Janelle Irwin Taylor
Republican Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano has never voted for a Democrat for President.
That changes this year.
Fasano, a moderate who considers himself a “Reagan Republican,” announced via a new ad Thursday that he plans to cast his ballot this year for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The ad begins with Fasano introducing his political career, beginning as president of the Pasco County Young Republicans and then later as an elected member of the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate, where he held leadership roles in both.
He also described his appointment to his current Tax Collector role by Republican Gov. Rick Scott, a job for which he was subsequently reelected.
“Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to know I’m as Republican as it gets, a conservative Republican,” Fasano says in the ad.
“But Donald Trump is an embarrassment.”
Not just to the nation, Fasano explains, but “to our country, and to the rest of the world.”
“His lack of decency, compassion, integrity, and patriotism is so far removed from the Reagan Revolution — which included Reagan Democrats and Reagan independents — it’s unrecognizable,” he continues.
Fasano, in the closing days of the 2020 presidential campaign, explains to voters that “we have to get back to these values, regardless of party labels.”
Fasano is one of many Republicans nationwide bucking the party he loves for the country he loves more, as he puts it. Newsweek highlighted nearly 600 prominent Republicans who are backing Biden this year, including the most recent, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who offered his endorsement earlier this week.
Others include former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the late U.S. Sen. John McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, and daughter, Meghan McCain, former George W. Bush-era Secretary of State Colin Powell and a host of former Trump administration staffers, among others.
Perhaps the most notable GOP support for Biden comes from The Lincoln Project, a group of current and former Republicans heading a nationwide campaign to overthrow the Trump presidency including blistering digital, cable and broadcast ads.
Locally, Fasano’s support for Biden could resonate. The red county loves its Tax Collector almost with the same vigor Polk County loves its Sheriff, Grady Judd. His opinion carries weight that could push some reluctant Trump voters to Biden’s side.
With Trump polling just behind Biden in Florida, even a small shift in Pasco County support could make a difference in who claims Florida’s 29 electoral votes.
Trump won Pasco County over former rival Hillary Clinton in 2016 with 56% of the vote to her 37%. Trump needs to maintain or exceed support in red counties in order to again carry Florida, a must win on his path to victory.
If he loses ground in safe counties, like Pasco, it puts a greater burden on his campaign to over-perform in blue counties like neighboring Hillsborough.
But, according to local polls, neither of those things are happening. A recent Hillsborough poll put Trump behind Biden 55% to 42%. Clinton one the district four years ago with just 52% of the vote.
Worse, in Pinellas County, a poll put Trump behind Biden more than 13 points. He won Pinellas in 2016 by just over 1%, which represents a 15 point shift from his performance in his first election.
With many pundits speculating about “shy” Trump voters, Democrats are hoping plenty of Republicans disenchanted with Trump’s brand of conservatism are willing to do what Fasano promises in his new ad.
“My name is Mike Fasano and in 2020, I’m a Biden Republican,” Fasano closes.
Fmr. GOP Majority Leader of the Florida House, President Pro Temp. of the Senate, & Rick Scott Appointee @FasanoMike endorses @JoeBiden for President.
"I love my party, but I love my country more. In 2020, I'm a #BidenRepublican." pic.twitter.com/zv084QjcKd
— Kevin Cate (@KevinCate) October 29, 2020
9 comments
Ray Blacklidge
October 29, 2020 at 1:47 pm
Mike is a likable guy who has never held a real World job. The Republican Party handed him the Pasco County Tax Collector position to get him out of Tallahassee. Mike Fasano will lie to you with a smile on his face and shouldn’t be trusted. It’s no surprise he wouldn’t back a swamp buster like Donald Trump because he not only lives in the swamp, he thrives there.
LINDIESUE
October 29, 2020 at 2:02 pm
Let’s see who’s embarrassing. Have witnessed Biden sniff, rub, kiss the hair of very young girls. Have witnessed him whisper in their ears. He told a group of Jamaican young girls in Miami that “You can dance for me in 4 years” just a couple of weeks ago. He said that he allowed children to rub his hairy legs in public pools. He has said he loves it when children sit in his lap. He is a racist. He and the Dems use people of color and promise them the moon and the stars every election cycle, but NEVER keep their promises. The LEFT have called my conservative biracial sons tokens, traitors to their race, not black enough. How proud you must be liberal women voting for Biden.Not to mention the spying by the Obama/Biden Administration. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Tuesday declassified documents (John Brennan’s personal notes) that revealed former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton’s purported “plan” to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server” ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Fox News has learned.
Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith pled guilty to making a false statement which is just the beginning of the fallout from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the Russia investigation. Clinesmith a “corrupt FBI attorney,” was part of former FBI Director James Comey’s “very corrupt FBI.””That’s just the beginning, You’ll be hearing more.”The Department of Justice charging document states that Clinesmith “did willfully and knowingly make and use a false writing and document, knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry in a matter before the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the Government of the United States.”
To date, dozens of FBI/DOJ officials have been fired/demoted/resigned confirms that the swamp is being drained!!!! Much ink has been spilled in detailing the machinations of Comey, McCabe, Strzok, and Lisa Page, as well as other former DOJ officials such as Loretta Lynch, Sally Yates, and Bruce Ohr. Shockingly, Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, worked for the Clinton-financed Fusion GPS—the firm behind the infamous anti-Trump dossier.Thanks to three brave Americans, we now know that Joe Biden has long misled the public about his involvement with his family’s foreign business entanglements while he served as vice president. At considerable personal risk, former Biden family business partners Tony Bobulinski and Bevan Cooney, and computer shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac, have come forward with tens of thousands of primary-source documents — internal corporate records, emails, and text messages — detailing years of business dealings that centered on trading on the Biden name. This material suggests that, despite Joe Biden’s insistence that he knew nothing about his family’s business deals, he was well aware of his son Hunter Biden’s business ventures in China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and elsewhere. These new troves constitute hard evidence of Biden family corruption, and confirm our reporting dating back to our 2018 book “Secret Empires.”
How about the Biden family pay for play scandal? Thanks to three brave Americans, we now know that Joe Biden has long misled the public about his involvement with his family’s foreign business entanglements while he served as vice president. At considerable personal risk, former Biden family business partners Tony Bobulinski and Bevan Cooney, and computer shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac, have come forward with tens of thousands of primary-source documents — internal corporate records, emails, and text messages — detailing years of business dealings that centered on trading on the Biden name. This material suggests that, despite Joe Biden’s insistence that he knew nothing about his family’s business deals, he was well aware of his son Hunter Biden’s business ventures in China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and elsewhere. These new troves constitute hard evidence of Biden family corruption, and confirm our reporting dating back to our 2018 book “Secret Empires.”
The therapeutic Trump was given when at Walter Reed did not exist prior to COVID. It exists as a result of the President’s efforts to expedite (Operation Warp Speed) therapeutics, vaccines, ventilators, masks, tests and on (there were none as a result of the Obama/Biden Administration who let the stockpile dwindle.) Under Obama/Biden, over 60,000,000 Americans were infected with H1N1. Per Biden’s Chief of Staff: The snafu was the first of many scrambles and setbacks by the Obama administration in its initial response to the swine flu. POLITICO interviewed almost two dozen people, including administration officials, members of Congress and outsiders who contended with the administration’s response, and they described a litany of sadly familiar obstacles: vaccine shortfalls, fights over funding and sometimes contradictory messaging.”
“It is purely a fortuity that this isn’t one of the great mass casualty events in American history,” Ron Klain, who was Biden’s chief of staff at the time, said of H1N1 in 2019. “It had nothing to do with us doing anything right. It just had to do with luck.”
The same therapeutic that helped Trump he is now working on expediting its availability to the public.
In his February 4th State of the Union address, President Trump pledged to “take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from the virus.” Nancy Pelosi then ripped up the Address in front of the world. The President: Took early action to cut off travel from China and eventually Europe, which saved millions of lives; Built the world’s leading testing system from nothing (more than 65 million); Enacted mitigation measures to slow the spread; Mobilized public and private sectors to secure needed supplies; Took action to protect vulnerable Americans; Launched effort to deliver a vaccine and therapeutics in record time; Provided support to workers and businesses; Paved way for reopening to get America working again; Surged resources to hot spots as they arose.
In order to secure the supplies (PPE/ Masks/ventilators/handsanitizer/testing supplies urging private companies to produce them) needed to confront the surge in coronavirus we faced, President Trump led the largest mobilization of public and private sector resources since WWII.President Trump has acted under the Defense Production Act more than 30 times to ensure we have the supplies we need. When we faced a potentially catastrophic shortage of ventilators, President Trump took action to produce 100,000 ventilators and ensure no patient who needs one goes without a ventilator. President Trump moved swiftly to protect vulnerable communities.The Administration is investing approximately $2 billion in community health centers, helping their 28 million patients in medically underserved areas receive the care and testing they need.
Early in the fight against the virus, President Trump launched a historic effort to develop a vaccine and therapeutics in record time.
