From Yellow Dog Democrats to Red State Republicans University Press of Florida Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee New College of Florida, Sarasota University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola This page intentionally left blank From Yellow Dog Democrats to Red State Republicans Florida and Its Politics since 1940 second edition David R. Colburn University Press of Florida Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota Copyright 2007 by David R. Colburn New material copyright 2013 by David R. Colburn All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America. This book is printed on recycled, acid-free paper. This book may be available in an electronic edition. 18 17 16 15 14 13 6 5 4 3 2 1 A record of cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-0-8130-4485-9 University Press of Florida 15 Northwest 15th Street Gainesville, FL 32611-2079 http://www.upf.com To Claire, Caroline, James, Alison, Benjamin, Kate, and MacLean for their faith in us. May we measure up to it. This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction / 1 1. From Darkness to Sunshine: World War II, Race, and the Emergence of Modern Florida / 13 2. Moral, Simple Justice and the Emergence of Fault Lines in the Democratic Hegemony / 43 3. Reubin Askew, Lawton Chiles, and the Reinvention of the Democratic Party / 77 4. An Era of Political Transition / 107 5. Migration of the Middle Class, the Search for Community, and the Emerging Hispanic Presence / 125 6. Holding Back the Republican Tide, but for How Long? / 147 7. From Blue to Red: The Era of Jeb Bush and Republican Hegemony / 170 8. The Presidential Election of 2000: What Happened in Florida? / 190 9. The Politics of the Twenty-First Century / 214 Acknowledgments / 247 Notes / 251 Bibliography / 267 Index / 279 This page intentionally left blank Introduction On election night in 2000, CBS television news anchor Dan Rather sounded lyrical as he announced, “Florida is the whole deal, the real deal, a big deal.”1 In this remarkably close presidential election, Florida stood at its epicenter; only hours earlier, the state’s diverse population of seniors, immigrants, and migrants had dutifully gone to the polls and cast ballots that would determine the next president of the United States. Almost lost in the gnashing of teeth about the election outcome was Florida’s new national prominence, which had resulted from its stunning population growth and diversity in the previous thirty years. Floridians may have made the presidential election of 2000 more un- usual than it needed to be, but no one could dismiss the state’s remark- able ascendancy to a position of leadership among the states and to its place as a microcosm of the nation in the twenty-first century. 1