Can you believe it: A newer, friendlier Diaz-Balart?
Al’s
Loupe Read Spanish Version
Can
you believe it: A newer, friendlier Diaz-Balart?
By
Alvaro F. Fernandez
alfernandez@the-beach.net
There’s
a new Lincoln Diaz-Balart making the rounds in South Florida. He’s
been seen acting friendly. I’ve been told that, sure, he’s been
twisting arms on the campaign trail, but the difference is that he’s
been doing it with a smile on his face.
Are
we witnessing the dawn of a newer and friendlier version of Lincoln
Diaz-Balart? Or is this the same old model running for his
(political) life? You be the judge.
A
person I know called me late last week. He is influential in Miami
and wields great influence in the community. He has access to
thousands of people who vote.
From
what my acquaintance tells me, there was big republican to-do in
Miami a couple of Fridays ago. He was there and so was Lincoln. Not
too long after arriving he was cornered by Diaz-Balart who was
extremely friendly. At least at the beginning of the conversation.
What surprised my friend, though, was not Lincoln’s demeanor. He’s
known Lincoln since the early 1980s. They have been in the same
places many times. Never had Lincoln Diaz-Balart even uttered a word
to him other than a quick looking-the-other-way hello. On this
specific night less than two weeks ago, Lincoln invested more than
half an hour on the man. My acquaintance felt special.
To
make a half-hour story short, after extreme lobbying and much arm
twisting, he told the South Florida congressman that he was backing
his opponent, Raul Martinez, in the November race for District 21.
Afterwards, from what people present have mentioned, Lincoln went
back to looking like he always does — for those who’ve never seen
the contorted-faced Diaz-Balart, check out this week’s Little
Sergeant caricature. There seems to be a similitude.
This
situation seems to be a recurring theme in Lincoln’s 2008
reelection bid against the popular Martinez.
Then
Saturday’s Miami Herald contained a brief note, on page 3B, titled
“S. Florida congressman gives tax-return help.” It reported that
Lincoln hosted a tax fair at the Southwest Regional Library in
Pembroke Pines. I bring it up because I remembered 2004. Frank
Gonzalez ran against Lincoln then with very, very little money (about
$15,000 total) and managed a respectable 41% of the vote. I bring up
Frank because one of his many gripes with the Diaz-Balart campaign
was that the incumbent never showed any interest in his constituency
in Broward County. Pembroke Pines, by the way, is in Broward.
Four
years ago, Gonzalez showed me copies of his opponent’s campaign
paperwork, an attempt to qualify by acquiring 1% of signatures of
registered voters in the 21st
district. Lincoln did not acquire the required number and ended up
paying the qualifying fee — around $10,000. Gonzalez collected the
signatures, on street corners and grocery stores, and spent equal
time in the many neighborhoods contained within the district.
Gonzalez
pointed out, back then, that the Diaz-Balart signatures were all from
Miami-Dade, and the letter sent seeking signatures (Lincoln refused
to go out, meet and shake constituent’s hands, and even sweat a
little) from registered voters had only been sent in Spanish.
It
is why I found the Herald note so interesting. Again, there seems to
be a new Lincoln who even visits Broward, speaks English to
constituents, and helps out with their tax returns.
But
there’s more. About a week ago I saw a picture of Lincoln
Diaz-Balart, with other Miami politicians around him, pretending to
dig dirt with a spade. They were breaking ground on a new housing
project for low-income elderly from his district. This was a first:
Diaz-Balart with a shovel in his hands… I understand he had to soak
them in warm, salted water afterwards. He developed blisters from
just picking up the shovel for a photo opportunity. This past Sunday,
The Herald ran an article where Lincoln was taking credit for
bringing a senior housing complex to West Dade (I believe the same
one that resulted in the photo op) financed by county tax dollars.
The
moral of this story: In 15 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Lincoln
Diaz-Balart has never spent a day worrying about his constituency. He
has lied to a mostly elderly Cuban constituency about “solutions to
the Cuba problem” which never amount to a hill of beans, of course.
But hoisted by corrupt and manipulative media outlets in Miami, often
receiving money from official and congressionally approved sources,
Diaz-Balart has managed to fool the people with enough spin to gain
reelection over and over again. He is, by definition, a self-serving
politician.
Frank
Gonzalez, a well-intentioned, honest man who lacked the campaign
dollars to pick-up an additional 10 percent of the 2004 voters, put a
chink in the Diaz-Balart armor. He demonstrated Lincoln was
vulnerable.
Now
along comes Raul Martinez, a former and very popular mayor of the
City of Hialeah. And in his first quarter of fundraising manages to
out-raise the incumbent and picks up the second largest amount of
political dough of any Democratic Party candidate in the country.
This race is suddenly being watched by folks everywhere. To say the
least, Lincoln is worried.
So
worried, in fact, he appears to have turned himself into another
person, at least according to some who’ve seen him work his
district for the first time in 15 years.
