Is Debbie Wasserman Schultz Maneuvering To Get Charlie Crist Into The Senate?

Saturday, Florida Democrats had their big Jefferson-Jackson fundraiser at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood (the Hollywood in political boss Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Florida congressional district, not the actual Hollywood). The haul was reported to be around $850,000 and the theme was defeating Rick Scott next year when he tries for a second term as governor. Wasserman Schultz, however, used the conclave to continue trying to persuade Democrats that lifelong Republican Charlie Crist is not only a Democrat but has always been a Democrat. If she ever, by the grace of God, is defeated, she can certainly get a job at the Ministry of Truth.

Wasserman Schultz is pushing Crist for the gubernatorial nomination on actual Democrats, although the latest rumors is that her cabal is trying to get Bill Nelson to run for governor and then appoint Crist to his empty Senate seat. His non-denial denial-- “I have no plans to run for governor. I have no intention of running for governor"-- is less than convincing.

“We welcome anyone who decides that their views and their values line up with the Democratic Party,” she said, before running through a list of actions Crist took as governor that she said demonstrated his true colors: extending voting hours because of long lines in the 2008 presidential election, making it easier for felons who have served their time to get their civil rights restored and getting rid of touch screen voting and implementing paper ballots.

“There are a lot of examples that Charlie Crist has in his record as a Republican that I think he probably decided that he lined up more with our party’s values than theirs and we welcome that.

“We are not, unlike the Republicans, a party that requires a rigid adherence to extreme dogma. We are a big tent. The true definition of a big tent. So we have blue dogs and we have yellow dogs. We have more progressive members and we have conservative Democrats. We all come together around core values and we support a core agenda.”

Wasserman Schultz, as we mentioned Sunday, blocked gubernatorial candidate Nan Rich from speaking and has San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro give the keynote address. He gave her a Spurs jersey with the initials "DWS." Meanwhile Crist showed up claiming he was there so he could “meet some of the nicest people I’ve ever met: Florida Democrats. I’m just listening and enjoying the opportunity… Just listening to people and hearing what they have to say.” He was accompanied by veteran Democratic strategist, Ashley Walker, who ran President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in Florida.

Nan Rich, the only Democratic candidate for governor who is officially in the race, has been traveling the state for the past year.

She’s made more than 200 campaign stops, something she said would pay off in next year’s primary and general election. “I believe strongly very strongly in grassroots activism. I come from community activism. It re-elected Barack Obama and will elect the next governor of the state,” she told a gathering of Democratic state representatives.

Rich said she’s finding women are ready for the state’s first female governor, to which state Rep. Reggie Fullwood, D-Jacksonville, yelled out, “Some men are too.”

In a comment aimed at likely gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist-- who was a Republican when he was governor before and is now a Democrat-- Rich described herself as “a lifelong Democrat. I have certain values and priorities and you all know what they are because you all share them. The truth is so many people around this state share them.”

Rich brought her message to small groups meeting throughout the day, including a bout 60 people gathered for the meeting of state legislators and about 100 people at the state Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus.

But she was denied a speaking slot at the big dinner, where more than 1,200 people are expected. The state Democratic Party leadership said it’s to streamline the program after complaints the dinner usually lasts too long; Rich supporters think the party leaders are trying to grease the skids for Crist.

Rich has received a publicity bonanza in recent weeks over the state party’s decision.

“This is kind of a blessing in disguise because the media attention... is incredible,” she said. Reporters who didn’t give her campaign any attention “now all of a sudden they’re calling and wanting to know what I have to say.”

Republicans have had a field day accusing Democrats of silencing one of their own. Their “Free Nan Rich” campaign includes mailers and an automated Robocall to Democrats, and a drumbeat of press release taunting the Democratic Party leadership.

Rich said she’s been getting good consideration from grassroots party activists. She said 300 people she’s met from her year of campaigning attended a Friday night reception.

...Randy Fleisher, president of an unofficial Democratic group called the Davie Dem Club, was sporting a “Nan” sticker.

He said Rich has “great credentials.”

He said he’s frustrated that some in the party leadership appear to be eager for a Crist candidacy.

“The party hierarchy is looking for a messiah to come in and win Florida.

“It doesn’t make any sense for me that the Democratic Party is waiting for Charlie Crist. I remember Chain Gang Charlie,” he said. “He’s a charmer, but that’s not what I want in a governor. I want somebody who’s right on the issues, and has been there since the beginning. Not somebody who is a wily weather vane. His big trick is spinning in the wind.”

When Wasserman Schultz talks about "a big tent," filled with Blue Dogs and Yellow Dogs, she doesn't mention that she herself is one of the only Democrats in a party leadership position to have joined a partisan caucus. She's one of the leaders of the corporately-owned New Dems, a conservative bunch of Wall Street careerists who are among the most corrupt Members of Congress, in either party. If Randy Fleisher ever tries to run for office, he may never have a direct confrontation with Wasserman Schultz but she'll make sure there's no room for him in her sickening version of the Big Tent.

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Can Florida Democrats Blow The 2014 Gubernatorial Race?

