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Thursday, August 9, 2012

Democrats trying to help Todd Long?

Is it just me, or do the Congressional primaries in Florida this year seem weirder and wackier than usual?

The contest for District 9 is no exception. Besides the Republicans competing in their primary, the constant sideshow antics of Alan Grayson, the Democrat who moved to the district in order to pursue a second shot at Congress, never cease to entertain.


Then there is this mailer, which arrived in Republican voters' mailboxes this week:


The text of the mailer reads as follows:
Todd Long and his Tea Party allies will never compromise with President Obama for us.
Todd Long is a Tea Party conservative who would rather shut down the government than compromise on President Obama's agenda.
He won't compromise on the Obama agenda and he'll side with the Tea Party in Congress by: 
  • Repealing President Obama's health care reform law
  • Standing up against abortion
  • Eliminating the Department of Education
  • Opposing President Obama's pathway for citizenship for undocumented workers
Vote No on Todd Long: a Tea Party Conservative who won't compromise for us.
Republican primary voters tend to be more conservative than the overall electorate, so this is pretty strange language to use in a primary election. Also, in addition to association with the Tea Party, opposition to ObamaCare, abortion, the DREAM Act, and support for shrinking or eliminating federal agencies are all general viewed as favorable by conservatives. 

There aren't any real "hits" in this mail piece, only phrases that may look like attacks on first glance but which are actually designed to favorably influence a certain type of primary voter.

In other words, this bizarre mailer seems to be attempting to argue the exact opposite of what it actually says. It's the equivalent of an ad that said, "It has ice cream, and whipped cream, and a cherry on top...but just say NO to ice cream sundaes!"

Here's a crucial clue: the disclaimer at the bottom of the mailer says:
Paid for by House Majority PAC, thehousemajoritypac.com Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
House Majority PAC's website describes themselves this way on their website:
House Majority PAC is an independent-expenditure only committee (often called a “Super PAC”) that is designed to hold Republicans accountable and help win back the House Majority for Democrats. House Majority PAC is committed to building a long-term organization that can take on the Republican outside groups in the battle for the House Majority.
They didn't even bother to hide it. This is a organization of Democrats, committed to helping Democratic candidates get elected to Congress.

So why are they helping Long? Who among the Democrats wants to help him in the primary? Are they unsatisfied with Grayson or do they think that Long will be easier for Grayson to beat than one of the other candidates?

[For what it's worth, I don't honestly believe that Long is colluding with Democrats. And, to Long's credit, when I spoke to him on the phone about a week ago, he immediately rejected Guetzloe's endorsement of his campaign.]

Six days left in this crazy roller coaster of a primary. Fasten your seatbelts, it's only going to get weirder...

2 comments:

  1. It's always amusing to see you try so hard to figure out what's really golng on.

    Politics 101.

    Promethius.

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    Replies
    1. Heh. You've never seen a writer ask a question to which she already knows the answer? That's adorable. Bless your heart.

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