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.
Donna Shalala scrambles for Hispanic votes, credibility added by Ladra on
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Oh come now blast from the past Gables Jack, and the Trump foundation? Small potatoes? Or the, legal tricks of leverage of other investors money against liability? That is big time. Sure its errr/// mostly legal but is what is going on now legal? Why won’t Bruni or the NYTs look into that instead of complaining about what happened in the past. Ask him, I did. Scrappy Ladra with 1/5 of those resources would be all over that. Of that I am sure
Shalala is the Clinton past, we deserve a real liberal in this district. And yet Richardson rarely left the safety of the beach to campaign in the mainland among the Coral Gables liberals nevermind the um, Latins. But these fla$hmobs are also of the Armando Gutierrez past.
Sad but a vote for any R equals a vote for Trump and the Clintons know that, what is how they play the game and always have since the DLC.
Donna Shalala left UM in late 2015 to jump to The Clinton Foundation which she abruptly left in March 2017. Shalala knows a sinking ship when she sees one. Shalala is pure Clinton pedigree and will certainly bring more accounting Houdini magic to Congress if she is elected. The Clinton Foundation is Planet Earh’s Largest unprosecuted criminal enterprise to have ever existed. Billions pilfered in the name of “charity.”
“Shalala is pure Clinton pedigree and will certainly bring more accounting Houdini magic to Congress if she is elected…”
I love how the conspiratorial internet GOP goons ascribe Bond-villain like superpowers to Dems they don’t like. So..how exactly is one (and a rookie one at that) of 435 members going to do that? Mind control?
” The Clinton Foundation is Planet Earh’s Largest unprosecuted criminal enterprise to have ever existed. Billions pilfered in the name of “charity.”
Lay off the Breitbart and The Donald subreddit, dude. Mind blowing how dumb you guys sound when you say stuff like this. Let’s review. GOP controls all three branches of government, the DOJ, has a stacked judiciary and now a Supreme Court. You would think if there was something “there” it would have been investigated to high heaven since they would have such a huge incentive to take down their ultimate boogeyman, the hated Clintons… yet… Crickets….
Whatever happened to “Lock Her Up” while we’re at it?…. She’s a child molesting murderer right? So…Hillary has those super powers too?
You are literal muppets. Mencken was right and the Right Wing propaganda machine works this to perfection.
Hi Ladra,
Thank you for taking the time to actually post a rebuttal. So here’s my response to you:
The links you posted are older than the ones I posted. If you would have written your original entry on September 27 instead of October 27, then you would have a point.
The error in your premise is that it is based on dated polling and is not reflecting the current state of the race. Nothing you posted in your rebuttal has disproved what I originally wrote, if anything it confirmed it.
Shalala has “woken up” so to speak, and she took that bad polling as a warning shot across the bow and began to campaign in earnest (albeit clumsily, I grant you) and the race is now reverting to the demographic fundamentals – i.e. Democratic majority and therefore, the Democrat in the lead.
As to your reasons for being anti-Shalala. OK, but unconvincing. These are not normal times, and unless you are an actual conservative, it is not a real justification outside of some personal animus. (Which of course is your right, but we all bear the consequences of such action)
So my question to you is: are you actually going to argue here that Salazar will not vote for the GOP agenda in any large measure? That she’s not going to end up being “bipartisan” like Ros-Lehtinen, yet still vote over 70% of the time with the GOP? That she is going to be elected then miraculously start voting with the Democrats? Highly unlikely.
Then if we followed the logical thread of your argument, are you then suggesting that because Shalala is not “Democrat enough” that she is somehow is going to start voting with the GOP?
This is all very curious logic, and again, when you follow the argument to its (absurd) conclusion, it seems that the purity test argument blinds many in the opposition to the bigger picture, which right now has to be party first, ideological hair splitting second.
The GOP is really good at this and rally around their candidates, warts and all, the Dems not so much – to catastrophic effect. What you all need to realize as non-GOP voters, is that your vote against the Trump opposition in this election, for whatever ideological reason, becomes a vote for Trump himself.