Last week, Florida politics expert Steve Schale had a cautiously optimistic analysis of how his state's electorate has changed since 2006 and what it portends for the future. Since the 2006 election, the total number of active registered voters in Florida has grown from 10,433.849 to 11,934,446 voters and of those million and a half new voters, 61% are either black or Hispanic. Here's the kicker: only 6% of them registered as Republicans. On top of that, over 50% of Hispanic voter registration growth has accrued to the Democrats, while the Republicans account for only 12%. Schale ends his post with a warning:

[M]any of the institutional party challenges remain. Recruiting good candidates down the ballot to build a farm team and creating a stable fundraising base, not just for the party, but to help the aforementioned candidates get off the ground. Both of these things would improve if a Democrat wins the Governor's Mansion in 2014.

Ah... yes, the Governor's Mansion in 2014. Intense buyer's remorse over Rick Scott is still the most salient feature of the electorate as the election approaches. But can the Democrats blow it? It was looking like the DC Democratic Establishment-- think Debbie Wasserman Schultz-- had locked up the nomination for Republican opportunist Charlie Crist, using the same tactics they used to shoehorn lifelong Republican Patrick Murphy-- a Crist crony-- into the 2012 congressional race against Allen West. I might mention that Murphy has been one of the absolute worst Democratic freshmen in Congress, not just consistently crossing the aisle to vote with the GOP on core issues, but undermining Democratic values among weak-minded freshmen and dragging them across the aisle as well. There's a lot of grumbling about the Crist inevitability meme Wasserman Schultz has been trying to get off the ground and now there is talk that the whispers among the Establishment creeps is that they'll get centrist Senator Bill Nelson to run for governor after all and have him appoint Crist to his Senate seat after he kicks Scott's ass. Everyone's happy-- except Democrats who don't want to see another conservative Republican in the Senate, even one calling himself a Democrat.

Another Florida politics expert, Peter Schorsch, pushed back against speculation that Crist isn't going to run for governor.

[Miami New Times' reporter Terrence] McCoy posits that Crist will not run because:

#5, Charlie Crist is all alone: “Though years have passed… and Crist has lured some high-profile supporters-- like Barack Obama-- they aren’t exactly the most loyal because Crist, himself, hasn’t been loyal.”

#4, His sweet deal with Morgan & Morgan: “Crist has it pretty good right now. He’s has a nice place along the bay in St. Pete, he has a high-paying job that allows him to exercise his high quota of pouts and brow furrows. This job allows Charlie Crist to live out his own caricature. If he ran for governor, he’d give up all of that...”

3, All the divorce drama: “As I recall the phrase ‘piece of shit’ came up often in conversation. and if Crist decides to run, it will again and again.”

#2, Who the fuck is Charlie Crist, anyway?: ” Though he dismisses the myriad flip-flops-- on gay marriage, on taxation, on health care reform-- as an evolution of thinking, they speak to a much broader issue in his politics. Voters aren’t stupid.”

And...

#1, He won’t win: “Those [unemployment] numbers are hard, and though Crist is undeniably more likable than Rick Scott, his economic performance has been substantially better...”

Pardon me, while I deconstruct these arguments better than Grant Achatz does a tomato.

First of all, Crist is not all alone. He actually has a better support system in place now than he during his previous campaigns for elected office. If Crist were ever alone, it was in 2006 when, running for Governor, he found himself surrounded by sycophants like Jim Greer, Delmar Johnson, and the like.

Today, Crist is a more grounded, more mature happily married man who is almost an entirely different person than he was a decade ago.

Crist’s critics were once so quick to dismiss his marriage as little more than stagecraft. Now those same critics are silent as Carole has become Charlie’s best friend and partner.

Crist has also returned to his St. Petersburg roots, mostly eschewing the Broward Republicanism that saw him turn his back on hometown allies. There are no George LeMieux’s around nowadays. And that’s a good thing. His old friends, like Bernie Campbell and Mike Hamby, are back in the picture.

As for the consultants and staff Crist would need to run a statewide campaign, how quickly would the printer run out of paper from the volume of resumes being e-mailed and faxed in were Crist to say he needed help. Crist has already put Dan Gelber and Steve Schale in his camp. His best political friend, Rep. Darryl Rouson, is the incoming leader of the House Democrats.

He’s also clearly the preferred choice of the last two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Alone, McCoy says. Hardly.

Regarding Crist’s sweet deal with Morgan & Morgan, it’s hard not laugh at the inclusion of this point as a reason Crist won’t run. After all, he joined Morgan & Morgan so that he had a place to hang out while he waited to run for Governor.

What, do you think Charlie’s fielding incoming slip-and-fall cases? Puh-leeze.

John Morgan is going to spend every cent he can to elect Crist, for no other reason than he wants to gut the Republican legislation gutting the state’s PIP laws. That system has been worth tens of millions of dollars to Morgan. Spending ten million or so to elect a Governor who can block further changes to the PIP system is simply a smart investment for Morgan.

One more counter-argument to this point: Say what you will about Charlie Crist, but the one thing he has never been motivated by is the pursuit of money. To think that Crist won’t run for Governor because he needs money to keep up his “nice place along the bay in St. Pete” (it’s actually just a two-bedroom number in the city’s oldest waterfront tower) is to completely misunderstand the man.

