Suicide Pact at RPOF
8:56 AM
by Nick Stone of Drawnlines Politics.
Florida Democrats knew a year ago they couldn't win the Governor's Mansion or take the Republican senate seat from the GOP. Their only hope was for Republicans to erupt in civil war while the Dems snuck in under cover. If too many false populists join a coalition of right-minded but shortsighted patriots, that Hail Mary plan may just come to fruition. I fear for my party if we sign a suicide pact.
State Party Chairman Jim Greer was recently backed into a corner as calls for his resignation gained steam and made the execution of his job a complete nightmare. Think on the level of Palin or Nixon to truly understand the backbiting, heckling, undermining, and sheer volume of the attacks on his leadership. Whether you were a fan of Greer's leadership, his personal support of Governor Crist over tea party lovechild Marco Rubio, or the party finances under his control is far from the point. Loud, public displays against members of our own party are horrifying and juvenile. That my dear friends is why we have elections. If party leaders are so upset, they should voice your rage at the RPOF Quarterly rather than Channel 7 news. (read more...)
Instead of solving our problems within the family, RPOF leaders have risen into a growing chorus of sycophantic chants that party finances should come out into the open for all to see. Get the bad news out in the open so we can move beyond it, the thinking goes. People already know that money was badly misspent, donors are furious, and voters will be wary. This is our opportunity to show transparency prove that "those people" don't have party credit cards anymore.
What a disastrous mentality indeed!
The latest wave of Watergate-level hysteria from quasi-populists in the RPOF comes, not surprisingly from underdogs in heated races. Paula Dockery has recently been joined by Governor Crist who is trailing in the polls by Marco Rubio and (I'll be the first to admit) needs a game changer to turn momentum back in his favor in the Senate race. It's no coincidence that Crist pointed out he never had a party credit card and knows that his challenger did. What a tremendous opportunity to nitpick any and all purchases, and Crist isn't alone in the foul. These people are putting their own personal gain above the party.
The giddy anticipation of such a stupid GOP move is almost palpable, and Florida Democrats are popping the popcorn as we discuss it. Pouncing on the wide opening as Republicans shoot their own foot off, Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman sent an urgent message to AG McCollum (through the media, mind you) calling on him to open an investigation into the matter. Here's the basic message:
TO: Miami Herald
CC: Attorney General Bill McCollum
Dear Mr. McCollum,
We welcome the opportunity to put you in an impossible position as AG while we mount a challenge against you for governor. Opening up your party finances, which are private and absolutely none of my party's business, offers Florida Democrats a wonderful chance to peek inside your party's secrets and determine how you have allocated resources to kick my party's butt time and time again.
Your new best friend forever, Karen Thurman
PS~ If you could editorialize this to make the RPOF look even more stupid that'd be great! xoxo
On February 11th, Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a statement indicating that he too is upset over the implications of impropriety, adding that he is confident that a thorough internal audit will take place as first priority upon the new state party chairman taking office. McCollum implied a leeriness over the idea of alleging or pursuing criminal charges until an internal audit is complete. He may be the one Republican in the state that doesn't need Ms. Thurman to teach him how to do his job, thank you very much.
I mean honestly! How stupid does my party have to be to release this proprietary information through anything other than an internal audit? Just the fact that we are talking about it in public at all is a breach of trust in the party as well as bad politics. It wasn't Democrats or voters that brought this mess to light, it was our own party faithful. It could have and should have been dealt with as an internal matter, not a public circus. But people just can't avoid the urge to score political points in an election year.
Bottom line: Why don't we just FedEx the damn party playbook right to Karen Thurman?! The more public we take this fight, the more the Democrats benefit. Underdog Republican candidates and well-meaning but shortsighted party faithful need to take a step back, look at the big picture, and zip their lips to the media. Behind closed doors, they also need to make sure a thorough internal audit is completed to everybody's satisfaction. We're just going to have to put the good of the party and the state ahead of personal gain.
Then let's come together and keep the Governor's Mansion and senate seat. That is the ballgame.
There's ALWAYS something new happening at Drawnlines Politics.
For videos and archives visit our homepage
Check out our new Election Center!
