Guest Author
I’m two things (at least!) that Rep. Alan Grayson is not: a Patrick Murphy supporter and a Hillary Clinton supporter. So why does my name appear along his on the Clinton campaign’s list of their “Florida Leadership Team”?
FloridaPolitics.com asked this very question a few months ago when the list was first released, and I don’t think it’s yet been answered. Just last week, on Alan Colmes’ radio show, Grayson again declined to support Hillary, then went on to say some glowing things about Bernie Sanders, including touting his recent poll numbers and declaring him to be right on the issues, “virtually without exception.”
(I assume the exception has to be Sen. Sanders’ abysmal record on gun control in the U.S. Senate.)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch … Grayson’s primary opponent, Congressman Murphy, was not only among the first Democrats to endorse Hillary, but he’s also donated to her campaign and basically offered to help the Florida efforts in any way he can. Mind you, this is all despite being locked in a relatively contentious primary with a hedge-fund millionaire known to self-fund his campaigns and say truly nasty things about his opponents.
I suppose I can understand why Grayson is trying to have his cake and eat it too with this non-endorsement. On the one hand, Hillary Clinton is absolutely crushing the polls in the Florida primary and, given her support from Hispanics and African-Americans, is the best positioned to win Florida in the general (and bring along a new, Democratic, senator in the process).
On the other hand, there is his base, which happens to have a lot of crossover with Bernie Sanders’ base. The far-left, purist, activists would feel let down by their folk hero, Grayson, if he were to endorse such a mainstream Democrat as Hillary Clinton. Daily Kos contributing editor, Armando, tweeted back in November, “Alan Grayson for Hillary is a bit of a surprise.” Seems like since then, he’s done his best to tamp down unrest among the Kos crowd by his repeated denials of actually endorsing Clinton.
I wish Grayson would be intellectually honest and make clear his preference in the presidential primary — and do so for Hillary while he’s at it — but that’s maybe a bit naive of me. After all, Grayson is a hedge fund manager, so this is just another hedged bet.
It’s OK, though. Hillary will be the nominee soon enough, and Grayson will have plenty of time to make up for his divided loyalties stumping for her in the general, after he loses to Patrick Murphy and finds himself heading toward November without his name on any ballot.
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Ben Pollara is a political consultant and a founding partner of LSN Partners, a Miami Beach-based government and public affairs firm. He runs United for Care, the Florida medical marijuana campaign and is a self-described “hyper-partisan” Democrat.
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