Peter Schorsch
Things just went from bad to seriously worse for Rep. Margaret Good and her campaign for Florida’s 16th Congressional District.
In fact, if the latest in a series of stumbles isn’t rock bottom, I’m afraid to imagine what is.
As we first reported, the Democrat came under fire recently for a video her staff circulated that used the “n” word and mocked civil rights icon Rosa Parks and used derogatory terms to describe women — not a good look for a candidate hoping to capitalize on partisan qualms over civil rights and gender equality.
The video was so repulsive, the editorial board for the only newspaper serving the black community in Sarasota and Manatee counties is denouncing Good.
The Tempo News called on Good to officially “apologize for the racist video.”
The scathing editorial cites George Floyd’s murder and ongoing racial injustice as motivating factors in the Black Lives Matter movement and takes Good to task. They called on her to not only apologize, but fire the aide who circulated the offending video.
Good refused to comment to the newspaper, but, as is par for the course for her, swiftly and quietly deleted a Tweet she posted last week saying “The Tempo News is an important voice in the community.”
This is unfortunately the latest stumble in a campaign that was all hype and no substance. From the suspicious exit of her loyal campaign manager to violating multiple state and federal elections laws, one has to wonder if Good’s campaign is on life support.
If I’m Sarah Silverman, Tony Goldwyn and other Broadway celebs scheduled to host a fundraiser for Good next week, I’m calling my publicist and pulling the plug. I can’t imagine they want to be dragged into this controversy.
There’s perhaps a broader message in all of this. Good had a positive trajectory in the Legislature. She was a darling among statewide Democrats, successfully flipping a red seat blue, a seat that now is under very real threat of being flipped back.
Instead of riding that wave through her terms in the House and eventually into the Senate and higher office thereafter, Good jumped ship, hoping to dethrone the political giant that is Vern Buchanan in the U.S. House of Representatives.
It was a tall task to begin with, but one for which a case could be made, given the expectation that disdain toward President Donald Trump could buoy down-ballot Democrats simply by virtue of not being in the party of the President.
Good is proving, with a series of misguided blunders, that contempt for Trump alone is not enough to topple incumbents. In a state where Democrats have managed to challenge almost every single Republican incumbent in state House and Senate seats, her race offers a cautionary tale.
