Mitch Perry
It was the Thursday night before the 2000 general election when Fox News’s Carl Cameron reported George W. Bush had been arrested in 1976 in Maine on a DWI case. It was definitely an “October surprise,” and it definitely seemed to stop Bush’s momentum in that contest — a contest in which he ultimately lost the popular vote, but took the Electoral College after a 36-day recount.
On the Friday night before the 2004 election, the late Osama bin Laden released a tape, aired by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera, where he spoke directly to the American people. He admitted for the first time that he carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and said the attacks would have been less severe if Bush had been more alert. John Kerry later said he believed that tape cost him the election against Bush.
The big news that could affect this year’s election appeared to have happened last Friday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m. Eastern, when Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz tweeted , “FBI Dir just informed me, The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Case reopened.”
Whether that announcement is the ultimate game-changer preventing Hillary Clinton from winning the general election remains to be seen. “Big Mo,” however, doesn’t seem like it’s with the Democrat this morning, as she’s now resorted to spending considerable time on the stump disparaging her opponent, when less than two weeks ago she said she was done talking about him.
Then again, the ultimate October surprise may end up being the revelation first reported at approximately 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, when The Washington Post reported on and posted a video of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women on tape from 2005.
Depending on who is announced as the victory late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, one of the two above listed events will need to be placed prominently on the epitaph of the losing candidate.
Unless something else pops this weekend, which couldn’t possibly happen. Could it?
In other news …
Making his final pitch in the HD 63 race, Shawn Harrison slams Lisa Montelione’s attendance record on the Tampa City Council, as well as her votes on the city’s budget and raising parking fees.
Tampa City Council members Charlie Miranda and Mike Suarez say, as children of immigrants, they reject Donald Trump’s divisive language on the subject.
CD 14 Republican candidate Christine Quinn is hyping her endorsement from a veterans group in her race against Kathy Castor.
Charlie Crist added $5,500 to his campaign account Wednesday.
And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is airing radio ads in St. Petersburg this weekend featuring Barack and Michelle Obama to try to drive up the black vote for Crist.
