Haridopocalypse: Mike Haridopolos meltdown on talk radio program

Mike Haridopolos' campaign strategy has been looking more and more like it's being run by the Titanic's navigation team. After what happened yesterday, it's getting closer to the Hindenburg-crashing-into-Titanic level of disaster.

Haridopocalypse 2012: World's Worst Campaign Strategy?

Haridopolos made an appearance on conservative talk radio host Ray Junior's program, and ran into a pile of trouble when he was asked about Paul Ryan's budget plan. Haridopolos repeatedly refused to answer the question, over and over, making Junior extremely frustrated, to the point where he kicked Haridopolos off the show.

Here's the video of how it all went down:

YouTube | RayJuniorShow | Tuesday May 31, 2011 - Haridopolos Kicked Off Show

Marc Caputo has an excellent blog post about the incident here, with a transcript of the show, and this great comment:

After repeated efforts to get a straight answer out of Haridopolos, the exasperated host finally said "get rid of him." Will voters do the same if Haridopolos keeps it up?

Exactly. I am absolutely flabbergasted that someone who wants to run for the United States Senate refuses to answer a simple question about how he would vote on a significant and current Republican budget proposal. Haridopolos' answer that his vote on the Ryan plan is nothing more than a "hypothetical" is one of the worst waffles I've heard from a politician in a long time.

The Waffle™: The Official Mascot of the Haridopolos 2012 Campaign

Someone needs to get Haridopolos a dictionary so he can look up "hypothetical." (Heck, it comes from a Greek word, "hupothetikos" so you would think he might understand it!) A hypothetical is a situation based on conjecture, a statement or idea thought to be true but unproven. The Ryan plan is no hypothetical. It's a real and specific budget plan that was brought up for a vote this week. It's on the internet! You can read the entire plan, along with summaries and discussion notes yourself.

Also, it's not like the Ryan plan just came out yesterday. Ryan's catchy little YouTube video describing his plan was posted on April 4th, almost two months ago. Haridopolos has had plenty of time to hire someone to read it for him and advise him what's in it. Instead, Haridopolos has repeatedly refused to give a direct answer about how he would have voted on this important legislation.

For the record, note that George LeMieux has also repeatedly ducked the question about whether he would have voted for the Ryan plan.

Only Adam Hasner has had the backbone to step forward and say that he would have voted for the Ryan budget, telling Ken Blackwell at the National Review that he would vote for it "without hesitation," because "the alternatives are rationed care and declining healthcare options, watching Social Security and Medicare slowly go bankrupt, or America faltering under the weight of unsustainable entitlement programs.”

Friends, we have three choices in the 2012 Republican Senate primary: a waffle, Charlie Crist's "maestro," or an actual conservative who has the backbone to give a straight answer to the vital question for any candidate for public office: how will you vote?
 

As for my vote, it's going to Adam Hasner.

UPDATE: Here's some more articles about Haridopolos' talk radio disaster:

RedState | Erick Erickson | Why Adam Hasner remains the conservative choice for Florida
POLITICO | David Catanese | Host hangs up on Haridopolos
Huffington Post | Mike Haridopolos Kicked Off Radio Show For Refusing To Say How He'd Vote On Paul Ryan's Budget (VIDEO) 
Post on Politics | Senate prez booted off conservative talk show
Orlando Sentinel | Central Florida Political Pulse | Haridopolos gets hung up on by Ray Junior Show
Orlando Sentinel | Orlando Opinionators | Mike Haridopolos implodes
Wall Street Journal | Radio Host Hangs Up On Mike Haridopolos After He Ducks Questions On Ryan Plan

UPDATE #2: The damage control efforts have begun. Good luck with that. Note that even in the text of a press release that was presumably written and vetted by his communications staff, he still isn't giving a direct answer.

The Shark Tank | Haridopolos Goes on the Record with Support of Ryan Plan
Orlando Sentinel | Central Florida Political Pulse | So Senator H., tell us what you really think

[Cross-posted at The Minority Report and RedState]