McCoy’s #3 reason why Crist won’t run for Governor wouldn’t make it into my own Top 50 reasons why Charlie won’t take the plunge. McCoy describes it as ” all of the divorce drama” and it refers to Carole Rome Crist’s ex-husband, Todd.

Crist has been dogged for thirty years by rumors of closeted homosexuality, so any time a story runs reminding people that he’s actually married to a smart, sophisticated, wealthy, gorgeous woman, it’s not a bad thing. That there is an ex-husband peddling stories about Carole being a subpar mother is the kind of gutter-talk Crist has always risen above.

Besides, the guy he will be running against did this. So if the 2014 election comes down to the word of a disgruntled ex-husband versus Scott’s record of corporate fraud, guess who wins that debate?

The Republican Party of Florida is attempting to already frame the campaign against Crist as an indictment of their former leader for his “myriad flip-flops-- on gay marriage, on taxation, on health care reform.”

Well, yeah, sure, Charlie has some explaining to do. Then again, who’s better at ‘plaining than good ol’ Charlie. Dude could talk his way out of a sunburn.

According to the last Quinnipiac poll, Florida voters say 50 – 40 percent that Crist’s switch from Republican to independent and now to Democrat is a positive thing that shows he is a pragmatist, rather than a negative thing that shows he lacks core beliefs.

“These numbers indicate Republicans will have a tough job turning around Crist’s lead over Scott by reminding voters of Crist’s evolution,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The numbers speak for themselves when addressing McCoy’s final point-- that Crist won’t win.

The last PPP poll: Crist 52%, Scott 40%; The last Q-poll: Crist 50%, Scott 34%.

Rick Scott and the Republicans will huff and puff and blow the house down with $150 million in attacks on Crist and all this will do is reinforce the negative perception voters have held of Scott since his first year in office. 

And therein lies the only legitimate reason why Crist won’t run for Governor. Not because of any of the five or fifteen or fifty McCoy might outline. Rather, it’s the possibility that Crist could very well win that he may not run. 

I don’t know if Charlie (or Carole) wants to again live in Tallahassee. I don’t know if he wants to preside over Cabinet meetings with Jeff Atwater and Pam Bondi beside him. I don’t know if he wants to be in charge of DBPR, DEP, DMS and the alphabet soup of the state bureaucracy.

I don’t know if Charlie wants to run for Governor because I don’t know if he wants to govern. And I say that as someone who knows him pretty well.

Yep... Crist would much prefer being a senator, no doubt about that. But does Bill Nelson want to live in Tallahassee? Can Obama and Wasserman Schultz persuade him to be a pawn in their little drama? And then there's Nan Rich, who really does want to govern Florida-- and govern Florida as a progressive. Wasserman Schultz and her machine are doing their best to make sure that never happens. Here's the speech Senator Rich wrote to give at this weekend's Florida Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson dinner-- a speech Wasserman Schultz made sure she would not be allowed to deliver:

Why I’m Running
June 14, 2013

Hello.

My name is Nan Rich and I am running for governor!

In November 2014, Florida’s voters will choose who will lead the state for the next 4 years.

Will they want to continue down a path paved with false promises and failed policies-- or are they ready to change direction-- change priorities-- and get Florida back on the right track?

Well... that’s an easy question for me to answer.

But what about you?

Are you ready to “Pink Slip Rick” and get Florida back on the right track?

During the 2010 Gubernatorial Campaign, Rick Scott made “Let’s get to work” his theme.

But we didn’t know then what it really meant. Since taking office, Rick Scott and the Right-wing Republican-led legislature really did get to work.

They worked to make it harder for people to vote.

They worked to undermine public education.

They worked to restrict women’s reproductive rights.

And they worked to block Floridians from the benefits of the Affordable Health Care Act.

None of these initiatives created even 1 job in Florida.

Worse yet, the Governor turned away more than $2.4 billion Federal dollars for a high- speed rail line that would have created over 20 thousand jobs and built new and valuable transportation infrastructure.

Governor Scott and the legislature also refused to request or accept tens of millions of Federal health care dollars that could have protected children against abuse and kept frail seniors out of nursing homes.

And, most recently, they refused to accept $51 billion dollars in federal funds-- our tax dollars-- to expand Medicaid; which, in addition to depriving over a million Floridians from healthcare coverage, also will cost the state an estimated 120,000 jobs over the next 10 years.Put simply, there are few decisions that Governor Scott has made that I believe have been in the best interest of Floridians.

That’s why I’m running for governor.

A majority of Floridians don’t want private, for-profit management companies taking over their schools-- they support strong public schools and want a quality education for their children.

So do I.

Education is the path to prosperity and an educated and skilled workforce is the most essential element in attracting new business and economic development to Florida.

Floridians want health care coverage that’s available and affordable. So do I.

The Affordable Health Care Act is the law of the land and the Governor and legislature need to implement it.

A majority of Floridians believe women’s reproductive rights should be protected. So do I.

The assault on women’s rights must be stopped. Women must have the right to control their own lives and their own bodies.

And there can be no doubt that a majority of Floridians expect their right to vote to be protected and encouraged by their government.

So-- do-- I!

The blatant efforts by this Governor and Republican-led legislature to suppress Democratic voters is shameful and nothing short of an attack on a fundamental right of every American citizen.

