Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Jean Monestime isn’t the first Democrat that the local 
Party leaders have courted for a mayoral run.
First it was former Congressman Joe Garcia, who was beaten in 2014 by Carlos Curbelo after his chief of staff and longtime campaign manager was caught requesting mass amounts of absentee ballots without the voters’ permission.
Then it was Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who seems to have bigger political aspirations in mind. I mean, why else advertise your state of the city address in Central Florida? Levine is said to have originally wanted the county post before he ran for Beach mayor the first time. He was told that he couldn’t win it because his last name doesn’t end with a vowel or a Z.
Ladra heard they even knocked on the door of Dan Gelber, a former legislator with ten years in the Florida House and Senate.
They’ve been trying for several months now to get a Democrat in the race. At least since the poll by Bendixen Amandi Associates last summer that basically said Gimenez was ripe for the taking, just not by Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado, who is the only declared challenger so far. Monestime’s name came up back then as a possible alternative, but it seems from published reports that the pressure has piled on recently — probably because all the other guys said no and the clock is ticking.
The latest rumor published in The Herald over the weekend is that there were plans being made for an announcement this week — maybe as early as Monday.
Read related story: Poll results are nothing for Carlos Gimenez to brag about
But, just like any talk about making the mayoral race a partisan one, getting Monestime to run is not really about getting him elected. This is all about motivating the masses so they can vote for Hillary, people.
La Hillary doesn’t really have the people motivated and energized like Barack Obama did in 2008 and 2012. She ain’t gonna get the same numbers in Miami-Dade that he did. This does not bode well for local Democrats who were hoping Clinton fever would help turn the congressional seat in District 26 and Marco Rubio‘s senate seat blue. So, they think they can turn that motivation around the other way — trickling up.
In other words, maybe having Monestime on the ballot will help them get more Democrats out to vote because Hillary sure ain’t doing it.
Especially blacks, who came out in force for Obama but might not feel so, um, moved by this old white lady from Arkansas.
The Dems don’t care that Monestime, as popular and nice as he is, cannot carry the county. 
Heck, he ran twice for mayor in his hometown of North Miami, where he served as commissioner, and lost both times. He will not get one vote from Hialeah, the county’s second largest city, or the vast voter mecca that is West Dade and Kendall. He might peel some black votes away from Gimenez, but he won’t get the number of Anglo and Hispanic votes he would need. He might make it to a runoff — and I say might because the Dems don’t turn out that high in August — but no further.
And that’s all the Democrats want.
Read related story: Miami-Dade Commission should limit their speech, not ours
It would be a shame because we need Monestime on the dais. Can’t the Dems go back to Joe Garcia? Almost anyone is better than Carlos Gimenez. But if Monestime runs, he would have to resign from his position in the middle of this second term. I may not agree with his attempt to silence the public, but his attention on prosperity measures and resources for the county’s poorest and most needy residents is something that is lacking among his colleagues. He is a rare progressive mind at County Hall.
The Dems don’t care if they take that away from us because they are just using him for Hillary.
Let’s hope he doesn’t believe any of the smoke they are blowing up his pant legs. Let’s hope Monestime isn’t foolish enough to fall for any promises they might make him for a position on a Hillary cabinet.
After all, he still has two years on his term. And I think he has another term after that because he was elected the first time before voters passed term limits in 2012.
Then he can run for State Senator or for Congress after Federica Wilson decides to retire.
Jean Monestime’s mayoral bid would be for Hillary’s sake added by Ladra on
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