Divided We Fail Staff and Volunteers Stand Up and Declare Themselves

With the Florida Presidential primary approaching, "all hands on deck" turned into the motto as AARP Florida staff and volunteers prepared for another Divided We Fail push before the January 29 primary.

AARP Florida kicked off the push with a state capital news conference on results of the third AARP Elections Issues survey. The survey showed Divided We Fail issues of financial security had outpaced Iraq as the top issue on Florida voters' minds. Staff then challenged volunteers to "Stand up and Declare Themselves" at rallies in Kississimee and Ft. Lauderdale. And stand up they did.

"We want leaders to know that Floridians want a commitment to bipartisan action to fix our health care system and help people achieve lifetime financial security," Divided We Fail Florida Manager Jeff Johnson said.

Volunteers arrived at Osceola Heritage Park by the busload on the 23rd, the eve of the Republican debate at Florida Atlantic University, to hear from Johnson, AARP Florida State Director Lori Parham, DWF Volunteer Co-Chairs John Myrick and Lois Herron, and AARP Florida State President Judy Thames discuss the progress made since DWF began. The speakers also offered encouragement to not quit with their

"Just because the primary is over doesn't mean we have to stop. We have to continue to ask questions of candidates at both the state and national levels," Johnson said.

On the day before the primary, staff and volunteers come together at the Spirits Nightclub in Ft. Lauderdale. Jacksonville Field Coordinator Lindsey Ostoski and Parham were both interviewed by Heidi Pickman, a blogger for the Huffington Post.

"For the first time, our members are more concerned that their children and grand children will not be better off than they are," Parham said.

Divided We Fail leadership organizations SEIU, the Business Roundtable, and NFIB had representatives that also spoke to the crowds and talked about the reasons the issues of healthcare and lifetime financial security resonate with their members. "With candidates turning up the intensity on the final push for Florida, its time we turn up the heat as well. We have the chance to really make a difference on behalf of all Americans to push health care and financial security to the front of the nation's domestic agenda," concluded Johnson.