Voters stood in line until 1:30 in the morning long after they knew that Barak Obama was re- elected because they were not going to let anybody take away their precious right to vote.

I’m a lifelong Democrat.

I’m a Democrat because of our Party’s values and priorities.

We believe in fairness-- in putting the needs of people first.

We believe the civil rights of every individual must be protected regardless of race, creed, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

We believe that our elderly and disabled should be cared for with dignity and respect.

We believe in the right to a public education and the opportunity for everyone to reach their full potential.

I have fought for these rights-- as a state representative, as a State Senator, and as the first elected woman leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

And I am prepared and ready to do so now as governor.

Right now, I am the only Democratic candidate who’s been actively campaigning across the state-- and the primary just a little more than a year away.

And while I haven’t run for statewide office before, I would like you to recall a little bit of Florida history.

When Reubin Askew launched his campaign for Governor, he was a little-known state senator from North Florida.

When Bob Graham started his campaign he was a little-known state senator from South Florida.

And when Lawton Chiles began walkin’ the state-- he too was a little-known state senator from Central Florida.

All three of those candidates faced better financed and better-known “front runners” when they ran. They were the dark horses-- the long shots.

But they won.

I intend to carry on that tradition-- the tradition of Florida’s greatest leaders-- by earning the trust and votes of a majority of Florida’s voters in November 2014.

I made history when I was elected the first woman leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus, and with your support, I plan on making history again when I’m elected the first woman governor of Florida in November 2014.

Join me-- join the campaign-- let’s make history together!

This kind of Democratic talk makes Debbie Wasserman Schultz's skin crawl... unless it's delivered wit tongue firmly planted in cheek. And that's why she made she Nan Rich couldn't deliver it. Maybe that will backfire on the corporate shills like Wasserman Schultz who run the Florida Democratic Party-- and have run it into the ground. I hope so.

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Heather Mizeur: Not Interested In Business As Usual At The Maryland State House And Not Willing To Settle For The Status Quo For Our Communities

Rarely does a candidate come along offering this dynamic trifecta-- an unabashed liberal... poised to break the glass ceiling as Maryland’s first woman governor... who would also be the nation’s first openly gay governor. I recently spoke with Maryland Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-Takoma Park, Silver Spring) and she quickly caught my attention when she spoke of courageousness and running to change the way we govern. "I’m fearless and I speak the truth. I’m not an establishment or insider candidate. We are a building a movement for positive social change."

She’s got an impressive background for managing and governing, with a decade of senior staff experience on Capitol Hill before her tenure in the Maryland General Assembly. She served as John Kerry’s Domestic Policy Director for four years and was the principal architect of his 2004 presidential campaign’s health care reform agenda. In a move that was a model for Obamacare, Heather's legislation expanded health coverage to young adults and foster children. One of her bills expanded access to free family planning to more women across Maryland and created innovative outreach efforts to find and enroll 50,000 more uninsured children in the state. Dubbed the “Transparency Queen” by the Baltimore Sun, she sponsored and won passage of the Maryland Open Government Act to livestream Committee hearings, eliminate government website paywalls, and to record votes online. And she and her wife an organic herb farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Heather Mizeur will make an amazing and inspiring Governor and we have an opportunity not only to make history but also change politics as usual by supporting her early and promoting her candidacy. Blue America will be working to help elect one of the sharpest candidates anywhere for the governor's chair in Maryland. You can donate to her campaign on the new Blue America page for gubernatorial candidates we're backing. Maryland will be one of the luckiest states in the nation if she's the next governor.

Guest Post By Heather Mizeur

My name is Heather Mizeur. I’m a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, a proud progressive, and later this summer, I plan to announce my candidacy for governor.

It looks like I’ll be running in a tough Democratic primary against two long-time politicians. Both have had designs on the governor’s mansion for years. They are political insiders, and that’s how they would govern.

And that’s why the insiders in Annapolis aren’t backing me-- I’m not interested in business as usual at the State House, and I’m not willing to settle for the status quo for our communities.

As a legislator and life long public servant, my record speaks for itself. I work tirelessly for what I believe in. From achieving marriage equality in Maryland (an issue that’s deeply personal to me and my amazing wife Deborah of eight years), to protecting the Western part of our state from reckless and dangerous fracking, I've accomplished a lot as a Delegate. As governor, I’d take on the many important issues we haven’t addressed yet and I’d win.

The next few months are crucial. I am working hard to ensure that when I announce my run for governor, I have the grassroots support that I need to beat the political establishment. I will be one of the most progressive governors in the country, but I can only win if I have support from people like you. The netroots can be the difference in a campaign like this one.

Help me make history and become the first woman governor in Maryland, and the first openly LGBT governor in the country. Click here and let me know that I have your support. It will go a long way in showing that we have what it takes to take on the establishment.

For far too long, the governor’s office in Maryland has been part of the old boys club-- recently, a columnist in the Baltimore Sun discussed the potential candidates in the race, and not only did he leave me out of the discussion, he even referred to the governor’s office as “the big daddy chair."

I want this campaign to be about the grassroots, not the grass tops. You can help us build a campaign that will make not just Maryland but all of America proud-- because we will always stand up and fight for our shared progressive values.

If you want to find out more about me, you can visit my website. And I would really appreciate a small contribution so that we can start our campaign in as strong a position as possible.

