Essay - Mark Foley, Republican U.S. Representative, Florida's 16th Congressional District Why...

Mark Foley, Republican U.S. Representative, Florida's 16th Congressional District

Why I chose Florida, and its U.S. Representative Mark *****

Background ***** Generalizations ***** U.S. Congressman ***** Foley for several reasons. First of all, I selected a congressm*****n from Florida because all eyes will be on Florida leading to - and immediately following - the Presidential Election ***** 2004.

In ***** during the last presidential election, *****re were myriad and highly publicized instances of malfunctioning voting machines - featuring archaic, out-dated "card-type" voter ballots which produced those no*****rious "hanging chads" and other blatant discrepancies. Additionally, news reports indicated that thous*****s of people - many of them voters of color in South Florida ***** were turned away from the polls in Novem*****r, 2000, ***** of incompetence, corruption, misinformation on the part of ill-trained precinct administrators and staff.

ONE: Introduction.

***** short, Florida, the 22nd largest state in l***** area (F*****orida Facts and History, *****) ***** the 4th biggest state in terms of population (15,982,38 in 2000, according to ***** U.S. Census / Florida Facts and His*****ry) is on the media "hot seat" when it comes to the approaching election. It can be said that the 2000 Presidential Election was decided not in Florida, but ***** Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Supreme Court, in effect, by stopping the "recount" ***** ***** Supreme ***** authorized, *****ively handing the presidency to George W. Bush.

And U.S. Representative Mark Foley - who led ***** cheerleading bandwagon squad as one of Bush's staunchest supporters during the prolonged post-election high drama in Florida - is an interesting, sometimes controversial political character. For one, he is a Republic***** ***** is reported ***** ***** gay ***** and though ***** does not deny his sexual preference, he won't confirm it eit*****r. That point is interesting because Republicans and conservatives in general tend to lead the charge against gay marriages, and ***** granting special "gay rights" ***** homosexuals. *****, meantime, a moderate Republican and a Caucasian in what most outsiders view as diversity-rich Florida, h***** been re-elected in recent contests by overwhelm*****g majorities. That was a surprise to me, *****s I expected, with ***** enormously heavy concentration ***** Latino citizens in Florida, and the number of conservative ***** (who, it would appear on the surface, might be turned off by a guy who is widely reported to be gay), that there would be closer vote tallies.

Foley represents the 16th District, a huge geographical area in Florida, ***** reaches from Florida's East Coast to the West Coast, and ***** south of Palm Beach to north of *****t Pierce. While three of the counties in Foley's district - Hendry, Glades, ***** Okeechobee Counties - are not heavily populated (36,562, 10,750, and 36,385, respectively), they ***** heavily *****, according ***** the U.S. Census Bureau's year ***** statistics. (More information on Foley's ********** population later in the paper.)

*****: Demographics of Foley's ***** District

***** knows his constituency, and he makes ***** moves shrewdly so as not to offend his people. For example, when one