Mitch Perry
What the hell do you have to lose?
That was, of course, Donald Trump‘s rather crude appeal to black voters in our last national nightmare of a campaign that mercifully concluded 10 days ago.
But that line could be one offered to Florida Democrats, in the wake of the movement to get John Morgan to run for governor in 2018. And the Orlando-based attorney, major Democratic Party fundraiser and grandaddy of medical marijuana released a statement Thursday indicating he’s not dismissing the idea out of hand.
“Before I go down this road any further I need a lot of time to think about it. There are obvious drawbacks and hurdles,” he admitted. “But the initial response in the form of phone calls, emails, and social media postings has been overwhelming. It is humbling.”
No doubt.
Morgan went on to say that unlike any other serious candidate, he doesn’t need to begin raising money to build up this statewide name ID. As he inimitably put it: “Politicians have to sing for their supper. Not me.”
The “for the people” populist says he he’l be jetting off to Maui and St. Bart’s “for the winter with my family” before he decided on deciding anything anytime soon.
Some populist, eh? Well, though there is only one Trump, one of the shibboleths that he may have shattered is that people can be persuaded a wealthy candidate can speak directly to their hearts and minds, and not be hypocritical in doing so.
Personally, I’m hoping that Gwen Graham, Bob Buckhorn, and Philip Levine all compete against Morgan for the 2018 nomination, and may the best person win.
Lord knows it would be interesting …
In other news …
Politics is still all local, and it ain’t over yet. Tampa City Council District 7 candidates Jim Davison and Luis Viera shared endorsement announcements.
Now’s also the time where people who want to be local or state party chairs throw their respective Stetsons (channeling Dan Rather) in the air: Sarasota state committeeman Christian Ziegler wants to be replace Blaise Ingoglia as RPOF chairman.
A couple of hours later, Ingoglia interrupted his vacation to announce that yes, he will run to remain chair of the RPOF.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Jonny Torres hopes to oust Deborah Tamargo as Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee chair.
Medical marijuana is coming — but the rules of the road have yet to be written, so the Tampa City Council followed other municipalities in calling for a moratorium on zoning any dispensaries.
