Daniel Tilson: Silver lining in clouded Florida CD 13 special election

The good news about the David Jolly-Alex Sink Florida CD 13 special election campaign is…it’s almost over. The vote is Tuesday.

The bad news is, it has been an exasperating exercise in the kind of outside interest-funded “gotcha!” politics that confounds and alienates more voters than it informs and engages.

The 13^th U.S. congressional district encompasses Clearwater, Dunedin, parts of St. Petersburg and most of Pinellas County, one of the more politically balanced regions in the state.

Like Florida, Pinellas is emblematic of the politically blended color purple, rather than rigidly Republican red or dogmatically Democratic blue.

Moderately conservative Republican Congressman C. W. “Bill” Young reflected that balance with statesmanlike dignity and a “mavericky” streak for 42 years, until his death last October.

More conservative than most Democrats and some independents in his districts, Young’s reputation for civility and consensus building — plus his renowned ability to “bring home the bacon” in appropriation dollars — won him respect and broad-based support.

Unfortunately for CD 13 residents, the race between Democrat Alex Sink and Republican David Jolly to determine Young’s successor hasn’t rekindled his constructive, conciliatory spirit.

The people of Pinellas deserved more and better than a campaign cluttered with out-of-state money, millions of dollars earmarked to overload local media, mailboxes and minds with mostly negative messaging and advertising.

Yet this is exactly what “We The People” in any congressional or legislative district in America can be subjected to, unless and until we contact Congress and demand a constitutional amendment nullifying the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling that conclusively turned politics into “Moneyball.”

It’s one thing watching Democratic and Republican Party committees pour millions into attack ads littered with half-truths and errors of omission.

It’s another seeing external forces swoop in to buy influence over local elections, especially after those five Supreme Court conservatives ruled corporations were “people” whose free speech could speak as loudly as their pockets are deep.

However, this legalized attempted hijacking of elections comes with a silver lining because voters perturbed and perplexed by competing ads and mailers can at least follow the money to get a handle on “who’s who” — and who’s behind whom.

In the name of “truth In advertising,” note that there are big differences between the outside interests and political action committees (PACs) who’ve jumped on the Jolly bandwagon and those supporting Sink.

Most of the advertising bashing away at Sink has been paid for by ultra-partisan, private, for-profit special interests connected to conservative power-seekers like the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, and George W. Bush’s former senior adviser turned GOP PAC-man supreme, Karl Rove.

Another big chunk of pro-Jolly change — upwards of a million bucks — came in the form of a U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad campaign attacking Sink for supporting the Affordable Care Act.

In reality, Sink simply wants to fix and improve rather than repeal the law saving seniors millions in drug costs, saving young adults up to age 26 from going uninsured, and saving thousands of lives.

But Big Insurance is a big booster of the Chamber, so…follow the dough.

On the other side of the “special interests” fence, you have the leading pro-Sink expenditures coming from two not-for-profit, nonpartisan environmental protection groups, The League of Conservation Voters and The Sierra Club.

You can draw your own conclusions.

Me, if I were a Democratic or independent voter in CD 13, and Sink’s pedigree as pragmatic political centrist, veteran business leader and highly regarded former Florida Chief Financial Officer wasn’t enough to convince me to vote for her…

I’d follow the outside money, and vote against David Jolly.

A New York University graduate, Daniel Tilson owns a Boca Raton-based firm, Full Cup Media, offering “a la carte” and custom-bundled packages of communication services.