2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHarry Reid calls for Alan Grayson to drop out of primary.
I may get aggravated with Grayson sometimes, but he's been good for our state and good for activists.
I don't think it is Harry Reid's job to protect Patrick Murphy's candidacy by requesting Grayson to drop out. Someone today said they are protecting Murphy, recently still a Republican, at Grayson's expense.
Sen. Harry Reid calls on Grayson to drop out of Senate race
TALLAHASSEE (AP) U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Friday called for U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson to drop out of the race for a Senate seat in Florida.
Reid said in a statement that Grayson claims to be progressive but seems to have "no moral compass." He said Grayson used his office to unethically promote a hedge fund that until recently had been based in the Cayman Islands.
Grayson is running in the Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. His campaign did not immediately respond to Reid's call to quit the race.
His business activities have come under scrutiny for the past several months. The New York Times on Thursday reported that Grayson promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business for his hedge fund.
.....Reid's decision to take sides in a Democratic primary is unusual. But the Democratic establishment has been getting behind U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, seeing him as the stronger general election candidate in a swing state.
This kind of thing goes on often in our state. One time they forced a fellow teacher of mine and overall good guy with great candidate potential out of a race to put a hand-picked Republican in....a guy named Tim Mahoney. Good Christian, family man.
That good Christian family man was caught in a sex scandal
West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him, according to current and former members of his staff who have been briefed on the settlement, which involved Mahoney and his campaign committee.
Mahoney, who is married, also promised the woman, Patricia Allen, a $50,000 a year job for two years at the agency that handles his campaign advertising, the staffers said.
A Mahoney spokesperson would not answer questions about the alleged affair or the settlement, but said Allen resigned of her own accord and "has not received any special payment from campaign funds."
Senior Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chair of the Democratic Caucus, have been working with Mahoney to keep the matter from hurting his re-election campaign, the Mahoney staffers said.
A spokesperson for Emanuel denies that account, but said Emanuel did confront Mahoney "upon hearing a rumor" about an affair in 2007 and "told him he was in public life and had a responsibility to act accordingly." The spokesperson added that it was a "private conversation" that had nothing to do with Mahoney's re-election prospects.
Sounds to me that morals matter most if you are a grassroots activist kind of candidate.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)They can turn a lie into the truth and the truth into a lie.
JonLeibowitz
(6,282 posts)It is just that for most candidates (i.e. not grassroots activist kinds) you are not truly accountable to the people, but instead the power brokers and moneyed elite.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Which tells us so much about accountability
silvershadow
(10,336 posts)liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)make sure I send him another donation.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)When progressives run against Republican incumbents, she even supports the Republicans. Heckuva job, Debbie!
SunSeeker
(51,571 posts)Has Grayson responded to Reid's accusations?
I used to admire Grayson, but I was disgusted by the way he treated the mother of his 5 children.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Given that the establishment sees Hillary as the stronger GE candidate.
But then maybe they figure with superdelegates they can just shunt him aside and hand it to Clinton after he wins the regular delegates.
Wilms
(26,795 posts)Nice of Harry to sub for her.
cali
(114,904 posts)djean111
(14,255 posts)if they persisted in backing Grayson.
Here's the thing - no matter what Grayson does in his personal life, he is progressive and votes with the Democrats. Murphy turned Dem in 2012 just in order to run against another GOP person. He voted with the GOP more often than with the Dems, is a member of the Third Way-advised new Democrat Coalition, and voted yes on establishing the Benghazi committee. He is a DINO, and BFFs with Debbie and Hillary.
I have to live with the legislation that gets passed, I don't have to live with Grayson.
And condemning someone for being wealthy and using their political connections and hedge fund stuff is pretty fucking hypocritical.....
I will be voting for Grayson. Will NOT vote for Murphy. Funnily enough, Debbie has backed GOP buddies against fellow Dems when it suits her - but never gets called on it.
catnhatnh
(8,976 posts)Nanjeanne
(4,961 posts)MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)You know, the more we've gotten into the TURD WAY into running things, the more they've poked and prodded people to get sucked into the machine.
Harry Reid should mind his own fucking business, and Florida should get off their whining assess to act like a committee and not some cog of the fucking DLC machine.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Unfortunately Florida was one of the earliest and most dedicated "cogs" in the DLC machine. I knew a lot of the folks who did it to us, and they were some of the pushiest Dems you ever saw. It gave them the power they yearned for but did not know how to use.