Thank you so much for your support.

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Gun Safety Is Likely To Play A Part In The Florida Gubernatorial Primary

Nan Rich and Good Time Charlie

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose roots are on Long Island, is like South Florida's Tammy Boss. She inserts herself into every detail of the Florida Democratic Party, which goes a long way towards explaining what a pathetically failed organization it is. One of the most corrupt politicians in America, Wasserman Schultz recently steamrolled a worthless hack, Allison Tant, into the state party chairmanship. And when Tant pukes out a controversial decision, she's simply annunciating what Wasserman Schultz wants her to say. They're blocking former state Senate Democratic leader Nan Rich, a gubernatorial candidate, from speaking at the party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on June 15. Wasserman Schultz, always more comfortable with Republicans than with actual Democrats, has promised to deliver the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Charlie Crist, probably the only way Gov. Rick Scott can be re-elected.

The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida issued a report Friday that compares the gun safety records of Nan Rich, Charlie Crist and Alex Sink. It's the first in a series of reports on where the candidates stand on key issues.

Senator Rich served in the state House of Representatives from 2000-2004 and the state Senate from 2005-2012, serving as minority leader from 2010-2012. She has opposed the gun lobby and as a result has consistently received “F” ratings from the NRA during her legislative tenure. Senator Rich announced her candidacy for governor in April 2012.

“America is the world’s greatest democracy-- a representative democracy. We, the people, elect men and women to represent our interests-- to serve our needs-- to stand up for what’s right. But…the United States Senate failed to do any of these things... Let me be crystal clear-- I support expanding background checks on firearms sales. In fact, I sponsored such legislation when I was in the State House of Representatives. But then, as now, the specter of political reprisals from the NRA was enough to derail that bill.

As your governor, I will make the passage of common sense gun control laws a priority. It will save lives-- and we all know it will.  – Nan Rich, Facebook post, April 19, 2013 in response to Senate vote on Manchin-Toomey background check amendment

Crist, who claims he's suddenly a "Democrat" is an opportunist with no principles. He's been an NRA shill his entire political career and now claims he's "evolving." The NRA has always graded him an "A."

“The Second Amendment is very important, I understand there are competing interests … but people being protected is most important to me.”-- Crist on signing the bill to allow weapons in vehicles-- Sun Sentinel, April 10, 2008

“Gov. Crist has never wavered in his support of the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms.”-- Crist for U.S. Senate campaign website (2010)

“[Crist] has…never voted against us, always voted with us as governor. He signed every piece of legislation gun owners asked him to sign and vetoed every piece of legislation negatively impacting gun owners and sportsmen that gun owners asked him to veto. He has an outstanding record of support.” – Former NRA president and lobbyist Marion Hammer – St. Petersburg Times (2010)

“We need to have some restrictions, that’s pretty obvious to most people.”-- Crist, in the weeks after the December 2012 Sandy Hook massacre

One of Crist’s first high-profile gun battles came in 1998 when, according to Politifact Florida (July 14, 2010), “Crist blasted then Gov. Lawton Chiles’ last-minute effort to require criminal background checks and a waiting period for purchases made at gun shows in 1998.”

...In 2010, Crist was clear in his views on his Senate campaign website: “Governor Crist has never wavered in his support of the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms.”

In September 2012, when MSNBC correspondent Chuck Todd asked Crist if he still characterized himself a “pro-life, pro-gun conservative,” he responded, “Yes, I would.”

"Crist’s record contrasts starkly with those of Rich and Sink. It’s alarming that Governor Crist walked in lockstep with the NRA, even as their positions became more and more extreme," said Susan Smith, president of the Progressive Caucus. "He routinely picked up an A rating from the NRA and accused political rivals of being soft on Second Amendment gun rights... It’s not enough for him to say he’s in favor of some restrictions, as he told the Tampa Bay Times in December. We need to know what he thinks about assault weapons and Stand Your Ground laws. We need a full rundown from A to Z." Crist is trying to talk as little as possible about controversial issues-- and counting on Wasserman Schultz to shiv any actual Democrat who tries to run for the nomination.

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Virginia Has A Sociopath Pushing Its Reactionary Agenda-- Meet Bishop E.W. Jackson

Saturday Ken Cuccinelli got a Lt. Gov. nominee just as extreme and out of step with Virginia as he is. Bishop Earl Walker "E.W." Jackson is, basically, a slick-talking religionist crackpot and well-practiced far right ideologue. He gained a national audience on the right-wing fringes after year old video above in which he rages against marriage equality, released as he launched his failed campaign for the Republican Senate nomination.

Obviously deranged and warped by too many hours of conspiratorial Hate Talk radio, he accuses Planned Parenthood of “killing unborn black babies by the tens of millions” and being "far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.” He insists Planned Parenthood, the Democratic Party, and civil rights leaders have been “partners in genocide.” The man needs a nice long rest, but instead he'll be taking his minstrel show oon the road for Ken Cuccinelli and the virulently racist Virginia Republican Party. He seems a little too obsessed with homosexuality for a straight man. When someone carries on about gays the way he does, it always leads to some kind embarrassing revelations in the not too distant future. Does Earl expect to keep his homosexual obsessions private?

