Candidates Taking Notice of Red Shirts at Florida Events

The 2008 presidential election is spotlighting Florida again, a high-profile political battleground state for many years. Already, presidential hopefuls are flocking to the Sunshine State to campaign for votes. Democratic candidates converged in Miami Sept. 9 for the Univision debate, while the Republican candidates Mitt Romney, Rudy Guilani and Fred Thompson all have made stops.

And everywhere the candidates go, they find Divided We Fail's Champions for Change in their red shirts.

At Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign stop Sept. 10 in Boca Raton, Sen. Clinton responded to Champion Fred Carlisle's question on health and financial security by praising Divided We Fail for its "important work for our country," pledged to ensure Social Security solvency, improve access to affordable, quality health care, and underscored the need to build a "big political coalition to withstand the political pressures" of powerful industries opposed to change.

At Romney's event in Orange Park, volunteer Bill Ternent was able to ask a question about lifetime financial security. Ternent's question also aired on that night's local Fox nightly news. "Romney knew who Bill was with once he saw his red shirt," said Carmel Perez Snyder, communications coordinator for AARP.

Even when Champions aren't able to catch the candidate's eye for a question, they're still winning visibility for Divided We Fail. At a Romney campaign event at the sprawling Villages retirement community north of Orlando, a tropical storm didn't allow much question-and-answer time. But 30-40 Champions caught the attention of a national NBC correspondent who had the task of following Romney around the state.

"He came up to us because he recognized us from the previous day," Perez Snyder said. "He was surprised that we had this kind of commitment."

In Jacksonville, former Sen. Thompson spoke to a crowd that included 10 Champions in their red shirts. They didn't get a question to Thompson but made such a visible presence that three local television reporters sought out the group's spokesperson for interviews. In all, 50 different Champions met Thompson in 6 different Florida cities.

"With the primary elections approaching more candidates will have to make Florida a priority," said AARP Florida State Director Lori Parham. "With hundreds of volunteer Champions for Change trained and ready, we're confident we'll be able to hold candidates accountable."

See Also:

• Election Issue Surveys
• AARP Florida Wants You to Become a Volunteer Advocate