The political cost of the Trayvon Martin murder

The tragic murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin has gone global, with several cities and thousands of people in the streets and online donning hoodies in protest.

There is, however, a potential political setback that I am stunned officials in Florida have failed to appreciate. Of course, this could also be a chilling sign that the dismissal of incidents such as this indicate a norm that lead state and local officials to think they were immune to a backlash.

When it was evident that the Trayvon Martin murder would not go away quietly, it may have appeared to officials and Governor Jeb Bush that the "smart" thing to do would be to stay quiet. However, one would think that some political strategy foresight would suggest the squashing of this incident immediately. There was--and still is--legal recourse to put George Zimmerman in jail, even if only for a short time. It is too late for an arrest to diffuse the outrage, but it could put a dent in it. However, had an arrest been done at the time, we would have never heard about the death of Trayvon Martin.

Let's face it: the Republicans could be in serious trouble this election. There is argument that the strong dislike towards the sitting president will be enough to send the base to the polls, but with three candidates that are splitting the vote and the support, the force is leaning in Obama's favor. Last election, seasoned politician Senator John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin couldn't bring out the vote enough to get the White House. Sarah Palin, whatever your feelings about her, is a charismatic entity for the GOP base. What chance does Mitt Romney or Santorum have? The GOP is merely tolerating Romney's existence. Santorum looks so stressed from just campaigning that it is questionable if his stamina will make it to November. The Republican Party is facing the growing rage stemming from the backlash regarding anti-contraceptive and abortion laws. They don't need this. One thing the GOP had in their favor was the disenchanted base of the Democratic Party not showing up to vote.

If the Democrats were thinking strategically, they would urge Florida Democrats to push to put the repeal of the "Stand Your Ground" law on the ballot to use the anger over Martin's death to get voters to the polls.