President Trump responded to the devastating toll the virus took on our businesses and workers and secured unprecedented financial support – through PPP, stimulus payments, tax relief to workers, unemployment benefits, student debt relief, prevented evictions or foreclosure.The President has provided support to states facing new emergences of the virus, including surging testing sites, deploying medical personnel, and advising on mitigation strategies.
LINDIESUE
October 29, 2020 at 2:03 pm
Let’s see now, who is really embarrassing and despicable? Joe Biden is a racist. At a fundraiser, Joe Biden pulled a Joe Biden, stirring up controversy after speaking off the cuff about his fond memories of working alongside segregationist senators
May 2020: “You ain’t black.”
In an interview with “The Breakfast Club,” the presumptive Democratic nominee told host Charlamagne tha God, “I tell you if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” before defending his record with the black community.
August 2019: “Poor kids” just as bright as “white kids”
At a campaign event in Iowa, Biden told supporters “poor kids are just as bright and talented as white kids.” He quickly corrected himself after some applause by adding: “Wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids.”
June 2019: “The kid wearing a hoodie.”
While discussing the need for criminal justice reform at a luncheon last year, Biden said “We’ve got to recognize that the kid wearing a hoodie may very well be the next poet laureate and not a gangbanger,” Biden said. Biden quickly drew criticism for his use of the word “gangbanger.” Former presidential candidate Cory Booker said Biden “needs to have the language to talk about race in a far more constructive way.”
August 2012: “Put y’all back in chains”
Then-Vice President Biden told a Virginia audience (NAACP) that then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s financial regulation lifts would “put y’all back in chains.”
“He said in the first 100 days, he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules,” Biden said. “Unchain Wall Street! They’re gonna put y’all back in chains.”
February 2007:
Biden, while running for the 2008 presidency, issued what he thought was praise of then-Senator Barack Obama, saying he was “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.”
2006: “You can’t go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent”
July 2020: Biden sparked controversy across social media on Wednesday after a preview clip from the interview (black host) showed a separate tense exchange with CBS News correspondent Errol Barnett on whether the former VP has taken a cognitive test. “No, I haven’t taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test? Come on, man. That’s like saying you, before you (the host) got on this program, you take a test where you’re taking cocaine or not. What do you think? Huh? Are you a junkie?” Biden told Barnett, who is Black.
Biden accusing a black man of being a junkie is the latest in the ugly racist stereotypes Biden’s trafficked in during this campaign.
August 2020: Biden responded. “And by the way, what you all know, but most people don’t know, unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things.”
September 2020 Biden: “The reason I was able to stay sequestered in my home was because some black woman was able to stock the grocery shelf.”
Sonja Fitch
October 29, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Thank you ! It is patriotic to vote for America! Not surprising that Reagan Republicans are Biden Republicans! The honor and truth and empathy are hallmarks of Reagan Republicans now Biden Republicans! The filth and vulgarity and lies of the goptrump death cult leader Trump is repulsive to most! Vote Democrat for the common good!
Mary Nachbar
October 29, 2020 at 2:59 pm
You can tell by some of these responses that there are die hard “Republicans” who will vote for the party, no matter how deplorable the candidate. Thank you, Mike Fasano, for standing up for human decency.
Booner
October 29, 2020 at 4:12 pm
Republicans are abandoning Trump. In droves! Unprecedented party repudiation.
Trump = Carnival barker, crude, odious kook. Bad for America.
The Cult exists bigly. Lemmings and sheep. Watch what happens in the coming weeks when they hit the bottom of the cliff.
James Robert Miles
October 29, 2020 at 9:12 pm
Supporting Trump means getting voted out in the next election just as it should be!
MIKE EVANS
October 30, 2020 at 11:38 am
Good job Mike Fasano. Like you I am a life long conservative and staunch Republican. I disliked Trump from afar for decades as he bullishly stumbled through abandoned real estate and busted up the USFL and exhibited complete lack of any compassion and morality. He’s a vicious adolescent bully! He truly is an embarrassment to the office of President. He doesn’t have the capacity to change so we might as well get rid of him now. Not happy with Biden either it’s a tough day for America, but Trumps gotta go.
Steve Davis
October 30, 2020 at 11:48 am
A Biden Republican is still a leftist. Fortunately there are massive numbers of moderate Democrats who love our country and do NOT want to live under communist rule. Not to mention Lbgtqrstuvwxyz folks, blacks, Hispanics, millennials, and ESP people who have fled the HORRORS of communism for our still great nation, who get it and are voting for Trump. Line for line, item for item, Trump blows Biden away! Biden’s communist platform, proposed cabinet, his gaffs, lack of civility, decency, compassion, etc, not only has strengthened his base, but has brought THE SILENT MAJORITY out of the shadows! TRUMP 2020 !!!
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