A.G. Gancarski
Over the last week, Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels has increasingly taken the regional lead in excoriating Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum.
Sunday saw Gillum come to Clay County and plead for civility and dialing down violence in political rhetoric, again establishing contrast between his campaign and that of his opponent.
The Ron DeSantis campaign has messaged heavily against Gillum aligning with the “anti-police” Dream Defenders. Sheriff Daniels, an African-American Republican, has been particularly valuable in undercutting Gillum’s credibility.
Thank you Sheriff Daniels! As Governor, I’ll always defend and support law enforcement policies that keep Floridians safe. pic.twitter.com/pN1tBLwsDC
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) October 22, 2018
“I can’t get behind him. Not as a man. Not as a sheriff. Not as a politician,” Daniels lamented. “I can’t get with you, Mr. Gillum.”
On Sunday afternoon, Gillum found himself in the heart of Daniels’ jurisdiction, speaking to a crowd of a few hundred people outside a cinder block community center in Green Cove Springs.
The crowd size was comparable to the Vice President Mike Pence rally in Jacksonville for Republican Ron DeSantis a few days prior, an interesting metric for enthusiasm for the respective campaigns.
Gillum’s campaign has a heavy narrative investment in drawing big crowds in traditionally Republican sinecures, and Clay County is exhibit A for that voter concentration; the county is 53.7 percent Republican.
“I don’t have to win this county, I just have to lose it by less,” Gillum said late in the speech, noting that Democrats hadn’t made serious efforts in Clay and other rural North Florida counties in many election cycles.
“Clay County matters to me,” Gillum added.
In the wake of the mass murder at a synagogue in Squirrel Hill, PA, on Saturday, Gillum offered a plea for tolerance and restrained discourse: an especially meaningful goal given how pitched racialist rhetoric has been used by the right to define Gillum.
“I hope that from this moment, everyone of us is double checking our own selves, our own rhetoric,” Gillum said. “How we talk to each other. How we treat each other.”
“We can debate political and policy differences without resorting to political violence,” Gillum said. “Violence has no place in our politics. It has no place in our American society.”
Gillum urged political leaders to avoid “inspiring and inciting violence.”
“We must decry it at every turn,” Gillum said.
Of course, Gillum came under fire by Ron DeSantis for his comment in Wednesday’s debate that a hit dog will holler, which DeSantis claimed was Gillum saying he was a dog.
Gillum, in stump remarks, did not address the substance of that claim.
“I didn’t know when I was a kid that one day I’d be repeating my grandmother’s words in a debate,” Gillum said. “That flooded to the top of my mind.”
As did another grandma-ism, “Never wrestle with pigs.”
“I didn’t understand it then, but I’m learning in this political climate,” Gillum asserted.
40 comments
Kofi
October 27, 2018 at 6:27 pm
Yes, Sheriff Daniels is a sellout to his race, but that’s his right as an American.
Sean
October 27, 2018 at 7:14 pm
Thankfully he is not a sellout to the Constitution that he took an oath to defend!
Frankie M.
October 28, 2018 at 12:57 pm
What do those neoconservative talking points even mean? They make no sense.
Julie
October 28, 2018 at 6:46 am
Should vote based on race. Isn’t that a form of discrimination? Black or white, make sure you know the person you are voting for. Our future depends on it.
DRSMITH
November 3, 2018 at 3:35 pm
I agree, everybody should look at the issues and validate the comments made by ALL politicians, not just some, so they can be informed regarding what is actually true.
Scott
October 28, 2018 at 7:36 am
Kofofo you are a racist lol
Lj miller
October 28, 2018 at 10:17 am
No he is not a sellout. He isn’t weak to vote by race lines which is for weak minded people who care nothing about making life better. Look at Tallahassee crime under Gilliam and it will be clear how he feels about police presence.
Jeremy Lopez
October 28, 2018 at 7:16 pm
Crime in Tallahassee has been going down.
Kevin
October 28, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Since when? You obviously don’t live in Tallahassee do you
Chelly
October 30, 2018 at 12:19 pm
I do and it has tremendously
Parome
October 31, 2018 at 4:53 am
We always allow ourselves to be used by White America. I just don’t understand it. Even if you don’t with him…why allow urself to be used. Just stay silent like they do. When will we learn! It’s been 400yrs and we still bowing down to White America
Debbie
October 28, 2018 at 7:31 pm
YOU VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE.. you vote for the right person YOU DO NOT VOTE COLOR just to say you have a person of COLOR in office, YOU who do that are doing an injustice to your own people!!! Look at what your man Gillum has done in Tallahassee to HELP people of color.. not a thing!!! He has let Tallahassee rise to the worst city in Florida for crime, that is under GILLUMS watch nobody else.. he is bad for the State of Florida but you just vote for him because he is black and wants to keep taking for working people and giving to the worthless ones who don’t ever hold jobs!!! TELL ME how he is the better person for the State of Florida NOT because of his color.. because of HIM as a man and person!! OH.. so you are for socialism?? Banning guns?? FREE EVERYTHING at us tax payers expense??? Right… yep you go ahead and vote him in because of the color of his skin.. big mistake!!!