Florida Democrats knew a year ago they couldn't win the Governor's Mansion or take the Republican senate seat from the GOP. Their only hope was for Republicans to erupt in civil war while the Dems snuck in under cover. If too many false populists join a coalition of right-minded but shortsighted patriots, that Hail Mary plan may just come to fruition. I fear for my party if we sign a suicide pact.
State Party Chairman Jim Greer was recently backed into a corner as calls for his resignation gained steam and made the execution of his job a complete nightmare. Think on the level of Palin or Nixon to truly understand the backbiting, heckling, undermining, and sheer volume of the attacks on his leadership. Whether you were a fan of Greer's leadership, his personal support of Governor Crist over tea party lovechild Marco Rubio, or the party finances under his control is far from the point. Loud, public displays against members of our own party are horrifying and juvenile. That my dear friends is why we have elections. If party leaders are so upset, they should voice your rage at the RPOF Quarterly rather than Channel 7 news. (read more...)
Instead of solving our problems within the family, RPOF leaders have risen into a growing chorus of sycophantic chants that party finances should come out into the open for all to see. Get the bad news out in the open so we can move beyond it, the thinking goes. People already know that money was badly misspent, donors are furious, and voters will be wary. This is our opportunity to show transparency prove that "those people" don't have party credit cards anymore.
What a disastrous mentality indeed!
The latest wave of Watergate-level hysteria from quasi-populists in the RPOF comes, not surprisingly from underdogs in heated races. Paula Dockery has recently been joined by Governor Crist who is trailing in the polls by Marco Rubio and (I'll be the first to admit) needs a game changer to turn momentum back in his favor in the Senate race. It's no coincidence that Crist pointed out he never had a party credit card and knows that his challenger did. What a tremendous opportunity to nitpick any and all purchases, and Crist isn't alone in the foul. These people are putting their own personal gain above the party.
The giddy anticipation of such a stupid GOP move is almost palpable, and Florida Democrats are popping the popcorn as we discuss it. Pouncing on the wide opening as Republicans shoot their own foot off, Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman sent an urgent message to AG McCollum (through the media, mind you) calling on him to open an investigation into the matter. Here's the basic message:
TO: Miami Herald
CC: Attorney General Bill McCollum
Dear Mr. McCollum,
We welcome the opportunity to put you in an impossible position as AG while we mount a challenge against you for governor. Opening up your party finances, which are private and absolutely none of my party's business, offers Florida Democrats a wonderful chance to peek inside your party's secrets and determine how you have allocated resources to kick my party's butt time and time again.
Your new best friend forever, Karen Thurman
PS~ If you could editorialize this to make the RPOF look even more stupid that'd be great! xoxo
On February 11th, Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a statement indicating that he too is upset over the implications of impropriety, adding that he is confident that a thorough internal audit will take place as first priority upon the new state party chairman taking office. McCollum implied a leeriness over the idea of alleging or pursuing criminal charges until an internal audit is complete. He may be the one Republican in the state that doesn't need Ms. Thurman to teach him how to do his job, thank you very much.
I mean honestly! How stupid does my party have to be to release this proprietary information through anything other than an internal audit? Just the fact that we are talking about it in public at all is a breach of trust in the party as well as bad politics. It wasn't Democrats or voters that brought this mess to light, it was our own party faithful. It could have and should have been dealt with as an internal matter, not a public circus. But people just can't avoid the urge to score political points in an election year.
Bottom line: Why don't we just FedEx the damn party playbook right to Karen Thurman?! The more public we take this fight, the more the Democrats benefit. Underdog Republican candidates and well-meaning but shortsighted party faithful need to take a step back, look at the big picture, and zip their lips to the media. Behind closed doors, they also need to make sure a thorough internal audit is completed to everybody's satisfaction. We're just going to have to put the good of the party and the state ahead of personal gain.
Then let's come together and keep the Governor's Mansion and senate seat. That is the ballgame.
There's ALWAYS something new happening at Drawnlines Politics.
For videos and archives visit our homepage
Check out our new Election Center!
Posted by Nick Stone
on 8:56 AM.
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