The Democrat Party has equated homosexuality with being Black, which is another outrageous lie. They can keep their homosexuality private. You and I cannot hide being Black. I need not account to you the painful history of slavery, Jim Crow. lynchings and sterilizations all because of skin color. Anyone who dares equate the so-called gay rights movement to the history of Black Americans is exploiting the Black community. They say opposition to same sex marriage is the same as opposition to interracial marriage. That is an insult to human intelligence; it is a lie. No Christian should support this. Yet the Democrat Party has now declared same sex marriage an official part of its platform. And Black Christians remain in that party? The Civil Rights Establishment has embraced the lies and betrayed the Black community and God All Mighty for 30 pieces of silver from the Democrat Party.

Damn! He sounded just like the bigoted priests in Tbilisi Friday who whipped a mob of primitives up into a bloodthirsty frenzy or anti-gay rioting that sent 30 people to the hospital. He dresses well and speaks well, but, wow, is he ever a primitive hustler! "God will take care of us," he promises Blacks, if they just abandon the progressive policies that have fought slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings and sterilization and join up with the conservative perpetrators of these policies he has long ago sold his soul to. He won the nomination because he was the most radical and extreme and hate-fueled at the convention. He's likely to even further turn independents and mainstream voters away from the Republicans. As the Richmond Times-Dispatch put it, Cuccinelli "will head a ticket that cements the tea party’s takeover of the state GOP apparatus."

Jackson became the GOP’s first African American nominee for statewide office since 1988, overcoming six other hopefuls for the No. 2 spot on the ticket after four dramatic ballots lasting nearly 10 hours. He bested several candidates with deep ties to the state party, more money and long records in elected office, appealing to the more than 8,000 delegates in the Richmond Coliseum as a grass-roots crusader for the Constitution and social conservatism.

Before the balloting, the crowd erupted as Jackson vowed to “get the government off our backs, off our property, out of our families, out of our health care and out of our way.”

Jackson never trailed, leading after the first ballot and holding on despite sustained attacks and determined horse-trading by his opponents. He was joined on stage by Cuccinelli and Obenshain after 10 p.m., projecting an image of Republican unity at the conclusion of a fractious convention.

Right-wing Hampton blogger Tom Gear wrote an open letter to Virginia Republicans last week about what the Tea Party was about the shove down their throats.

Dear Republican Friends,

As many people know when they run for public office, the public has a right to full disclosure of their background. Everytime I ran I faced every question honestly and to the point. It seems that E W Jackson Sr. feels these rules do not apply to his candidacy. While I understand tough times, believe me I do, I also know that only thing that matters is EW Jackson Sr. is running to represent our Party as its nominee for Lt. Governor.

I asked EW Jackson, Sr to answer the following questions for the public record on May 5, 2013 and at the time of writing this email he has not responded.

• We have, without question, been through some of the toughest economic times our Country has ever experienced. That being said, it has been brought to my attention that you have had multiple bankruptcies, garnishments and tax liens. Is this true or just vicious negative campaigning?

It seems others feel the same as I do and a group called VA TRUTH documented the list of bankrupcties and they can be seen by clicking here.  As I said above there can be a good reason for asking for relief of debt but not disclosing this to the voters made me wonder what else is out there on EW Jackson. A simple online investigation showed the following;

1) On May 8, 2012, EW Jackson Sr. was issued a warrant in debt for not paying his personal property taxes.

2) On September 9, 2011, EW Jackson Sr. was issued a warrant in debt for a lawsuit involving his church.

3) On September 2, 2008, EW Jackson Sr. was issued a garnishment from a lawsuit involving his church.

4) On April 6, 2007, EW Jackson Sr. was served a unlawful detainer from a lawsuit involving his church.

Gear goes on and on and concludes that Jackson's financial baggage, inability to raise money (presumably from teh white racists who support the Virginia GOP) and his total lack of knowledge of state government will crush his chances to win. As for Jackson's claims about the fight against conservatives like himself for interracial marriage and the current fight against conservatives for marriage equality, Nanci Griffith and Mildred Loving could probably teach the bishop some good lessons on that one.

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Tom Corbett And His Big Bong Theory

The Tea Party Tide swept a lot of toxic garbage into governors' mansions across the country-- Rick Scott in Florida, Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Sam Brownback in Kansas, John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Bob Forced Ultrasound McDonnell in Virginia, Nathan Deal in Georgia, Nikki Haley in South Carolina, Puppet Pat in North Carolina, Jan Brewer in Arizona, Paul LePage in Maine, Mike Pence in Indiana, Rick Perry in Texas... to name some of the worst of the worst. How do you actually name one overall worst though? Very difficult... but no one could leave Pennsylvania's Tom Corbett out of the finals.

Corbett has been a disaster for Pennsylvania and, par for the course, the Democrats would like to offer someone just a little tiny bit better (New Dem Allyson Schwartz). Pennsylvania can do a lot better. Polls show that Pennsylvanians do not want to see Corbett get a second term and that they will support any plausible candidate against him. We found two good one so far, John Hanger and Tom Wolf.

And as if Corbett wasn't in enough trouble with voters, on Monday his excuse for high unemployment rates in his state-- Pennsylvania ranks 49th in job creation since he's become governor-- is that his constituents are a bunch of pot heads. "There are many employers that say, 'we’re looking for people, but we can’t find anybody that has passed a drug test,' a lot of them," Corbett told a radio audience. "And that’s a concern for me because we’re having a serious problem with that."

