Florida Republican Party looking more like old, dysfunctional Democrats

A few recent Florida political developments:

• 1,740 people contributed to the Florida Democratic Party in the three months that ended June 30, compared to 224 to the Florida GOP. It's the first time since 1996 that Democrats outraised Republicans in that fundraising period.

• The latest voter registration statistics show that Democrats accounted for 39 percent of the new voter registrations in Florida since the last election, while Republicans accounted for 25 percent.

• Mini rebellions against the state Republican leadership are popping up in local parties across the state. For months, vocal party activists have bashed state Republican Party chairman Jim Greer over spending, over his effort to muscle Marco Rubio out of the Republican Senate primary, and for allegedly "purging" conservative activists and Ron Paul acolytes from local parties. A "Recall Jim Greer" group recently formed on Facebook.

What's going on with the long-mighty Florida GOP? Today's Florida Republican Party looks more and more like yesterday's dysfunctional Florida Democratic Party.

To be sure, Gov. Charlie Crist just raised a stunning $4.3 million for his Senate campaign, which few expect him to lose. Attorney General Bill McCollum leads slightly in most early polls for governor, and Democrats can't even find a candidate to take on Republican Senate President Jeff Atwater for chief financial officer.

It's ludicrous to forecast the demise of Republican dominance in Florida, and the Republicans' overwhelming control of the Legislature certainly looks safe. But the trouble signs are nonetheless striking, and they appear at a time when the Florida Democrats are, for a change, looking disciplined and focused. Organizing for America, Barack Obama's grass roots machine, already is hiring staffers, preparing to open Florida offices and mobilizing hundreds of volunteers to push Obama's agenda.

Greer said the party is strong, the fissures over his leadership are overstated and an aggressive push to reach young and minority voters is bearing fruit. Still, Greer acknowledged the fight between conservatives and moderates cannot continue.

"You've got an incumbent president and a Republican Party that is self-evaluating itself right now, but we'd better get through that evaluation quick … or we will not be able to get ourselves moving in the right direction quickly enough to respond to the Democrats and the (Obama) machine," he said.

It's a challenge for Republicans nationwide.

As J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich, a longtime Republican strategist in Tallahassee, put it: "In the old days I used to say we won because even if someone did not know either of the candidates, they thought they knew what they were voting for when they punched R. I'm not sure that's true anymore."

Greer became chairman just as the national party began its slide with the 2006 elections. Despite reaching out to local Republican Parties more than any party leader did under Jeb Bush, he has been the most controversial Florida chairman in decades.

Greer predicted the GOP will win the open races for governor and U.S. Senate and maintain a majority in the state Cabinet.

He could be right. But the Florida Republican Party looks wobblier today than it has in a generation.

Adam C. Smith can be reached at asmith@sptimes.com