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SUMMER/FALL 2016 INFLUENCE | 89 Republican candidates. He is confident of winning persuadable voters. “If it’s a battle of ideas, we win that battle,” Perez said. Head said a big problem for area Democrats is they lack leadership. The head of the Orange County Democratic Party has changed almost yearly during the past decade. Current Democratic leader Juan Lopez did not return several calls seeking comments for this story. “Both parties have kind of lost their way for what they want to do,” Head said. Republicans, he said, are engaged in a fight between the established leaders and some grassroots members, such as the arch-conservative tea party. He said a similar fight could break out the more-established versus liberal branches of Orange Democrats. “You’ve got to listen to the people,” progressive activist Head said, contending greater Orlando Democrats identify too much with area business needs and not to more traditional party interests such as environmentalists and unions. Republican Perez said his party needs to improve the way they deliver their message, not necessarily the content. “People want to hear the stories, hear the facts,” he said. “We need to tell the story better, in a more personal way.” As for Chewning, she has seen the shift from Democrat to Republican to Democrat again. “What goes around comes around,” she said. “The past is prologue.”


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