Andrew Gillum, um, meets his match in Kathy Fernandez-Rundle

In the pantheon of bad campaign launches, it would be hard to match Andrew Gillum’s email-gate rollout from hell.

However, on Monday, we witnessed worse.

Somehow, Gillum’s been out done.

It is fair to say that Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle’s not-so-subtle trial balloon was a sh**-the-bed moment.

Why was it so bad?

Well, yes, thank you very much for someone disclosing – seemingly without permission – the names of the attending consultants. Some amazingly talented people were there, but,come on, it was very poor form to out people who haven’t signed up yet. But we’re all big boys and girls, so we will call that a minor error, but an error nonetheless.

On to the major error.

If you are going to let out a little string on the kite, it’s probably best to have at least worked out the BIGGEST STORY surrounding your candidate. Namely, the very recent protest by MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN LOCAL PARTY because you refused to prosecute some pretty bad actors. For reference, see paragraph 5 in the Miami Herald article referencing the non-rollout, non-announcement announcement.

I do not have a position on whether or not State Attorney Rundle should have at least made an attempt at prosecuting prison guards who left a man in scalding hot water for an hour and a half – I’ll let those with law degrees scuffle over that one. But someone in Run-Rundle-Run camp should have had the sense to raise a hand and say, “Um, guys…this is going to be in paragraph 5 of the Miami Herald story.”  Someone pushing this story to various news outlets should have put a little more thought into this one. The protest-from-her-own-party tale is barely a month old, so it’s not like anyone could have possibly missed it.

Shouldn’t someone have tied up those loose ends or have her take a clear and defensible stance? No comment doesn’t cut it when you are teasing a statewide run.

This IS a Democratic primary after all, and having Black Lives Matter and your local party calling you a scoundrel really is a problem.

Oh well. At least Tallahassee’s Mayor can feel better.