Linn Says He's Ending House Bid So He Can Work To Elect Obama

By CARLOS MONCADA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 20, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Democrat Max Linn has announced he is suspending his campaign for Congress against 19-term House member C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores.

In a written statement released this morning by his campaign, Linn says he is throwing his support behind Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

The wealthy, retired financial planner from Treasure Island says Obama would have "an impact much greater than one additional Democratic Congressman" on issues such as health care and ending the war in Iraq.

Linn, who ran as a Reform Party candidate in the 2006 race for Florida governor, says he looks forward to working with the Democratic nominee for District 10, which includes most of Pinellas County.

more: http://suncoastpasco.tbo.com/content/2008/jun/20/linn-says-hes-ending-house-bid-so-he-can-work-elec/

Linn might've been able to pull off the win.

He's the one that landed the plane on the freeway. He's also got some right wing libertarian views. His dropping out will put the race between Bob Hackworth and Sam Simpson for the Democratic Nomination. I kind of doubt that he could have beat CW Young but since he is rich and could self finance, he could have weakened him for a race in 2010.

I was originally going to vote for Sam Simpson since she seemed very progressive and Bob Hackworth switched from Republican to Democrat just to be in this race. However, I noticed that Sam Simpson was a Ron Paul supporter. She even talked on her blog about switching to Republican just to vote for Ron Paul. She, like Linn, also lacks any sort of government experience.

I did a little more research on Bob Hackworth and it seems like he is a pretty good candidate. He's pushed for some good educational reforms in our state. He was on the city council and was elected Mayor in Dunedin. Dunedin received a green city award while he was mayor. He's spoke out against some of the expansion of coastal development. He supports withdrawal from Iraq. I'd like to see a more detail on his issue stances but he doesn't seem like a right winger to me.

Personally I was hoping the CW Young would retire and we could recruit Charlie Justice to face him. He won a state senate seat in a brutal campaign against Repub Kim Berfield. She threw the kitchen sink at him and he came out ahead. He proved his metal as a tough campaigner.

CW Young is a tough one to beat because he brings home huge amounts of pork to District 10 and has a reputation of good response to constituents. However, Sam Simpson, while underfunded with little party support, took 34% of the vote in 2006 against him. I think Young will retire soon and try and pass the torch to his son. Charlie Justice will be the favored Democrat for the seat if we don't take it this year.