Again, while I cannot dissuade you of your reasons, unfortunately you have said nothing that would change my initial take that this is all just “cut off your nose to spite your face” posturing because the Dem voters did not choose your preferred candidate in the primary.
If you or anyone else reading this considers yourself any kind of anti-Trumper then we must consider our vote to put a check on the madness going on in DC.
If Trump were not the POTUS then I would definitely give you the benefit of the doubt, but he is and that’s the driving force for me.
As I said, these are not normal times, and unfortunately, I could care less how “pure Democratic” they are at this point, just that they are not GOP and will therefore reliably vote against Trump in the House.
If you want to revisit the “purity test argument” in 2020, fine by me. But in my book, a protest vote for the non-Dem in any race in this election = a vote for Trump, and that, to me, is unacceptable.
Respectfully,
Max (er, Juan…) 🙂
You must be clear that a vote for Joli benefits Shalala because those that vote for her it’s because the decision came down to either MVS or Shalala and Joli has as much of a chance of winning the election like I did winning the 1.6 billion dollar Mega Ball lottery. And I didn’t win or I’d be on a private jet now and writing this comment.
Shalala is a RepubliCON troll pretending to be a Democrat. I agree with Ladra she sold out SFL workers to big business, the environment by selling the Pine Rocklands for a Walmart thus ensuring its biota goes extinct, expanded the top secret medical testing torturing & murdering animals from mice to rats, cats, pigs, monkeys & more. She pretends to be an animal lover parading her fat ass down the HSGM’s runway from having adopted a dog for photo ops same as murdering mayor Gimenez shows up for same who didn’t fund the Pet’s Trust because he preferred continuing to kill companion animals vs. stop the killing at the source which is animal overpopulation when half a million constituents of every ethnicity, income level and district voted OVERWHELMINGLY TO FUND IT. She’s as arrogant and entitled as Gimenez who called us ‘stupid’ by saying ‘we didn’t know what we voted for.’ Putting her in Congress is shooting SFL in the foot. Know what and who you’re voting for SFL. Both women are RepubliCONs so if we’re going to be stuck with one might as well be one who’s at least truthful about herself vs. a proven liar.
I totally agree with you on everything you have just written, whoi says that a newly minted Democrat and a life long Republican can’t agree on some issues and respect each other on the ones that we differ on. We have proved them wrong on that lol.
Sam, she didn’t say the district is majority Cuban American she meant that Cuban Americans ate the largest hispanic group within that district. And as far as the old timer Cubans that still hate the Castro regime and anything that resembles it, they might be dying of old age but we, the children of that were brought up with the right moral compass and understand what they went through and know everything that was stolen from them by that vile and despicable government amd their followers will still carry their torch such as the Jewish people have against the Nazis, their disdain and hatred towards them will never die as long as they raise their children are well educated and informed of the atrocities. If you forgive or forget what that Cuban government did to our old country then shame on you and your parents for failing to educate you as to the evilness of them.
What a cool cat! Thank you Alfredo.
Why do people think that only our parents and grandparents dislike politicians who cozy up to dictators?
My parents fled Cuba and are both Republicans. I was born here and have been NPA all my life but went Dem this year so I could vote in the primary. My daughter, 18, registered for the first time this year as a Dem. NONE OF US will vote for Shalala. And for me and my daughter, only part of the reason is the stupid Cuba stuff. But yes, it is PART of the reason.
Perhaps my “comunista” radar or button when it comes to voting may not be as keen or as useful as my parents’, but it is there. And it does work. And it will impact the way I vote, probably for the rest of my life.
I’m not an extremist. I have traveled to Cuba and I do believe there has to be something done to normalize relations. But not the way that Obama did by just giving the Cuban government everything and demanding nothing in return.
Love, Ladra
Wow! I agree almost totally with Max. What bothered me most was the old time Cuba stuff. That chit don’t fly no more, except in a diminished group that is dying of. Then we have the misconception about the district. It ain’t majority Cuban anymore.
I like Keisten too. But, her gaffes show her inexperience. I thought that David Richarson was the best candidate with his forensic experience, progressive stances and his very effective experience in the Florida Legislature.
