Nick Ruiz-- What Does He Bring To The Table?

In Central Florida, two Republican incumbents, teabagger Sandy Adams and Establishment shill John Mica, have been thrown into the same district, FL-07, in the Orlando area. In 2008, McCain won Adams' old district (FL-24) 51-49% and won Mica's old district (FL-7) 53-46%. Under the new boundaries, it would have been quite a bit closer. McCain would have won 50-49%. And since then, the district has become bluer. 39.5% of voters are Republicans; 34% are Democrats and 26.5% are Independents. And whomever wins the Republican primary on August 14 will have to face Democrat Nick Ruiz, the subject of the NBC-TV interview above. Given Mica/Adams' conspicuous attack on the middle class, that basically declares open season on working families, Nick can win this race. The Republicans' anti-middle class agenda is anathema to many Republicans and Independents, as well as Democrats! The district is ripe for the taking by a Democratic candidate who has crossover clout and appeal like Ruiz, and for representation by Ruiz of an electorate that is sick and tired of government that doesn't work for their interests, particularly with the surge of non-partisan registrations, who we can assume will think more independently. It will be a contest to see who the electorate believes will fight more for their middle class interests. Mica and Adams have already proven themselves worthless in this regard.

Although the GOP infighting is intense and very ugly, when it comes to the insanity that defines the Republican policy agenda, Adams and Mica really are tweedledee and tweedledum. This week there were two important votes in Congress that-- as in all rollcalls-- Adams and Mica, voted exactly alike-- even though their votes were tremendously at odds with what their constituents prefer. FL-07 is a moderate district, not some blood-red Mississippi hellhole and Adams and Mica seem really out of synch with what most people expect there. First they both voted to remove the exemption for rape and incest in the abortion ban they're trying to push. And then they both voted against the middle class tax cut.

The only thing that could keep Nick from winning this seat is not having enough money to get out the message of how Adams and Mica have been voting and how he plans to vote once he's in Congress. This morning I asked him how he would have voted on these two bills and why.

"It's unfortunate that Republicans continue to attempt to use a woman's right to choose as a wedge issue. But divide and conquer is an old strategy, of which they never tire. I can't say what motivates them to want to deny women their basic civil rights. But I can say that I never would. It's simply not up to anyone to decide but the person that is pregnant. As for the aisle-crossing 'Democrats' that supported this heinous bill-- we will not forget it.

"A middle class tax cut is a common sense response to the continued economic downturn Americans face. It's not the only thing, or even most important thing we could do, but why in the world would anyone vote against it? Reps. that voted against it, could not express their carelessness and disdain for the middle class more clearly. If America is to be a better place-- we'll have to remove politicians of this kind from office. There is no other way to ensure that American get a fair shake on economic policy."

Nick was the first candidate endorsed by Blue America this cycle. The DCCC, which has an ironclad policy of never challenging Republican heavyweights or committee chairmen has refused to work with him, knowing that Mica, the [very obstructive] chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is likely to be the GOP nominee. If we're going to get Nick, elected it's really going to be up to us. If you can, please consider contributing to his campaign on our Blue America page.