Oct 24, 2008 6:59 pm US/Eastern
Taddeo Still Fighting For 18th Dist. US House Seat
Faces Ileana Ros-Lehtinen during the general election
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Annette Taddeo is campaigning for the 18th Congressional District seat.
With the campaign for elected offices coming down to the wire, Democrat Annette Taddeo has sharpened her rhetoric in a bid to unseat Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for Florida's 18th Congressional District seat.
Taddeo is a first-time candidate and is up against Ros-Lehtinen, who is a 19-year congressional incumbent. She has blasted Ros-Lehtinen in person for the economic policies the government has utilized recently.
"We need to let you go, because you were for deregulation," Taddeo said in an October 8th debate.
Taddeo's commercials have been just as sharp in trying to link Ros-Lehtinen with George Bush.
"George Bush and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen are 2 peas in a pod. Ros-Lehtinen voted for tax breaks, big oil, big business, then took almost a million dollars for her campaign and Wall Street and special interests," a voiceover in one of Taddeo's commercial said.
Taddeo is a married mother of a 2-year-old girl. She has served on the Democratic National Committee's Business Council and run her own translation business. She believes much better health care insurance is needed for children and wants to end the Iraq conflict soon.
"I think it was a huge mistake for Ros-Lehtinen not to question Bush about our involvement with the war in Iraq and its failed policies," Taddeo said.
But her message has not reached everyone. She isn't a household name with constituents CBS4 spoke with. She has also been outspent and is a safe distance behind Ros-Lehtinen in a number of polls. Still, she remains optimistic for an upset and her campaign might get a boost if Barack Obama's campaign can provide coattails for fellow Democrats.
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