Danny McAuliffe
Floridians won’t hear Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam speak in his latest television ad.
Instead, they’ll hear testimony and a de-facto endorsement from Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who delivers a 30-second spiel on the need to deport “illegal immigrants” to keep communities safe and promises Putnam, who’s running for Governor, will help law enforcement do so, if elected.
The ad, which will begin airing across the state Tuesday, opens with Judd saying, “I’ve dedicated my entire adult life to keeping Florida families safe and I know Adam Putnam has our back.”
The focus of the ad then turns to illegal immigration — particularly in cases when immigrants who are not citizens are convicted of a crime.
“Adam believes we have the responsibility to keep our borders, cities and neighborhoods safe and secure,” Judd continues. “He’ll make sure that illegal immigrants who commit crimes will be held accountable and deported — not released back into our communities.”
Judd closes with: “Adam Putnam will stand with law enforcement and enforce the rule of law.”
It evokes memories of Republican state House Speaker Richard Corcoran‘s January ad cut by his Watchdog PAC, which focused on the issue of sanctuary cities, or the concept that local authorities could, in theory, refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials, effectively creating a ‘sanctuary’ for immigrants who are not citizens.
But there are stark differences between the Speaker’s television venture and Putnam’s latest. Corcoran’s ad depicted the killing of a woman in California by an undocumented immigrant, whereas Putnam’s features only him and Judd, and avoids the term ‘sanctuary city’ altogether.
Corcoran, then widely expected to enter the Governor’s race after the 2018 Legislative Session, aired the ad after the House quickly passed a bill banning sanctuary cities in the state. He decided in May to stay out of the race and subsequently endorse Putnam.
For Putnam, messaging on immigration through television marks an investment in a strategy that tracks to the right as he competes against U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis for the Republican nomination. DeSantis has the backing of Donald Trump, and is frequently on Fox News defending the President.
The ad also is a working endorsement of Putnam from Sheriff Judd, who is influential in Republican circles and known well beyond the borders of Polk County (where Putnam is originally from). Judd helped lead a series of workshops called by Gov. Rick Scott immediately after the Parkland shooting. He is a staunch advocate for arming teachers and championed what eventually became the Guardian Program. He is one of Corcoran’s appointees to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission.
The ad also could act as quick damage control for a story published last week that undoubtedly called Putnam’s leadership into question. Although, a poll that coincided with that story still reflected strong support for the Agriculture Commissioner.
6 comments
Marc
June 11, 2018 at 8:43 pm
Nothing like blatant fearmongering racism to score points with the GOP base…
MICHELE
June 12, 2018 at 12:23 pm
Personally speaking I will vote this election for candidates who prioritize citizens over illegal aliens, those who oppose sanctuary cities, amnesty and taxpayer funded in state college tuition discounts for illegals. That means no Democrats.
When will politicians and people in general figure out that when you reward illegal immigration with jobs, amnesty, drivers licenses, discounts for college tuition, scholarships encourages MORE illegal entry.. Illegal immigration negativity effects our economy from employment to use public services. Just debating this in congress is costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars….. thank the parents. Another concern is the real “immigrants” who have waited in line? The “dreamers” don’t care about them, but we as a country should.
We have over 800,000 “dreamers” (authorized illegal aliens) and probably another 2 million non DACA illegals in our country taking jobs. These are jobs American citizens have lost or are in competition for.They are not all picking strawberries as the MSM / Democrats would like you to believe. Nor are they “children” or “kids. (another MSM / Dem deception.)
Another myth, America is not splitting up families, that decision is theirs. I don’t know how these dreamers can wave goodbye to their parents being deported but they do so every day. Its ALL about them. Selfish.
ust some of the costs associated with illegal immigration, we will pass this burden on to our children and grand children as has been passed on to us.
*The cost of educating illegal aliens children is staggering. From K-12 it costs taxpayers $122,000 for EACH illegal alien student. This does not include the billions spent on bilingual education for illegal aliens.
*Currently city, and state officials are appropriating millions of taxpayer dollarsfor legal fees to to file law suits and in defense of illegal aliens being deported.
*2012 illegal aliens sent home $62 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. This is why Mexico is getting involved in our politics.
*30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.Does not include local jails and State Prisons. At $21,000 per year expense per inmate in Federal Prison U do the math.
*$3Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens, I repeat 3 MILLIONa DAY to process Illegals in the Criminal justice system.
*$2.2Billion dollars a year is spent on is spent on food assistance programs such asSNAP (food stamps) WIC, & free school lunches.All can be found on google.
https://www.fairus.org/…/fiscal-burden-illegal…
http://www.illegalaliencrimereport.com/
https://theremembranceproject.org/
George R. Fuller
June 13, 2018 at 9:21 am
When Putnam was in Congress he co-sponsored four separate amnesty bills.
The ad tried to portray Putnam as a law and order guy……… against illegal alien criminals………not talking about illegal immigrants who commit a crime by illegally entering the country. All illegal aliens should be deported.
Rick Scott
June 13, 2018 at 4:48 pm
Long winded Republican wench. Glad she’s not my neighbor.
George R. Fuller
June 14, 2018 at 3:35 am
Sheriff Judd certainly didn’t check out Putnam’s history with illegal aliens. When he was in Congress he co-sponsored several amnesty bills.They are:
H.R. 2899 in 2003
H.R. 3142 in 2003
H.R. 884 in 2005
H.R. 371 in 2007
In the AD Judd illegal aliens who commit a crime will be deported. Someone should inform Judd all illegal aliens broke the law entering the country. The ad was a lame attempt to make RINO Putnam look like he is tough on immigration which is just the opposite of his position. If Putnam were elected there would never be mandatory E-Verify passed and signed by Putnam.
Ben Tucker
June 24, 2018 at 7:09 am
Is this meaning committing crimes OTHER than entering the country illegally?
Do regular ol’ illegal border jumpers get a pass?
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