Mitch PerryDebbie Wasserman Schultz will not be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate next year, but lets hope that doesn’t “pave the way” for fellow South Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy to become the groomed nominee in 2016.
As a Tampa Bay area-based political reporter, I have to admit knowing very little about Congressman Murphy: his philosophy, his temperament. Hell, even his voting record. Yes, there’s plenty of time to find out, but the Democratic Party really has to get over this idea that their lives will be better if they don’t have any competition in their primary elections. For one thing, when has that truly proven to be the case anytime lately?
With Hillary Clinton‘s email issues not going away, more and more observers realize that the Democrats need to have some other candidates to challenge her for the presidential nomination, if in fact she announces her candidacy next month as expected.
And I always refer to how David Jolly became a better candidate after being severely challenged by fellow Republicans Kathleen Peters and Mark Bircher in the Pinellas County CD13 race last year.
But back to the U.S. Senate race: Alan Grayson appears to be preparing a candidacy. My initial thought is that he might not be the best general election candidate against Jeff Atwater or Marco Rubio or whomever the GOP nominee is. Then then again, Grayson has a point when he says that the centrists who the Democrats have been nominating for statewide offices in recent years don’t exactly have a great track record.
DWS was a problematic candidate, however, and that was the case well before the recent contretemps with John Morgan. Simply put, she’s alienated Democrats in the state with her strong opposition to medical marijuana, and in the Tampa Bay, a lot of folks aren’t pleased that she maintains the hardline attitude towards Cuba.
Then there’s the fact that as chair of the Democratic National Committee, part of her job description is to be very partisan. While she does get off some good lines in press conferences, she’s also gotten herself into trouble by going overboard with some of her descriptions about the evilness of Republicans.
I’m not sure how great a statewide candidate she would have been, but again, I’m for more choices, not less, so in that respect I’m sorry to hear her take her proverbial hat out of the ring.
But Grayson isn’t ready to concede the nomination to Murphy, thankfully. And why would anyone think otherwise a year and a half before the election would be ideal, anyhow? I mean, other than the folks who run the Florida Democratic Party?
In other news …
The fight between advocates for a solar power constitutional amendment and their foes is extremely visceral. And it’s only the middle of March of 2015. Tuesday tea party co-founder Debbie Dooley ripped into Ralph Reed after the Florida chapter of his group Faith & Freedom Coalition accused the amendment language of calling for subsidies.
Frank Artiles admits his bill is a “work in progress.” A fellow Republican told him Tuesday that he should deal with administrators in Miami-Dade County, since it’s only in the representative’s home county where he has an issue about transgender people entering into the “wrong” bathroom. Nevertheless, his measure moved on in the House, though it may die in the state Senate.
A day after we reported on Ocala Representative Dennis Baxley went back and reversed his vote on supporting gay adoption in the House, the Marion County Republican Party rebuked him and two other GOP Representatives for approving the measure. The said the votes were in direct conflict with the principles stated in the Republican Party of Florida platform.
And the Hillsborough County Democratic Party is doing all it can to keep the Tampa City Council all Democratic in its membership. The local DEC approved spending $1,500 in party funds for get out the vote efforts for Guido Maniscalco, locked in an intense battle for the District 6 seat with Jackie Toledo.
