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Florida State Rep. Hillary Cassel becomes second Democrat to turn Republican since 2024 elections (www.cbsnews.com)

submitted 1 day ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Summary

Florida State Rep. Hillary Cassel, a Democrat representing Broward County, switched to the Republican Party due to concerns about the Democratic Party’s stance on Israel, progressive extremism, and disconnect from “everyday Floridians.”

Cassel’s move follows Tampa Rep. Susan Valdes’ similar defection earlier this month, bolstering Republicans’ supermajority to 87 members in Florida’s 120-seat House.

GOP leaders welcomed Cassel, while Democrats criticized her decision as a betrayal of voters and party principles.

Cassel, first elected in 2022, has been a key Democratic voice on property insurance issues.

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[-] mvirts@lemmy.world 30 points 22 hours ago

This should automatically result in impeachment. Representative democracy only works with good faith representatives.

[-] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 26 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

It should be fuckin criminal, and result in automatic and immediate new election.

Republicans are literally running fake democrats to steal power from democratic voters to further their fascistic agendas.

It is a dire assault on our democracy, with the same level of threat and danger, that Jan 6ers represented, but far more subtle and far less prone to triggering the massive outrage that it should.

[-] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. FL politics is an absolute shit show. I used to work with the DNC there, but stopped in 2019 due to seeing how corrupt and ineffective it is. While I was doing that, multiple state reps made mention that bills written by democrats don’t even get read.

One would literally need to be a Republican in FL in order to have your bills even acknowledged.

Let’s see how she votes before throwing stones. If a bunch of people register as Republican but vote for leftist policy, it’ll certainly be interesting.

Edit: read the article AFTER writing what I wrote above. Turns out she’s just a Zionist. Fuck her. Throw boulders.

[-] WaxiestSteam69@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago

"Progressive extremism"? Does anyone understand what progressivism is? What did she want done in Israel? Total elimination of the Palestinians?

[-] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago

I've heard that term several times from some bothsiderists that were making excuses to not vote, or vote Republican, claiming both sides are "so extreme" now.

I asked for examples of how Democrats are "too extreme". It usually boils down to trans or how people were protesting Israel's treatment of Gaza. Probing deeper on actual policy, it really came down to a bunch of nothing.

[-] WaxiestSteam69@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

I get the same type of answers. I really don't understand their positions on either topic.

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago

In America it's extreme to oppose the indiscriminate killing of civilians.

[-] WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

It’s almost as if it was planned all along!

[+] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social -32 points 1 day ago

"Vote Blue No Matter Who"

[-] Pheonixdown@lemm.ee 38 points 1 day ago

Is your suggestion that people vote in the cancelled election differently? Even if there was an R to vote for, should they have voted for the outright R instead of being tricked?

[+] theonlytruescotsman@sh.itjust.works -25 points 1 day ago

No, vote for people representing your own values, not based on team. Neither the dnc or gop have any workers interests or values. Vote blue no matter who is as fascist and doomed to fail as any other anti democratic nonsense.

[-] zbyte64@awful.systems 18 points 1 day ago

It's a false dichotomy between values and being strategic. Doing both requires flexibility of action.

[-] theonlytruescotsman@sh.itjust.works -4 points 1 day ago

Being strategic keeps electing far right conservatives to office. So you enjoy that and pretend it's normal for two dem presidential candidates in a row to have harsher policies on immigration than any Republican candidate in history.

[-] zbyte64@awful.systems 3 points 1 day ago

You're right that we should not simply go with the strategy devised by corporate consultants or their parties. Flexibility of action means that you don't stick with the same strategy election after election. It means your actions reflects your local context. It means that real strategy is different from what we've been told is "strategic".

[-] pivot_root@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The Democratic party campaigned on "we're not Trump" and tried to court moderate conservatives for their votes. And they lost engagement from progressive and left voters as a result.

I'm not sure if you're promoting the idea of voting for Democrats unconditionally or criticizing those who did, but Trump can't be elected again for 2028. There's no good reason to "vote blue no matter who" now, and it's important for progressive voters to put their vote (or at least poll opinion) where their mouths are and reject Democratic candidates and policies that shift the party to the right. Conservatism and Diet Conservatism™ is hardly a choice for anything other than choosing how long it will take before self-centered, protectionist legislation ruins the country.

[-] CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 9 points 1 day ago

None of the viable candidates on the ballot were people that completely represented my values in virtually any election I've voted in. Indeed, I suspect some of my values are a small enough minority of the country that they simply do not stand a chance at winning democratically without a major shift in the opinions of the general population.

"Vote blue no matter who" isn't really literal, in the the sense that I wouldn't vote for a republican if somehow one actually reflecting what I think was actually running. It's a heuristic, reflecting the fact that the dems have throughout my lifetime consistently been closer to my views than the Rs however slightly and really only useful in cases like obscure downballot races where I am unable to locate much information about what the candidates actually want but must still try to determine which is preferable without real information about them.

[-] droporain@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 1 day ago

Their values = "Lying and misrepresenting themselves to get elected by any means necessary. Then use corruption to enrich themselves."

[-] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Based on how you used the word in this post, I don’t think you know what fascist means.

Using the word “authoritarian,” would have been better, but then I would just think you’re dumb for failing to understand the purpose in telling people to vote against the publicly and openly fascist party.

[-] Pheonixdown@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

Nobody even got to vote for this person this election cycle, that's why your comment doesn't fit in this discussion. You just went off on an unrelated talking point. This is a result of different failures of the democratic process than what you're trying to start the discussion about.

[-] recreationalcatheter@lemm.ee -1 points 20 hours ago

You saved Palestine!

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 2 points 13 hours ago

That you think that's what going on is why the Democrats will never stop this country from descending into fascism.

this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2024

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