Alex Sink Is Running For Congress

The big news in Florida this morning wasn't exactly a surprise. After Florida's former chief financial officer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Alex Sink, expressed interest in running for the open congressional seat in Pinellas County (FL-13), she became the focus of all Democratic attention. And when former candidate Charlie Justice and potential candidates Janet Long and Ken Welch said a few days ago they weren't running, it was widely assumed Sink had let them know she was in. This morning Adam Smith at the Tampa Bay Times let everyone else know. Sink, who lives in nearby Hillsborough is moving into the district "imminently." Here statement was pure boilerplate, almost word for word what every candidate says when they declare they're running for Congress.

"Washington's broken. And I, like everybody else I know, is angry and mad about the logjam, about shutting down the government, about not understanding the impact it was going to have on small businesses and people. The people up there just don't seem to be able to work together," said Sink, who had considered running for governor again but ruled that out in late September.

"I'm somebody who's solved problems, has a long history of working with Republicans and Democrats to get things done," said Sink, who used to run Bank of America's Florida operations and was the state's CFO from 2007-11. "I believe I can be an effective advocate for the people of Pinellas County and get to Washington and make a difference."

…"I am no stranger to Pinellas County," Sink stressed. "I have a long history here. I have been involved in doing business in Pinellas County for decades, and the people of Pinellas County have elected me twice. They voted for me to be their CFO and they voted for me to be their governor, in this very district."

In addition to helping lead four banks doing business in Pinellas, Sink said that as CFO she worked closely on the BP oil spill that affected the county, helped crack down on insurance agents scamming victims in Pinellas, and selected Largo to be the site of one of her office's two call centers, after consolidating 11 centers to save money.

"Do I know everything there is to know? Of course not," Sink said. "But I'm no stranger, and it has to be about whether or not I can be a leader and an advocate and a voice for the people of this district in Washington. I think I'm the best person to do that."

As we saw a few days ago, the Florida state legislature, sensing Bill Young's time on earth was short, redistricted to make the seat a little less impossible for a Republican to win. It went from a D+1 to an R+1 district, but Republicans have trouble holding onto R+1 districts these days as well, since independents have been tending to break for Democrats as the national GOP drifted further and further away from the mainstream. In 2008, what is now FL-13 gave Obama 177,758 votes (51%) and McCain 164,644 votes (48%). Obama won again last year 171,102 (50%) to 166,087 (49%) against Romney.

With Young out of the way, this district should be a "gimme" for the Democrats. Even before he announced he was retiring, a new PPP poll showed Pinellas County would be happy to replace him with a Democrat. Although his death has rescucitated his popularity, a week before he died his job approval was down to 33% and voters said they were ready-- by a 48-43% margin-- to vote for an unnamed Democrat against him. Worse still, was when voters were informed that Young had voted to shut down the government, his Democratic opponent's chances to be elected sky-rocketed into a 51-42% outcome.

Over on the Republican side, most of the viable candidates have already said they don't want to run, although the best hope for Republicans is to persuade former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker to change his mind. It's more likely that the GOP will be stuck with one of Bill Young's relatives. His brother, Tom, wife, Beverly, and son, Bill II, are all claiming the "right" to the district. A few days ago another Florida pundit was waxing ecstatic at the prospect of Junior running for his father's vacant seat. I responded snidely about Louis XVI following Louis XV who followed Louis XIV. He had an even snider response-- either that or he didn't understand that many people-- usually those who prefer democracy to any kind of aristocratic governance-- don't like the whole idea of political dynasties. It's so unAmerican… at least in theory it's unAmerican. In reality, it started right from the git-go. The two awful George Bushs came long after the two John Adamses, the second and sixth presidents. Among the political dynasties in our country are the Kennedys in Massachusetts, the Udalls in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, the Daleys in Chicago, the Tafts in Ohio… The Youngs in St. Petersburg is a stretch. A few months ago, Time Magazine had a little discussion of political dynasties in reference to the horrific prospect of Cheney's fascist-oriented daughter Liz, following him into politics.

Liz Cheney's announcement last week that she is running to unseat three-term incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi upended politics in Wyoming where the two Republicans are set to duke it out over their conservative credentials. But her candidacy also serves as the latest test of dynastic power in the United States, in her attempt to follow in the path of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. "She said it's just time for her to quit sitting on the sidelines and roll up her sleeves," recalled Wyoming Republican National Committeeman Greg Schaefer. They also discussed her last name. "I told her it's her best asset," he said of the candidate's famous pedigree. "It's also her worst liability."

The Constitution is clear, "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States," but for centuries Americans have shown a clear preference for electing lawmakers of the same political families-- with family names like Adams, Taft, and Kennedy. Roughly one in ten lawmakers in Congress have had a family member serve in either the House or Senate, and many more come from state and local political clans.

President Barack Obama's defeat of the Clinton machine in 2008 could have indicated a decline in political family trees as Democratic primary voters rejected what could have been 24-years of two-family rule. Instead, these dynasties are making a comeback, with at least four well-known surnames considering running for president in 2016. Indeed while America has long held an aversion for kings, it sure loves its princes and princesses.

This is the kind of thing we've come to expect in placed with shallow-rooted democracies, like the Phillippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia… so perfect for Florida.