Florida U.S. Senate Democratic race Candidate Pam Keith is coming out of the shadows to fight for your vote
By K.L. Brown
Sepcial to the Outlook
The Democratic U.S. Senate race will have more than just two candidates on the ballot this Aug. 30. Coming out of the shadows to win your vote is Pam Keith. You may hear more about her opponents Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson who have more money and name recognition than Keith has, but she is making strides in making her candidacy known to Floridians.
Keith is rolling up her sleeves and driving all over Florida to spread the good news that she has a platform to energize voters to vote for her as the candidate of choice based on her ideals and not the typical political money machine choice. She believes that the Democratic Party needs to “recapture its soul and become more morally sound to benefit not just a few but everyone!” In a rousing speech at the end of the year state party convention held at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Convention Center in Orlando, to a room full of Democrats, Keith told the party affiliates “We are a party that has always stood in the gap for those who have been disenfranchised, marginalized and discriminated against. And now is the time to stand up for them!”
She listens to the frustrated voters who are not necessarily voting along party lines in making their decisions for who they want to elect. It is a mindset that is echoing in political arenas on all levels throughout the state and nation, where new candidates are making an appeal to fed-up Americans not voting for politics as usual.
This is where Keith may have an edge on her opponents with the polls showing her presently with 11 percent support at the end of last month, and available support to win over 31 percent of the undecided and 15 percent other. In her contact with voters she says she hears their concerns and desires of “wanting to have more money in their pockets by supporting the $15 minimum wage increase and having a concern for our national security.” In which she stated she agrees with both of the concerns and desires expressed by those voters. Her platform includes many other issues with these having priority: Veteran Affairs in how Vets are treated upon returning home due to the bureaucracy of the Veterans Administration (VA) system in processing them for benefits; Criminal Justice Reform for the over incarceration in our prisons of crimes that shouldn’t mandate criminal convictions which is draining our tax dollars and creating the increase in the privatization of our prison system; and medication cost for our elderly. These issues are concerns not only for Florida residents, but resonates nationally also.
Keith is an attorney by profession and has gotten a personal glimpse of our military operations up close on land, in the air and at sea while stationed in the Persian Gulf as an officer-in-charge of the legal services office while U.S. Armed Forces maintained the no-fly zones over Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s reign. She is very vocal about her beliefs on other issues also, such as unemployment and securing our borders in how we process and keep track of those entering our country. Has this become the prototype of topics for all new candidates to pander to the disenfranchised voters? Politics have become unpredictable regardless of what polls initially indicate, so you can’t count a candidate out of a race due to not having as much name ID recognition as their opponents. Democratic Senate Candidate Keith is not even mentioned as a candidate in the race by her opponents or most general market media. It is not a valid dismissal of her candidacy before the race is a done deal. At least that is the fight Democratic Senate Candidate Keith is putting forth in getting her name in the spotlight for more recognition to get the votes to finish the race as a winner! If given the opportunity to represent our state she replied “No candidate can be for one community, you cover the boundaries of north, south, east and west.” As one who has advocated for written policies that has served many of our minority communities, she believes the power lies within the people she will serve with her being a tool of change in representing them in the resolution. Her campaign mission statement states: “To represent the millions of Floridians who consider themselves socially liberal and fiscally responsible. To represent the interest of Florida and those who live here…..and to propose real solutions to the problems that face the Nation.”
Democratic Candidate Keith is the daughter of an U.S. Foreign Service Officer and grew up in places like Morocco, then Syria, California, Kentucky and Brazil. She was born in Turkey and speaks three languages fluently – English, French and Portuguese. Obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California at Davis, and went on to attend Boston College for a law degree while she also applied to the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and was accepted. She became a labor attorney after leaving the Navy and practiced at nationally known law firms. She moved to Florida in 2011, and to South Florida less than a year ago. She is not married and doesn’t have children. She lost her mother but is still supported by her father and brother. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority.
Her motivation to get up and run this race was prompted by a seed that was planted in a thought that flourished into her taking action and following the spiritual direction she felt she received to be a servant of the people. So she professes, the incentive wasn’t that she would become Florida’s first Black female U.S. senator! She is often unscripted in her impromptu or scheduled speeches, which has garnered her favorable credence and like-ability of potential voters and supporters that hear her message. Sort of reminds you of an unknown candidate on the national scene eight years ago that was labeled in the same manner as an underdog and won the Presidency! Democratic Candidate Keith will keep revealing her-self to more and more voters until the race is won by the choice of the voters and not the political strategist, liberal progressive base or Democratic establishment that has told her she is not a favorable pick to win! Ms. Keith says, “In running this race it has made me more humble, spiritual and patriotic. I have become a better listener in hearing the stories of people lives of survival and their desperate cry for a change in the establishment to help them live better lives. Most importantly from this experience is that I want voters to know I am a choice for that change when they vote in August.
For more information contact: Pam Keith for Senate 2016, 1951 NW Seventh Ave, Ste. 160/202, Miami, Fl. 33136, (561) 291-4675, info@pamkeithforsenate2016.com.
