Florida Democrats Ready To Run Another Republican For Congress

A knowledgeable and witty friend of mine is going to start blogging soon. He asked me what I thought of his idea of encouraging readers to write in with tales about the worst state Democratic Party and the worst state Republican Party. I suggested he find the right readers first but also told him he probably doesn't have to look too far for the worst state Democratic Party since Florida was sitting out there in the glaring sunlight. What a miserable state party that one is! Karen Thurman, the state party chair is, according to Howard Dean, an excellent leader. She was mayor of Dunnellon and then served in the state Senate for a decade before being elected to a newly created congressional district in 1992. When the GOP re-gerrymandered the district to get rid of her-- after 10 years in Congress-- she was replaced by Ginny Brown-Waite a pathetic backbencher and clueless rubber stamp best known for demanding that all American soldiers buried in France be disinterred and shipped home because France wouldn't hop on board the Bush Express to Nowhere in Iraq.

We've watched as the Florida Democratic Party has botched election after election while patting themselves on the back for being around when something positive happens-- like Obama winning the state or Alan Grayson winning the Orlando congressional seat-- that has little or nothing to do with their efforts. The state party is worthless, at best, perhaps even a hindrance to electing Democrats. They should change the name to the Florida Blue Dogs and let some real Democrats start an actual Democratic Party that fights for Democratic values and principles. A low point was when the state party got behind Republican Tim Mahoney as the candidate to run against Republican Mark Foley. Thurman helped Rahm Emanuel shove Democrat Dave Lutrin out of the race to make way for the wealthy Mahoney who was able to take advantage of Foley's sexual ethics and win the seat-- only to lose it 2 years later because of his own sexual ethics-- and a repulsively Republican voting record.

In 2006 we also watched Thurman and her organization sit on its hands and watch Brown Waite sail to another re-election in her old district. The 5th may seem too challenging for Thurman because she lost it herself but it's been ripe for a Democratic takeover for some time. Unfortunately, the state party is even more moribund between Levy and Pasco counties than in most of Florida. When Thurman first gave the seat up (in 2002) Brown-Waite won with 48% (as opposed to Thurman's 46%). Brown-Waite has never had a tough race since. In 2004 she was re-elected with 66% and two years later she faced a vanity candidate, John Russell, who managed to beat a real candidate, Rick Penberthy is a primary and then took 40% of the vote. In 2008 Russell was the candidate again and Brown Wait beat him by a slightly bigger margin. I'm sure she appreciates the softball pitches. And it looks like she's about to get another.

Yes, it worked out so well with Mahoney that the Florida Democrats look like they're about to get behind another "reformed" Republican. This morning CQPolitics reported that Jim Piccillo, a lifelong Republican, who stumbled into a NY Times story about Republicans-for-Obama, is going to run against Brown-Waite next year.

He doesn't have a website yet-- at least not one I could find, but he is tweeting away-- about an Easter egg hunt with Kendrick Meek? Ready for prime time?