A.G. Gancarski
The race for the GOP nomination in Florida’s 4th Congressional District is going strong, and candidate Hans Tanzler wants to establish ground rules.
Tanzler wants three debates and a “clean campaign pledge.”
The debates, writes Tanzler, would happen in each of the three counties in the district.
“Northeast Florida voters deserve a substantive and thorough exchange on the issues as well as a principled and honorably-run campaign,” said Tanzler. “Having debates in Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties will give voters that opportunity, and I hope the other candidates in this race will agree to participate.”
As well, invoking Ronald Reagan‘s “Eleventh Commandment,” which boils down to don’t speak ill of fellow Republicans, Tanzler wants everyone in the race to sign a so-called “clean campaign pledge.”
This pledge will be worth about as much as the paper it’s written on (and is inconsistent with the bare-knuckled brawling style Reagan employed pre-1980, and the style Donald Trump used to score the presidential nomination this year).
“There is too much at stake for us to spend even a moment of this campaign on anything other than the vital issues before us,” Tanzler said in his letter. “I’m confident that, whatever other differences may separate us, we can agree that we will conduct honorable campaigns that are a credit to the office we are seeking.”
The last Northeast Florida race with such a pledge: the race between Paul Renner and Jay Fant for a Jacksonville seat in the State House.
Ironically, Tanzler’s consultant worked for Fant in that race, breaking the pledge against Renner, whose team now is behind Rutherford.
That pledge fell by the wayside as the primary approached.
A recent internal poll in the CD 4 race showed Tanzler with 6 percent support, somewhat behind frontrunner John Rutherford, with 42 percent support.
Cynics, including the campaign of Rutherford, say that Tanzler’s call for debates and the clean campaign pledge are grandstanding stunts.
“John Rutherford made a pledge to the citizens of Northeast Florida when he raised his right hand and swore to protect us and uphold the Constitution. For more than four decades, John Rutherford put on his uniform and did just that. The good people of district 4 know John Rutherford and his commitment to serving them and he does not need to sign another candidate’s political gimmick pledge to prove that. Washington needs dedicated conservative reformers not more cheap stunt politicians looking for a news cycle.”
That said, we are assured that Rutherford does intend to debate his opponents, having been “in discussions with press entities that want to host televised debates.”
Julia Fletcher, a newcomer to the race, welcomes the opportunity to debate, and accepts the “clean campaign pledge.”
“I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issues that are important to us all in Northeast Florida and would hope that the other candidates would not want to limit it to just three debates. We should discuss the issues anytime, any place and anywhere even if only two people are in the room and I would challenge all of the other candidates to come with me into the district to share our individual visions for the future,” Fletcher asserted.
Regarding the clean campaign pledge, Fletcher had this to say.
“Naturally my campaign will be one that sticks to the issues that are important to those of us in Northeast Florida and I will sign a pledge that commits it to doing so. I would also like to challenge my opponents to reach out to the Super PACs that are supporting them and urge them to sign the same pledge.”
An interesting response, especially that last sentence.
