Crowded field fights to face Wasserman Schultz
By Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, May 17, 2012……There is already a scrum of candidates fighting to take on one of the most visible national Democrats in Florida: Democratic National Committee Chairwoman and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz.
At least six candidates have filed to run against Wasserman Schultz, though only three have raised more than $100,000 and another hasn’t filed any disclosure reports with the Federal Elections Commission. And all say they believe they have a chance to defeat the four-term congresswoman.
It seems an unlikely pick-up for Republicans. In 2008, President Barack Obama won almost 61.8 percent of the vote in the district against his Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Democratic candidate Alex Sink carried almost 60.1 percent two years later, while three Democratic candidates for the Cabinet who got trounced statewide all won majorities in the 23rd.
But while they might differ over some policies, Republicans in the race share one belief: Wasserman Schultz’s position as DNC chair has made her more vulnerable than before, in part because she can be tied more closely to Obama and what the opponents said is his failure to jump-start the economy.
Ozzie deFaria
“If the economy was strong and Debbie Wasserman Schultz was not the head of the DNC, I wouldn’t be running,” said Ozzie deFaria, a political neophyte who’s one of the candidates for the seat.
And it appears to be drawing the attention of national Republicans. McCain has joined Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and former Congressman J.C. Watts in endorsing deFaria.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports female conservatives, have backed Karen Harrington, who ran against Wasserman Schultz in 2010. Harrington also has the support of three current members of Florida’s congressional delegation.
Meanwhile, pizza magnate Herman Cain has dubbed deFaria and Joe Kaufman, the third Republican candidate in the race who’s raised more than $100,000, as members of his “Army of Davids” who back his 9-9-9 tax plan. Kaufman also has the backing of comedian Jackie Mason.
And deFaria and Harrington both touted fundraising efforts that have brought in money from 48 and 49 states, respectively. (Harrington needs only North Dakota; donors from South Dakota and Hawaii would round out the 50 for deFaria.)
For deFaria, who’s poured more than $273,000 of his own money into the race, according to the FEC, it’s a unique chance to knock off Wasserman Schultz. And part of that message is an implicit criticism of Harrington.
“We missed a golden opportunity in 2010, when Republicans swept the House. … No one’s been funded to challenge her and there’s never been a credible candidate,” he said.
He also knocks Harrington for straying from conservative orthodoxy, accusing her of supporting a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally and not strongly backing a plan by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would overhaul Social Security and Medicare.
Wasserman Schultz is likely to try to use the Ryan plan as a bludgeon against her eventual opponent. Democrats have harped on the plan’s changes to Social Security and Medicare; in 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 27.2 percent of the district had earned Social Security income in the last year.
deFaria says he’s not scared.
“Right now, the Democrats, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and President Obama have no record to run on,” he said. “So what are you going to do? Scare tactics.”
Karen Harrington
Harrington said her hesitance about the Ryan plan is that it uses overall inflation to increase the size of payments to seniors to help them buy health insurance. Harrington said she would instead like to see the plan pegged to the cost of health-care inflation, which tends to be higher.
And she paints her experience of a short and somewhat haphazard first run against Wasserman Schultz — “I really just went by the seat of my pants” — as a positive now that she has had more time to fine-tune her approach.
“I have the experience of going up against her. I already have the name ID in the district,” she said.
Harrington has raised more than $235,000 to deFaria’s nearly $395,000, according to the FEC.
Kaufman, who has worked to expose Islamic groups he says traffic in hate, has raised more than $186,000.
Kaufman asked for questions to be emailed to him but did not respond.
Two other candidates, Gineen Bresso and Juan Eliel Garcia, have both raised less than $25,000. Carl Mathiesen hasn’t reported any contributions.
But even the front-runners’ war chests so far pale in comparison to Wasserman Schultz, who has already raised $2.3 million and had $1.7 million cash on hand as of March 31.
Even so, the candidates push forward, in part because they believe the stakes are high. ”If we don’t beat her this time,” Harrington said, “she’s never going to be beat.”
Marielena Stuart Wins Pinellas Straw Poll: Reaction
Little known US Senate candidate Marielena Stuart won a surprise victory in the Pinellas REC Straw Poll last night, 110 votes to George LeMieux’s 69, Connie Mack’s 12, Dave Weldon’s 5, and Mike McCalister’s 4.
But when is a straw poll from an REC really a straw poll by an REC? It turns out that Pinellas Chairman JJ Beyrouti allowed anyone in attendance to vote. So the votes cast weren’t all from REC members. There was no fee to participate (like in the Pasco REC’s recent poll) and Stuart’s supporters came out in force.
As the Tampa Bay Times wrote, “Cuban-born Stuart railed against President Barack Obama, Roe vs. Wade, communism in China and Cuba, and popular tea party targets like Agenda 21 during her 15-minute speech.”
While Kevin Thornhill of the Pinellas Patriots, a 9-12 Project group, referred to her as a “female Ronald Reagan,” a member of the Pinellas REC who wished the remain nameless called the whole event “embarassing.” He stated “Stuart doesn’t have a chance in hell and we just marginalized ourselves by doing this.”
Our reaction: While Stuart’s red-meat tea-party inspired speech was well received, this whole episode shows how irrelevant straw polls really have become. We all remember Herman Cain’s victory at Presidency 5. The truth is that after Marco Rubio set the standard for making straw polls seem to carry some weight back in 2009, everyone has tried to be “the next Rubio.” But we believe Rubio’s rise was a one-time event – only when you are a credible candidate like Rubio taking on a liberal Republican incumbent like Charlie Crist can this strategy work. The US Senate Race this year simply is not a Crist v. Rubio redux.
Ms. Stuart stands little chance of winning the August primary, let alone a general election. She has a campaign war chest of $6,500, compared to Nelson’s $9.5 million campaign account, Mack’s $1.38 million, and LeMieux’s $1.19 million.
If an REC is to do a straw poll, it should follow one of two courses. 1) Only let actual REC members participate – then at least an REC Straw Poll will reflect the thoughts of actual REC members. 2) Charge for the straw poll – then no matter what happens, at least the REC makes some money off of the whole thing and the public knows that it would be a “fundraiser straw poll” open to everyone.
While this whole episode does show how unsettled the Senate primary is, it also shows how activists may be “grabbing at straws” in trying to find an alternative to Connie Mack.
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Posted in COMMENTARY, NEWS
Tagged connie mack, dave weldon, george lemieux, herman cain, jj beyrouti, Kevin Thornhill, marielena stuart, mike mccalister