Democrats had many successes in 2013 and must continue the good fight in 2014. The most important accomplishment of 2013 was the very positive results of President Obama“s Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). In just a few months many uninsured Americans have joined the health care exchanges, many have applied for one of the insurance plans of the Affordable Care Act—-and those Americans will have policies at reasonable prices and will be well covered for preventive tests and for dealing with serious illnesses.—and not have to worry about not receiving coverage because of preexisting conditions, and will not have to worry about losing insurance coverage because they become seriously ill—which will help many middle class people, poor people, childrens and seniors.

Democrats were also successful in elections during 2013. In the race for Virginia governor, Democrat Terry McAuliffe won a close victory over Republican Kenneth T Cuccinelli—-which was a big surprise. Also, New York City elected its first Democrat in twenty years to serve as mayor.

With the elections of 2014 and 2016, we still have a lot of work to do. Foremost,in 2014, we must do what we can to ensure that the Democrats keep control of the U.S. Senate—and we also need to win enough seats in the U.S. House of Representatives so that the Dems will have a majority there and Nancy Pelosi will once again become Speaker.

What strategy and tactics do the Democrats need to achieve these goals, starting in 2914? A very winning strategy is to hit the GOP on have key issues, in which our positions coincide with not only most Democratic voters, but also coincide with the majority of Republican voters and Independent voters. .A perfect example is the issue of the federal minimum wage, which has stayed the same for the last four years, despite inflation. Raising the minimum wage is supported not only by a vast majority of Democrats, but also by a majority of Republican voters and a majority of Independent voters. A related issue is the extension of unemployment benefits, which is also supported by a majority both of Republican and Independent voters. In a general election, a GOP candidate is likely to lose if he or she campaigns either against raising the minimum wage or against extending unemployment benefits. Most Americans want the Affordable Care Act to succeed, an I know it will. The majority of Americans would like to see meaningful immigration reform and universal background checks for gun purchases. Most Americans oppose the draconian measures bt GOP governors and GOP state legislatures against women in terms of their reproductive rights and their health..

Of utmost importance, we Democrats must continue the fight against voter suppression by Gop`ers, including voter registration drives, and drives get voters to vote by mail (absentee ballots). The Seminole DEC does a wonderful job at these important things, including the precinct captains and all the other DEC activists.

We have a challenge for 2014 and for 2016. With the high energy and great commitment by Seminole Democratic activists, I have high hopes.

ROBERT SULZER