Miami Transformed. Manny Diaz
full-time made it possible to pay for my studies and support my family. In fact, I never had to borrow money to finance any portion of my undergraduate education. Regrettably, while many state governments profess to lower taxes, they are continually raising fees, including college tuition. Tax and budgeting decisions are supposed to reflect a society’s priorities. Obviously, these legislators do not place a high priority on postsecondary education and the future of our state. I am shocked by the costs of a college education today, and wonder whether it would have been possible for me to achieve what I did under these circumstances.
In juggling full-time work with a full-time school schedule, I was employed in a hodgepodge of jobs. I served as executive director of the Spanish Speaking Democratic Caucus. I served as a youth counselor and soccer coach for Hebraica (a social group of Cuban Jews); I had a field inventory route for the National Enquirer; I cleaned a bingo parlor between 4:00 and 7:00 A.M. (my first class started at 8:00 A.M.); I worked as an administrator of a surgical center at a local HMO; I was a private tutor in math and English for junior high and high school students; I served as campaign coordinator and chairman for various local and state races; and I would continue to do weekend and summer work at the auto parts factory where my parents still worked.
I attended the University of Miami School of Law. During my first year, I secured student loans (all of which were paid off on schedule). It was the policy of the law school to schedule classes throughout the day so that students would not be able to hold an outside job during their first year. After my first year, I was fortunate to secure a clerking job at an old-line Miami law firm, and I continued thereafter to work full-time throughout the balance of law school, while maintaining a full class load. I became the first member of my family to be awarded a college and professional degree.
ALTHOUGH I WAS quite busy studying, working, and raising a family, I never lost sight of politics. My first foray occurred immediately after graduating from high school. In 1973, I worked on my first political campaign. The mayor of Miami, David Kennedy, had been removed from office. Maurice Ferre had been appointed to fill out the remainder of Kennedy’s term and was now standing for election. A local businessman, Jim Angleton, was running against Ferre and against public corruption. It was music to the ears of a young idealist.
One Saturday morning, I drove to Overtown, a black neighborhood of Miami. The Ministers-Laymen Group in Overtown hosted a weekly breakfast and that day they were staging a debate between the mayoral candidates. I had already pegged Ferre as part of the same corrupt politics that had spawned Kennedy. Angleton portrayed himself as a religiously motivated businessman who wanted to change the world, change Miami. I thought to myself: that’s just what Miami needs, someone like him.
I approached him after the debate and offered to help in his campaign. And I did. This was to be my first actual campaign job. We had an incredible grassroots operation, which included many of my Belen friends whom I recruited. With a throng of young volunteers, we walked door-to-door throughout the city. We did well, but Angleton fell a few points short. Nearly thirty years later I ran for mayor against Maurice and beat him.
I soon became deeply involved in Democratic Party politics. I became executive director of the Spanish Speaking Democratic Caucus. I was the kid in a group of very prominent community leaders. At Miami Dade College, I helped form a Young Democrats chapter that became the largest in the State of Florida and helped elect a statewide president from Miami, Kendall Coffey, who coincidentally would become my law partner years later.
I continued to sharpen my organizational skills within the Democratic Party. In 1974, the local party was controlled by Joe Robbie, former owner of the Miami Dolphins. Robbie had come to Miami from Minnesota, where he had been a state house member. He also had connections with Hubert Humphrey, the Minnesota senator and former vice president. The local executive committee—of which Robbie was chairman—comprised forty men and forty women. A group of young organizers—Mike Abrams, Sergio Bendixen, Mike O’Donovan, and myself (just to name a few)—believed it was time for a change in the local party structure. Joe Robbie did not represent our generation. We organized our own slate of eighty candidates to run for the executive committee. We called it Campaign 74. Our slate won and we elected Mike Abrams chair of the local party. We then took our “machine” statewide, electing Alfredo Duran, a member of the Spanish Speaking Democratic Caucus, chair of the Florida Democratic Party. Then we helped elect Jimmy Carter president of the United States.
In January 1975, I attended a college Young Democrats convention in Atlanta. Carter had just announced his candidacy, and was considered a long shot. Jimmy Who? At the gala dinner, the speakers were Andrew Young, Julian Bond, Maynard Jackson, … and Jimmy Carter. The first three wowed the group. The Watergate scandal (which had led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon) was still very much the rallying cry for young idealists. They were all very funny and very articulate. After the dinner, almost everyone ran to Young, Bond, and Jackson. Everyone wanted to meet them, secure their autographs, and get pictures with them. Jimmy Carter was standing by himself, in a corner of the room.
I have always cheered for the underdog. Feeling sorry to see him standing by himself, I decided to approach him and introduce myself. After a brief conversation, he invited me to join him for a cup of coffee. It was just the two of us; we spoke for hours. Mostly, I just listened to the reasons he had for running for president, and to the multiple references to his honesty (post-Watergate). On the drive back to Miami, I reflected on our conversation. He’s a decent man, a good man; he has a pretty progressive record. As soon as I returned, I contacted Alfredo, Mike, and Sergio with an idea.
At the time, many of us were highly concerned about George Wallace, the white segregationist governor of Alabama who had run for the presidency in 1972 and performed better than expected—even outside the South. Democrats worried that Wallace might perform even better than he had in 1972, possibly winning the primaries in states like Michigan and Illinois. He had to be stopped early and his campaign had to be derailed in the South. If Wallace were to pick up momentum in the Southern primaries, who knew what could happen in the later primary states? And, in the South, where’s the best place to beat him? Florida. But how do we beat him in Florida? The answer for me was Jimmy Carter, another Southern governor who could win Florida. He’s progressive enough to appeal to the more progressive side of the party, but he’s still a Southern governor and can connect with the Southern Democratic conservatives. Carter had the right combination. The group agreed to support his candidacy.
We started a statewide organization for him and held the first mock convention vote by the Florida Democratic Party—a straw vote that proved to be instrumental to his candidacy. The straw vote was a great way to bring exposure to your candidate (the same strategy would later work well for another Southern governor, Bill Clinton). The party faithful and leaders vote, and the candidate the national pundits never expected would win, does. That is what we did for Carter. The headlines went from “Jimmy Who?” to “Carter Wins Florida Straw Vote.”
The strategy and execution were a testament to our ability to organize and mobilize a strong turnout at the convention. Although it is never simply one factor that determines winning or losing an election, there can be no doubt that winning the straw vote gave Carter a huge lift, attracting the support necessary for him to later win the Florida primary, and ultimately win the presidency. Interestingly, a Carter presidency was not my original plan. In fact, after Florida, he was no longer my candidate. I merely wanted to beat Wallace and open the field for other candidates I was more prone to support for the presidency.
During my early years, I also devoted a significant amount of time helping get Cuban Americans elected into office at all levels of government. Those first campaigns were extremely tough. It was practically impossible for a Diaz to beat a Smith, regardless of qualifications. Voting patterns essentially followed demographic lines. Electing the first Cuban American judges required first convincing our Florida governors to fill vacancies with Cuban Americans. Governor Bob Graham (later U.S. senator) is to be commended for heeding our call to make these early appointments. However, once appointed, our attention turned to helping them get elected. I was actively involved in both efforts, lobbying our governors to appoint Cuban Americans and helping the appointees