Ladra, aun este article, todavia te quiero. Pero Suelta la obsesión con Carlos Giménez. I believe you have already destroyed him and, besides, he is already term-limited.
Sam, two things:
(1) KRG’s gaffes show she is human and says what she thinks, and not a practiced, polished buzzword spewing robot with rehearsed speeches that have been approved by their advisers, like most politicians.
(2) It’s not an obsession. It’s an obligation because I am the only one who knows that Carlos Gimenez is up to no good. He still has two years to do a lot of damage and THEN he’s going to do whatever he can to get his buddy Bovo elected so his kids can keep their snouts in the taxpayer trough. Plus, you don’t think he’s going to run for something else? He’s only in his 60s and he only has 3 pensions! Surely he will want more.
You’re welcome.
Love, Ladra
As the late Guillermo Alvarez Guedes whould say “Quien es este ComeMierda Max????”
Uno que sabe mucho mas que Ud., por cierto.
Curioso que lo único que supiste hacer fue insultar. Por lo menos Ladra trato de presentar argumentos – algo que supongo que te quedaría demasiado grande. Te espero campeón. A ver si te atreves.
Donna is so clueless that recently I was having Cafe with a group of friends at CasaCuba wesring my Trump MAGA CAP and she came to our table asking us to vote for, when I told her we were all Republicans and therefore there was zero chance we’d votr for her she said her family is also Republican to which I responded then they should run instead of you.
Our community cannot afford a crooked Hillary friend like Shalala in congress !!! #NoToSocialists
(Shakes head)…its posts like these that damage your credibility, because it shows that a) you did no research (perhaps intentionally because it kills your main point, as I will proceed to do now); and b) you reveal your “hack”-ish side with this insipid attack post that betrays you are still very salty that Shalala beat your girl Kristen Rosen-Gonzalez (who I will refer to as KRG for simplicity’s sake).
So to your first point: “KRG was the only one who could beat Salazar” ..that is laughably untrue.
Are you referring to the same KRG that almost finished fourth in the Dem primary (if not for less than 300 votes) despite having the visibility of being a Beach commissioner with an affinity for self-promotion and soundbites? I think your allegiance to KRG is clouding your judgment and your allusion to her being suitable because “both are young attractive women who speak Spanish..” is both ridiculous and insulting.
In any case, the whole “pandering to Hispanics” (oh the irony given that previous comment I quoted) and “metiendo la pata with the Cubans” are non-starters.
If anything, good for Shalala “poniendose las pilas” and showing up to the Univision debate and reaching out to the non-Cuban Hispanic community- they are here and they already outnumber the Cubans. And I say this as a voting middle aged Cuban-American whose parents were first generation Cuban exiles.
And, um…”Guantanamera” cringe aside, Santos is Cuban, and a % of his audience will also be young and Cuban (along with all the other nationalities)…and who do you think they’ll be voting for? (assuming they show up of course..)
The whole walking around eggshells with the Cuba/Castro thing is already played out and outside of the small group of old-line Cubans, most (and I include a lot of the younger Cubans don’t see it as an issue with their candidates). Castro is dead, and since I live in Miami, and have never set foot in Cuba, Trump is the evil directly affecting me.
Therefore, Shalala could say “I F’IN LOVE Castro and would have his babies” and I’d still vote for her. Even my mom, who is in her late seventies and came in that first wave of Cubans in 1960 is voting Shalala. Why? One less vote for the Trumptards in Congress.
Anyway, the Cuban-Americans who vote in appreciable numbers in FL-27 (i.e. the abuelos like my mom) were never going to vote for Shalala in any noticeable % and unfortunately for your argument they do not have the sheer numbers to swing the district.
Therefore, the whole “protest” when Pelosi came to town is what it has always been, a show for the cameras and an embarrassing and impotent “pataleta” by a small group of those unhinged “intransigentes” who get smaller and smaller with every passing election and can’t seem to wrap their heads around their own massive hypocrisy (ahem, Putin’s not bad now “ahora que es amigo de Tromp”) to realize that the world does not revolve (and generally does not care about) Cuba, and (who thankfully) become less and less of a factor as time goes on.