J L White
October 28, 2018 at 9:25 pm
Worst city in Florida only because of the elected officials in the Senate and the House!! I’ll give you that much. By no way is Tallahassee the most crime riddled city in Florida!
Dave Woo
October 28, 2018 at 7:39 pm
you are essentially saying that if blacks exercise their rights they are sell outs? you people are getting seriously dumber by the second. you just don’t get it! and you can keep losing elections!
Pierre The Pilot
October 28, 2018 at 8:16 pm
So because he is “black” it is a mandate to vote Democrat? I keep asking the question, in over 60 PLUS years of LOYAL Democrat majority voting, what has improved in black communities?
Still no logical answer from white liberals; the most RACIST group in America. So much so, if you’re a free thinker Hispanic like me, or free-thinker black American, they call you every ACTUAL racist word in the book and label you a “sell-out.” #WalkAway #DemExit #BlackExit
maryl diaz
October 30, 2018 at 9:06 am
there goes the race card again what does it matter if Guillum is black is that why you should vote for him? This has been a race thing all along but it will backfire when he loses.
Seber Newsome III
October 27, 2018 at 6:41 pm
If I did not have plans on Sunday, I would be down there with my flag of choice to greet Corrupt Gillum.
Ja
October 28, 2018 at 12:12 am
Thank you Sherriff Daniels. I agree, Gillum is trying to turn our beautiful state. We have a good economy, beautiful country, jobs, . Why ruin a state that is doing well?
We don’t want Socialism,
FL to be a Sanctuary State,
and open borders,
We do want ICE and a strong police force.
Ja
October 28, 2018 at 12:13 am
Thank you Sherriff Daniels. I agree, Gillum is trying to turn our beautiful state. We have a good economy, beautiful country, jobs, . Why ruin a state that is doing well?
Jeremy Lopez
October 28, 2018 at 7:18 pm
Lol wow. That’s what America has come to. Division to the fullest instead of uniting. If I came with an anti trump flag how would you treat me?
Seber Newsome III
October 28, 2018 at 8:55 pm
Yes, that is what is has come to. Pelosi, Maxine Waters, isnt that what they have said,, go confront them in gas stations, restaurants, etc,, they said when they go low, kick them, that sounds like violence to me. The Democrat Party is the part of violence. So, your upset, if I go with my flag.. your a joke
Chelly
October 30, 2018 at 12:22 pm
Lollllll. Are you serious???? Violence is wayyyy up since orange face conquered and divided
Charles Brown
October 27, 2018 at 6:46 pm
Sheriff Daniels knows the truth about this Socialist.
Ray Tampa
October 27, 2018 at 7:45 pm
Sheriff Daniels is Despicable. This pathetic clown said, “I am a sellout to the . . . Constitution . . . to good values and good morals.” Let’s be serious and give an honest review of this dumbass statement. DeSantis refused to say whether Trump is a good role model during his debate with Gillum. Why? He knew he would be laughed off the stage. Yet, DeSantis used his beautiful little girl in a commercial showering affection for a sexual predator. A self admitted sexual predator at that.
Sheriff Daniels knows quite well the narratives about how Scott got his wealth. He knows all the scandals involving Scott and Trump. He knows about Stormy Daniels and the others. He knows about the New York Times’ extensive research about the Trump family’s fraud. Yet, he says he’s a sellout for good morals and values.
Sheriff Daniels, you not a sellout. Oh, no. What you are sir is someone full of bulls—. You have no integrity. You have no honor. You need to discard that uniform and stop perpetrating as if you know what you are doing. You are an embarrassment.
Mrshonesty
October 27, 2018 at 8:35 pm
Wow! I know Daniels and have known him for about 30 years and he is a man of his word. He is an honest man and a righteous man. For you to spew things about one of the best Sheriff’s around that you don’t even know is beyond me. You may not like who he stands for or what he stands for but you have no right to say the things you said when you don’t even know him!
B Keith
October 27, 2018 at 9:19 pm
I too know Sheriff Daniels. He is a great Sheriff and a fine, honorable man.