John Hanger responded with the video above and by reminding Pennsylvania voters that the state doesn't rank 49th-- when just a few years ago it ranked 7th-- because of drug tests. "How insulting to the hundreds of thousands of people looking for a job or for full time work!"

"The real reason Pennsylvania has created zero jobs over the last 12 months is because Corbett is the one under the influence -- the influence of failed economic policies and Grover Norquist. He has slashed state funding to schools and communities, refuses to tax gas drillers, strangles the renewable energy industry, fails to fund repairs to our roads and bridges and turns down $4 billion a year for Medicaid expansion that would create 41,000 jobs.

"Rather than take responsibility for the failures of his own economic policies, the governor tries to blame the victims-- the people out of work-- for Pennsylvania’s poor job performance.

"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Pennsylvania was the only state in the country to lose seasonally adjusted jobs between March 2012 and March 2013. The Commonwealth was 11th in jobs growth 2009 and 7th in 2010, but now in March 2013 Pennsylvania’s non-seasonally adjusted job creation ranking was 49th. We were 50th for seasonally-adjusted job creation. Pennsylvania’s job creation is plummeting even as the national economy created 3.8 million jobs in 2011 and 2012.

"If we just kept up with the national job creation rate, we should have added about 60,000 to 80,000 jobs just in 2012. Instead, Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that lost jobs between March 2012 and March 2013.

"Tom Corbett clearly does not understand our economy or what it takes to get out-of-work Pennsylvanians back on the job. I do... Pennsylvania cannot afford another four years Tom Corbett. Let’s send him packing."

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It Would Be Great To Get Allyson Schwartz Out Of Congress, But Is She The Best Pennsylvania Democrats Can Come Up With For Governor?

John Hanger

Allyson Schwartz is a champion of women's rights. Other than that, though, hers is a profile in cowardice. Right-wingers call her a liberal-- which her miserable voting record shows she isn't-- and she moves to the right. She's exactly what is not needed in the already dysfunctional political system. Pennsylvania would almost be better off with an outright conservative being pressured to move towards the center, than with Schwartz, who is already right-of-center and will always give in to pressure to move right.

A vice chair of the corrupt, Big Business-owned New Dems, Schwartz has amassed a putrid voting record, one of the worst from any Democrat in a deep blue (safe) district. On crucial roll calls, her career-long ProgressivePunch score is a pathetic 76.70. But since she decided to run for governor, she's begin following Boehner and Cantor much more dramatically and this session her score is an even more dismal 55.56. Some liberal! Good on Choice though!

There are much better Democrats running for the gubernatorial nomination. In the recent past we've profiled John Hanger and Tom Wolf, each one a far better choice than Allyson Schwartz. This week, Hanger made the case for not settling for a mediocre candidate like Schwartz:

Why not the best? Virtually all the Democratic candidates for governor are beating Corbett in polling, so voters do not need to settle for second or third best. Voters can answer the question, “Who would be the best next governor?” The media would serve the public by exploring this question, as opposed to focusing on the political horse race more than 13 months before the May, 2014 primary.

Governor Casey told me in 1993 when he nominated me to be a Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission that the test of a public official is not that he or she won or gained an appointment to office, but instead what he or she did, “when he had the power,” to make life better for the people of Pennsylvania.

I have an unmatched record of accomplishments, inside and outside government, which demonstrates my ability to make change and get things done for the people and economy of Pennsylvania. This record of accomplishment shows that I will implement the policies that I am promoting in my campaign.

What I did in the past to make Pennsylvania better shows that I can and will improve public education; strongly regulate and reasonably tax gas drilling; create thousands of jobs through public-private partnerships in health care, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing; double renewable energy; protect our air, land, and water with a Growing Greener III initiative; and defend the liberty of all Pennsylvanians.

During my term as a commissioner on the Public Utility Commission, I:

• Saved Pennsylvania families and businesses billions of dollars by building a bi-partisan effort that capped electricity rates at 1996 levels for 14 years and ended electricity generation monopolies that allowed more than two million Pennsylvania electricity customers to shop for cheaper and cleaner power;

• Created customer assistance programs for struggling working families to help with gas and electric utility bills.

In the private sector, I led successful campaigns that:

• Passed Pennsylvania’s landmark Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act that built a renewable energy industry, created tens of thousands of jobs and attracted $3 billion in private investment to the Commonwealth;

• Gained overwhelming voter approval for the $625 million Growing Greener bond, the biggest investment in conservation in Pennsylvania history.

As secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, I:

• Enacted five new rules to strengthen regulation of natural gas drilling;

• Doubled natural gas well inspectors;

• Issued 1200 notices of violations to gas drillers and multimillion dollar fines;

• Wrote the moratorium on further leasing of state forestland for gas drilling that Governor Rendell issued by executive order;

• Supported and implemented energy savings law that created conservation programs and helped families and businesses save billions on electricity bills;

• Implemented the Pennsylvania Sunshine Program that built 6000 solar energy projects.

I have managed two critical state agencies-- the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection-- with thousands of employees and budgets totaling $800 million.

