Time To Draft Alan Grayson?

The Florida Democratic Establishment seems to be coalescing around lifelong Republican opportunist Patrick Murphy, a reactionary New Dem, as their candidate to take on Marco Rubio in 2016-- or to take on whichever Republican runs instead of Rubio if Rubio runs for Vice President. And it seems to be just fine with a clueless DSCC as well. This is why the Florida Democratic Party is so very very moribund and ineffective as an operation. It's one of the most dysfunctional state parties in the entire country, and loses consistently-- loses with careful, inauthentic, compromised candidates who inspire no one.

Murphy announced Monday, while everyone was paying attention to Ted Cruz's presidential announcement. Murphy's appeal is basically, "Hey, vote for me; I'm almost a Republican anyway." He's been at the forefront of deregulating Wall Street and mucking up Dodd-Frank and he was one of the handful of Democrats to back the GOP scheme to bypass President Obama and force the Keystone Pipeline through. Overall, his ProgressivePunch "crucial vote" lifetime score has been a dismal 46.06. This session his score is even worse: 33.33. The only House Democrats who vote more frequently with Boehner than Murphy are Brad Ashford (Blue Dog-NE), Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX), and Gwen Graham (Blue Dog-FL).

Meanwhile, progressive Democrats in Florida would like to draft Alan Grayson to run instead. The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida released a statement on top of Murphy's announcement. After spending over a month surveying Florida progressives and activists, they found that 63% of those participating had Grayson as their first choice. "Grayson," they wrote, "a populist who knows how to get things done, has been named the most effective member of the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives."

That's the type of leadership that Florida Progressives would like to see in the U.S. Senate. Leadership matters, especially now when issues such as climate change and income inequality are affecting Florida voters. As this vote indicates, Progressives are clearly looking for a bold champion who will inspire and engage voters. We can't afford to run former Republicans or corporate Democrats who consider themselves 'centrists' but who are really 'Republican lite.' If we do that, we lose. We don't have the luxury of putting up candidates who don't know how to fight for their constituents. Grayson is known as the 'Congressman with guts' for a reason. He is a proven leader that the DPCF would be proud to support in the 2016 Senate race.

Politico reported that Grayson may actually challenge Murphy, despite all the Establishment support Murphy is consolidating.

Despite having so much institutional backing, Murphy might face a challenger with whom he serves in the House, Orlando’s Alan Grayson, who said the “stars are starting to align” for his possible bid. But he’s in no rush to decide now. Grayson’s also a friend of Wasserman Schultz.

A Grayson-Murphy race would pit two wings of the Democratic Party against each other: the progressives and liberals who cheer on the outspoken Grayson and the centrists who believe Murphy is a better candidate in a purple Florida.

Grayson points out that, despite his reputation as a bomb-thrower, he has been called one of the most effective members of the GOP-controlled House. Murphy says his voting record, in which he has sided with Republicans more often than most other House Democrats, reflects Florida’s overall swing-state nature.

Murphy had no unkind words for Grayson: “I know he cares a lot about Florida, and I know he’s been working hard for the state.”

As for whether a contested primary would be better for him or not, Murphy said, “I guess you could argue that either way.”

The national party disagrees. “I think in that particular case, I don’t know that a primary helps us,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, told Politico earlier this month. Tester also said Murphy could be “a great senator.”

Murphy’s voting record could hurt him among liberal primary voters. He was once a registered Republican and he contributed money to Republican Mitt Romney in 2008. Murphy explains his past GOP affiliations as a result of joining the party because it was his dad’s. But, he said, he became a Democrat after witnessing the rise of tea-party conservatism. He said he donated to Romney because at the time, Romney had been a pro-choice and pro-gay rights Republican.

Today we started a Draft Alan Grayson page. What's it worth to you to see Grayson working in the U.S. Senate alongside Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown and Jeff Merkley?