Nov 5, 2008 5:43 pm US/Eastern
McCain Strategists Assess Their Loss In Florida
McCain's Campaign May Have Been A Victim Of Circumstances
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Republican presidential candidate John McCain holds the hand of running mate Sarah Palin after hugging her as he concedes defeat during his election night rally at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa on November 4, 2008.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
As the McCain-Palin signs came down, the trash picked up, South Florida Republican leaders huddled behind closed doors, on the phone with state and national operatives, redefining strategy and the message.
One strategist, Juan-Carlos "JC" Planas, who served as lead attorney on John McCain's South Florida campaign told CBS4 I-Team Reporter Stephen Stock, "I think we need to redefine what it means to be a Republican. I think we need to go back to the days of Barry Goldwater."
Planas is also a state representative serving district 115. He's been in the Florida House of Representatives since 2002.
He sees positives for the Republican Party in Florida after Tuesday night's results. U.S. representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart all survived the stiffest election challenges of their political careers. With one exception, Planas said, the Republicans held on to their seats in the Florida state house and state senate.
Despite Democratic victories in the U.S. Congress nationwide; in Florida, Planas points out that the GOP still controls both houses in Tallahassee as well as the governor's office.
But Planas said the lessons for all Republicans from McCain's defeat are clear. "The one lesson we have to take is the fact that we did not reach out to the under 28 crowd," he said. "I think that's extremely important. I think that begins today."
Another lesson learned was apparent to anyone who read the polls which showed Obama's huge support among Hispanics.
In Florida,Obama outpaced McCain among Hispanic voters 57% to 42%. That support was an almost mirrored reversal of the support Pres. George W. Bush enjoyed among Hispanics in his race against John Kerry four years ago.
In other parts of the country, especially New Mexico, the swing in Hispanic support was even more pronounced.
These changes in Hispanic support were dramatic for Fabio Andrade, who served as co-chair of the Miami-Dade chapter of the McCain-Palin campaign.
They are numbers Andrade says the GOP ignores at its peril.
"There are some internal changes that we have to modify," Andrade said. "The agenda that we're anti-immigrant, that we are anti-Hispanic. We have to educate people."
While remaining skeptical, these Republicans say they'll support the new president even as they reserve the right to oppose the policies they disagree with.
Andrade said all Republicans he knows will support their president because it is their patriotic duty. "I think that in this country, we do that," he added. "In the beginning, they'll give him a chance."
Planas agreed that most Republicans would back the new president, to a point. "I think that like all Democratic presidents before him, Obama will do best by reaching towards the center," he added.
As the scene of McCain's former headquarters in South Florida made plain, for some Republicans, especially the right wing base, this defeat was a bitter one.
Many party officials who were available only 24 hours before suddenly either would not return phone calls nor talk when approached about what the defeat means for the future of the Republican Party.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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