The fact that the NY Times ran a poll at the same time the incident you are referencing to occurred and Shalala is still ahead by more than the margin of error seems to prove the point.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/elections-poll-fl27-3.html
Now on to point two: You said “the most recent polls show head-to-head with or ahead of Shalala”
This is blatantly false and inexcusably sloppy for a journalist. Your entry was written on October 27, and serves to prove the point that you have a massive anti-Shalala agenda.
What next, you’re going to tell everyone who isn’t already a Republican in FL-27 to vote Salazar? Because muh KRG feelz!!! Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face – because you haven’t gotten over the fact that KRG was not quite ready for the big time?
So… out of curiosity what, exactly is this poll you are referring to? That partisan hack McLaughlin poll (rated “C-” by 538 for predictive accuracy)?
So..as of today (10/27) Fivethirtyeight.com is giving Shalala 79-81% odds of taking the race:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/florida/27/#deluxe
Larry Sabato has FL-27 as “Lean Dem”
http://crystalball.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2018-house/
and to add insult to injury, Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report moved the FL-27 race from “Republican Toss-Up” to “Lean Democrat” on October 23.
https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/house/house-overview/ten-rating-changes-democrats-enthusiasm-edge-narrows-and-fundraising
So….how,exactly, are they going to “pasarle la cuenta” ?
People are sick of the Trumptard bullshit and these minor tone-deaf gaffes by Shalala are not enough to justify a vote for the shitshow we are currently suffering through.
I have ZERO problems with Shalala holding the seat for two years – and it could be hoped that KRG can get her shit together and run a proper campaign in 2020 and primary Shalala. I have no problems with KRG and if she is ever the Dem candidate in a general election for FL-27, I would have no problems giving her my vote.
But right now, you should be the first one dropping the bullshit purity tests and doing everything you can from your small bully pulpit to help Shalala win that seat.
For shame, Ladra. You are better than this.
Juan, er, I mean Max, I do love how you write and all the citing. But I can cite, too. And for every story or poll that “proves” your position, I got one for mine.
Democrats fear Shalala campaign is in ‘sleep mode’ while challenger surges
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/19/florida-2018-elections-miami-27th-828642
For Democrats, Flipping a Miami Congressional Seat Is Harder Than They Thought
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/us/donna-shalala-florida-congress.html
New poll shows Democrat Shalala trailing GOP opponent in a district Trump lost badly
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article219862165.html
Your fevered pitch for Donna just because she is a Democrat falls on deaf ears because she is as much a Democrat as Salazar is Republican, which is not much. Her history at UM with labor, with the ponzi scheme, with the sale of environmentally sensitive land, cannot be forgotten.
I seriously dislike Trump and I have no love for Salazar, but at least she does not have a history of selling this community out. I still don’t know how I am going to vote. It’s either for Salazar or Mayra Joli. Donna Shalala is a fake, a hypocrite and if there is something I like less than Republicans these days, it’s hypocrites.
And this has nothing to do with KRG “feels”. I would have voted for Richardson if he had been the nominee. Shit, I would have voted for Matt Haggman or the other guy. I simply do not think that Shalala is a good representative for us.
But I did want to remind folks that I said Kristen could beat Salazar and I stand by it because of the demographics of the district, because of her knowledge and history in the district, because she is bilingual, she is a teacher and knows the day to day struggles of voters, because she has already proven to be a voice for the people in Miami Beach (hotel workers and preservationists, not the establishment like Donna is the voice for) and because it would have avoided the optics of a young, vibrant woman at the beach vs an old monolingual turtle trying to connect with young people and woefully failing.
KRG would have won this race hands down. There wouldn’t be stories about Democrats losing momentum with a candidate they just can’t back. Shalala, not so sure. Let’s talk again in 10 days.
Love, Ladra
…Ms. Salazar was a single woman, in high North American journalism circles, when she chanced on the asignment with, as they say here, Dr. Castro. He was known to have some degree of sex-appeal, with his six foot- three frame, and mountain guerilla physical training.