the cleaning staff and food service staff to unionize and make a decent living wage, protesting what many called “poverty pay.” Shalala was called an “enemy of the working poor” by a campus chaplain. The labor dispute gained national attention when professors and department academics began a hunger strike to support the workers. Meanwhile, she lived in a mansion in Cocoplum and, later, a nice condo on Edgwater Drive in Coral Gables she bought for $1.4 million in 2014. Oh, she also has a little place on South Beach she bought for $275,000 in 2013. That’s just hypocrisy.
Then there’s that picture circulating of a giddy Donna taking a $50,000 check from booster Nevin Shapiro, who was later charged with securities fraud in a $900 million Ponzi scheme and showered UM players with gifts that led to an NCAA investigation.
As UM president, she also sold us out when she secretly sold environmentally sensitive and endangered Pine Rocklands property that the university owned in South Dade to be paved over for a Walmart-anchored shopping strip. Opportunism.

She’s already coming under fire for that on Facebook, as you can see from the meme below.
And Donna is coming into this race a little late because she had to figure out the “mechanisms of a campaign” first, which she said means she had to gauge support. Sounds like she had to get all her ducks in a row. Sounds like she would only run after all the financial commitments (promised contributions) were made, but not if they weren’t. Opportunism.
Seriously, maybe Shalala should run as a Republican.
Either way, though, we don’t need more opportunists (or hypocrites) in Washington. There are plenty already there.

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We are going to need a  couple of clown cars this summer for the debates in both primaries for Congressional District 27.
Add Spanish language journalist Maria Elena Salazar (Republican) and Donna Shalala (Democrat) to the other 15 candidates from both parties that have made known their intentions to run for the seat vacated by the retirement of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who has understandably grown tired of having to defend her party.
Both women announced their candidacy in recent days, adding to an already interesting mix that includes another journalist, two state legislators, two city commissioners from two different cities, a former city commissioner, a county commissioner, an alien abduction survivor, a Latin Grammy winner and a former federal judge.
Here, let’s list them alphabetically so nobody gets offended. Everybody’s website is also linked (only one couldn’t be found):

Former Miami Commissioner Marvin Dunn
Former federal Judge Mary Barzee Flores 
Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez 
Award-winning journalist and community activist Matt Haggman
Non profit VP and UM academic advisor Michael Hepburn
Mark Anthony Person (couldn’t find anything on him)
State Rep. David Richardson
State Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez
Miami Commissioner Ken Russell

The Republican half of the ballot is almost as long and — save for the one candidate who was abducted by aliens and the daughter of a Cuban American musical idol — not as exciting and, so far, pretty much a done deal:

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