Campaign slogans and promises must be backed up by demonstrated ability to lead. My 28-year career in public service both inside and outside government shows that I have the ability, executive experience, accomplishments, fact-based ideas and the compassion to be Pennsylvania’s next governor.

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Nuggets-- Mostly Gun Control

Good news: Ken is out of the hospital and his operation was a complete success. Hopefully, he'll be back in this slot soon. Meanwhile: bit and pieces I missed the last couple of days

Arkansas ConservaDem Mike Ross Is Back

Corrupt Blue Dog Mike Ross is throwing his hat into the ring in Arkansas' gubernatorial race. The Republican in the race is right-wing fanatic Asa Hutchinson and the Democrat running is former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Ross hopes to position himself in between, just like his entire sordid career in Congress was, where he had the distinction of voting more frequently with the GOP than with the Democrats-- and doing that more often than almost any other Democrat in history. Why doesn't he run as an independent?

Bipartisan Background Checks Defeated

Maybe if 92% of Americans supported the bill, instead of a mere 91%, it would have passed. But the NRA triumphed over the American people in the Senate yesterday. Democrats Mark Begich AK), Mark Pryor (AR), Heidi Heitkamp (ND) and Max Baucus (MT) joined the NRA voters and abandoned their own constituents. Voters in Arkansas, Alaska and Montana will have a chance to react in 2014. The amendment, which needed 60 to get through the GOP filibuster, only wound up with 54 votes (55 if you include Reid). I might add, that in 2008 Blue America endorsed Mark Begich and helped him raise money. Blue America won't be endorsing him for reelection and will leave him to the corporations and right wing interest groups he's been sucking up to to help him raise money. We'll look closely at any Democrat who decides to primary him (and Pryor and Baucus). The Blue America-backed Senate candidates for 2014 all favor serious gun control.

And Speaking Of Obstructionist Filibusters...

This was 2009 gem dug up by Ed Kilgore a couple days ago: "My personal feeling is that supporting a filibuster against your own party and your own party’s president should be treated as a serious and rare measure on major issues of conscience where the sacrifice of some of the prerogatives of seniority are a small price to pay. So maybe that price really should be paid. But at a minimum, the practice of thinking of cloture votes as identical to substantive votes, and tolerating defections on the former as just the same as the latter, needs to come to an end. There is no sixty-Senate-vote requirement for the enactment of regular legislation in the Constitution or in the Senate rules. We don’t need lockstep Democratic unity on policy initiatives. We just need unity on the simple matter of allowing the Senate to vote." Will there be any consequences? From Senate Majority Leader Reid? From the DSCC? From Obama? No, no, no. But from voters? We'll see, won't we?

DCCC Perfidy... Again

Moments after the 4 Democrats voted with most of the Republicans to kill background checks, the DCCC tweeted "GOP just blocked background checks. Disgusting. We can't let this stand. Stand with us now." They are hoping to make money on the vote-- money they will use to help reelect devoted NRA allies and gun control opponents on their Front Line list, particularly Blue Dogs Jim Matheson and Mike McIntyre, each of whom is expecting $2 million from the DCCC this cycle. If you contribute a dollar to the DCCC most of it will be skimmed off the top for the corrupt hacks who run it the operation from year to year. Most of the rest will go to support Democrats who voted with the GOP on issues like gun control, women's Choice, marriage equality, war, and economic justice.

Last Words On Senate Gun Votes

Gabby Giffords wrote a powerful OpEd for the NY Times immediately after the vote yesterday. She started like this:

Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.

On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms-- a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many communities to count.

Some of the senators who voted against the background-check amendments have met with grieving parents whose children were murdered at Sandy Hook, in Newtown. Some of the senators who voted no have also looked into my eyes as I talked about my experience being shot in the head at point-blank range in suburban Tucson two years ago, and expressed sympathy for the 18 other people shot besides me, 6 of whom died. These senators have heard from their constituents-- who polls show overwhelmingly favored expanding background checks. And still these senators decided to do nothing. Shame on them.

And she ends ominously: "Mark my words: if we cannot make our communities safer with the Congress we have now, we will use every means available to make sure we have a different Congress, one that puts communities’ interests ahead of the gun lobby’s. To do nothing while others are in danger is not the American way."


The most serious bill was Dianne Feinstein's amendment to get military-style assault weapons off the streets. It failed 40-60; the GOP didn't even have to filibuster that one because the NRA controls enough Democrats so it had no chance. Every Republican except Mark Kirk (IL) opposed it; the Democrats who crossed the aisle into NRA-land on that one:

• Max Baucus (MT)
• Mark Begich (AK)
• Michael Bennet (CO)
• Joe Donnelly (IN)
• Kay Hagan (NC)
• Martin Heinrich (NM)
• Heidi Heitkamp (ND)
• Tim Johnson (SD)
• Angus King (I-ME)
• Mary Landrieu (LA)
• Joe Manchin (WV)
• Mark Pryor (AR)
• John Tester (MT)
• Mark Udall (CO)
• Tom Udall (NM)
• Mark Warner (VA)

Kind of takes your breath away, huh? The anti-democratic, anachronistic Senate should be abolished or turned into an advisory body like the House of Lords. Members should wear powdered wigs.

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