title:  Judge Serves A Crushing Blow To The Florida GOP That Could Change The State’s Color
text: A Leon Circuit Judge in Florida has adopted a map of Florida Senate districts that is a huge win for voter s rights groups and a crushing blow to one of the most heinously corrupt political systems in the country. Florida registered Democrats outnumber Republicans. The state has a history of pulling off wins for Democrats like Barack Obama and Al Gore. The latter is proof of what the state is also famous for.Florida has a sad history of voter suppression. College students and new residents turned away because they either kept their home state license or hadn t switched it yet. It was OK to register, sorry, you just can t vote. Long lines and refusals are commonplace, as are difficult to read ballots. then there were the chads. Hundreds of thousands of votes tossed aside because of hanging chads.So why is the redistricting of Florida s Senate so important? it gives the Democrats a shot at a one-seat majority. Taking half of the legislative power in the state is the first step to maintaining Florida as a solidly purple state. Purple states tend to turn blue in presidential election years, and with a little bit of down-ballot voting, a Democrat could see the Governor s mansion.Florida s house districts were recently redrawn as well, but the more than 20 seat supermajority Republicans hold is from the rural districts where the south is still the south and everyone else be damned. Still, a purple Florida could lead to exciting advances in both the US House and Senate. Marco Rubio has shown what his service to his country means by abandoning his post. He doesn t want to play senator anymore, he wants to play president.That s the kind of quality  red  thinking we ve seen from Florida since the 1990s. We get to sit and listen to Jeb! brag about how great the Florida economy was when he was governor, never once mentioning that it was built on a bubble of real estate and construction. It was called a  boom.  Every tradesman known to man went into business for himself and made three phone calls, scheduled 6 months at a time of whatever it was they did and went to work.When the bubble exploded and the bottom fell out, thanks to further deregulation by brother George among other things, Florida was left in shambles; the housing market decimated. Banks went into mass foreclosure mode on such a scale that it will never truly be settled. Neighborhoods were abandoned as tradesmen lost their livelihoods almost overnight.This is the Republican plan in action because Florida is so strict with their building licenses and the costs with required insurances went so high that those enterprising tradesmen ended up working for big companies or leaving the state altogether when things started turning around. Many who lost everything found themselves working for half or less of what they were making before the crash.Florida deserves a break. Far too much idiocy comes from Florida conservatives. Or have we forgotten: George Zimmerman. Florida has a shot at redemption if those people who are registered Democrats get out and vote blue all the way down the ticket.Featured image via redstate.com 