Keith
October 28, 2018 at 12:12 am
Because he butters your bread don’t mean Jack. that the problem in politics shouldn’t be speaking to the Press about anything except taking care of his City. he’s just one vote and nobody really gives a damn
Patricia
October 27, 2018 at 8:35 pm
…shame on you…thats the best part of being a republican and christian, we can laugh at uglies like you, thank GOD we are not like you,” bearing false witness”….our great nation gives the “right to choose”…with dems you are “deemed to lose”..
Ernest Robinsin
October 27, 2018 at 11:05 pm
Can you seriously say with a straight face that Republicans are Christian and don’t tell lies, while evoking the name of God? Have you not heard of Donald J. Trump, the leader of the Republican party? Seriously, dude?
B. obama
October 27, 2018 at 10:05 pm
You need to get a life. You suck. Stop blaming everyone for your pathetic life. It’s not trumps fault, Scotts fault, or Daniels fault. Hillary still isn’t your President. And she won’t be. Face facts bud. Quit blaming others for your shortcomings.
Nordonia Nate
October 28, 2018 at 10:24 pm
Tampa Ray….
YOU continue to make this an anti Trump campaign. YOU choose to ignore the active FBI corruption investigation that is becoming more public with more damning info almost daily…
Amusingly YOU mention the NYT and their “investigations”… Have YOU also included the HUGE failure by the NYT on those “investigations”? As much time, resources, and money the NYT has invested … The NYT has only embarrassed themselves …
Tampa Ray… Sheriff Daniels recognizes clearly that Gillum is certainly NOT the best choice to represent Florida now, and the future.
Chelly
October 30, 2018 at 12:23 pm
TRUTH
Bruce griffin
October 27, 2018 at 8:13 pm
Sheriff, you are a good moral man, gollum is a poor sell out for the fools of the left like sorros and ignorant blind people want to ruin this great Country. Make America Great Again. Press on sir!
Harry
October 27, 2018 at 9:00 pm
This debate is pathetic, void of consistency. People behave like sport fanatic, it is not up to the expectation of decent and knowledgeable citizens. Shame on thrashtalkers!
Frankie M.
October 27, 2018 at 9:04 pm
He’s an Uncle Tom plain & simple.. Too bad he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions. Much easier (not to mention lucrative) to go with the crowd than stand against it. Democrats believe in education & rehabilitation. Republicans believe in law & order & mandatory minimums. One of these approaches hasn’t been working the last 20 years. Guess which one?
Mike FL
October 28, 2018 at 11:58 pm
Democratic politicians don’t believe in laws or law enforcement. They don’t care about the problems of the black community. They see people and think “how can we divide and conquer”. Race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin…all identities the Democratic party uses to create division. Has the party helped any group it “fights for”? Black on black murder rates are sky high in major cities, all of which are run by Democrats. The number of black children born out of wedlock and living in poverty is appalling. Abortion, a key issue for Democrats, has taken the life of tens of millions of African American children in this country.
Legal Latino citizens are viewed as one group with the illegal immigrants in the racist eyes of the Democrats. Women and gays have taken a back seat to the Progressives’ newest identity group, transgenders. In a great irony, men (dressed as women) are now winning women competitions, including Jenner getting named “Woman of the Year” and a boy earning the title of Cover Girl. Feminist teachings have destroyed masculinity and gender roles, which has resulted in women having to take the lead in their households, become bread winners and play mommy to the man in the lives. The #MeToo movement is just going to exacerbate this problem too. Good luck, ladies, in ever finding Prince Charming!
The Democratic Party’s priorities will continue to evolve because they are not founded in principles. The beauty of MAGA is that it includes all Americans. White, black, man, woman, gay, straight…who cares. Let’s make this country better and stop prioritizing the needs and will of individual identity groups and foreigners over what is best for all citizens. The one identity that we should band together under for the benefit of future generations is that of our nation. E Pluribus Unum.
Craig Wells
October 27, 2018 at 9:05 pm
Sheriff Daniels is NOT a sellout to his race, he is a protector of the Constitution, his race and all Floridians!! Andrew Gillum is on mission to destroy Florida!
Marcus
October 29, 2018 at 8:50 am
When Gillum gets elected, and he WILL get elected, that’s when payback to the racist white man begins.
So many years of white people, especially the white man, kicking us, and beating us down, telling us we’re unworthy or unqualified are about to be corrected. Andrew Gillum, I believe, understands this.
Reparations NOW for the African-American community.
It’s long overdue.
Seber Newsome III
October 29, 2018 at 11:34 am
Such racist bullshit, how about Blacks owe Whites for a free boat ride to America, how about them reparations? But, Gillum is not going to win, God will not allow it!!!!!
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