Why Doesn't Gwen Graham Just Switch Parties And Run As A "Moderate" Republican-- Which Is What She's Always Been?

Bipartisan love-- And #MeToo Graham

Gwen Graham is eating Patrick Murphy's lunch... again. When they served in Congress together, briefly thankfully, Murphy was always the second worst Florida Democrat-- in a delegation filled with garbage like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Alcee Hastings and Corrine Brown, currently serving in a federal penitentiary on basic corruption charges. Murphy (a New Dem) and Graham (a Blue Dog) never rose beyond their "F" ProgressivePunch ratings, not ever. Murphy came up with a superficial gimmick torun as a team with one of the MSNBC Republicans, former congressman David Jolly-- still a Republican with all that baggage-- and a week later Gwen Graham's floundering gubernatorial campaign doesn't just steal the concept, she steals Jolly as well. Murphy's left on the dock sucking his thumb-- or Nicholas Mastroianni's... thumbs... unless Graham picks him as her running mate! (Murphy, not Mastroianni.)

Graham's first reaction to Murphy's proposal-- before he vaulted thread of her among her conservative Democratic base-- was insist that a bipartisan ticket wasn't legal in Florida. Marc Caputo had the story early Monday morning.

“I see my lieutenant governor selection as someone who’s going to be right by my side helping me get this state back on the right path,” Graham told the podcast’s host, Fernand Amandi. “And so Patrick would certainly fit that definition, as would David, as would all the other candidates for governor on the Democratic ticket at the moment. So it’s really going to be for me a thorough analysis of who can bring the most to help make the biggest difference in the state of Florida.”

Gillum’s campaign took note of Graham’s comments, pointing out that she’s now running as a progressive but had successfully run as a “very conservative Democrat” in a GOP-leaning Tallahassee-based House seat in 2014.

“It’s beyond frustrating that the self-described ‘very conservative’ Gwen Graham is already considering splitting the ticket to run with the GOP, especially with an energized Democratic base ready to vote Republicans out,” said one of Gillum’s top liberal surrogates, Orlando Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith. “This is exactly why we need Andrew Gillum-- the only unapologetic progressive running. Democrats will win by authentically standing up for our values-- not by becoming Republicans!”

Graham’s comments come as an outside group supporting African-American candidates, The Collective super PAC, announced it would spent as much as $782,000 on an ad campaign questioning Graham’s progressive bonafides. Graham has called the ad misleading and wants it taken down.

...While Graham’s centrist [Belwayspeak for "right-wing"] voting record might be a problem in a Democratic primary, her supporters say it makes her a better general election candidate in a swing state like Florida. And that’s where Jolly could be an advantage.

Being relatively well-known among Democratic political junkies because of his frequent appearances on MSNBC bashing President Donald Trump, Jolly’s addition to a centrist ticket could even be a plus in a primary, according to a recent survey conducted by Murphy’s pollster.

Almost as soon as the news broke that Murphy was considering a bid with Jolly, Graham’s campaign and her surrogates pushed back on the notion of a bipartisan ticket by claiming it wasn’t legal because of state laws requiring membership in a political party for a year before announcing a bid.

“They could not run as Democrats-- you have to be registered as a D for over year; Jolly is a Republican. They would have to run without a party-- not even sure that is legal. Do some work,” Don Hinkle, a Tallahassee attorney and Graham supporter, huffed on Twitter.

Hinkle noted that the statute concerning the pick of a gubernatorial candidate’s running mate mentions a “written statement of political party affiliation.” Graham’s campaign surrogates also spread the word that a bipartisan ticket wasn’t lawful.

But Florida election-law attorney Jason B. Blank, also a Democrat, said the law doesn’t specify that a gubernatorial candidate and his or her running mate have to be members of the same party.

“A bipartisan ticket is not expressly forbidden by Florida law,” Blank said. “I have found no prohibition in Florida statute or in the Florida constitution.”

And now that Graham has said Jolly could be a pick for her, she sees no prohibition either.

As the Democratic governor of another state told me this morning, laughing, "This is what candidates do when they don’t know what to do." Meanwhile Quentin James from the Collective SuperPAC, did an expose of Graham's hysterical slander against his organization for Monday night's Miami Herald Their ad, which is driving Graham bonkers, is below. "Instead of responding to the content of the advertisement," he points out, "Graham and establishment Democrats spent an entire week attacking my organization for highlighting her conservative voting record and her choice to stand with GOP leaders over President Obama."

Graham falsely labeled our organization a “dark” money group even though The Collective Super PAC reports its contributions and expenditures monthly to the Federal Elections Commission. All 13,000 individual contributions from more than 6,000 individuals can be found at FEC.gov. A host of groups of similar size and structure have worked on behalf of Gwen Graham throughout her career and were given a hospitable welcome. Now, because we’re simply seeking accountability, we’re being accused of doing something suspicious, illegal or unethical.


...And in true fashion-- and during the same week no less-- Graham has proven us right: She is considering standing with a Republican in 2018. Politico reports that, “Graham is considering Republican David Jolly as a Florida gubernatorial running mate.” It boggles the mind that she would even contemplate choosing a GOP running mate in the midst of a Democratic primary, but this is exactly what our advertisement points to-- Graham is not the progressive she claims to be.

Instead of launching baseless attacks on our organization, Graham and her allies should inform Floridians why she stood against President Obama 52 percent of the time, why she trashed Obamacare, why she voted with the big banks, why she voted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline-- twice-- and why she’s considering a Republican running mate?