Who Will Bill McCollum Represent?
Who Will Bill McCollum Represent?
By Tom Tillison
Orlando Political Press
The gubernatorial race in Florida has reduced state politics to little more than a circus act. The antics have now garnered national attention, giving Floridians little reason to be proud.
Despite earlier commitments to stay neutral in primary races, the Republican Party Of Florida no longer bothers to hide it’s support of Bill McCollum and we see more and more Republican state lawmakers weighing in on McCollum’s behalf.
Questions have also been raised about McCollum using the power of the Florida Attorney General’s office to go after his opponent, Rick Scott.
And, special interest groups, the root of most evils in politics, have also aligned themselves entirely with McCollum, with the money flowing in so fast, from so many sources, that it will take years to determine if any election laws have been violated.
Hell, they’ve even dragged the tea party movement into the fray, preying on the weak of character within the movement to set Rick Scott up. Is this a subjective observation? You decide for yourself; there were two efforts, perpetrated by the same individual, with both being captured on video camera, and, lo and behold, both end up in McCollum attack ads on Scott. Coincidence?
All of this to stop Rick Scott from upsetting the apple cart, which he was well on his way to doing. The ‘old guard’ has circled the wagons and it’s every man, woman and child for himself as this slugfest enters the last days. Everything in the RPOF arsenal will be unfurled in these final days in a desperate attempt to hold on to the keys to the kingdom. Every favor will be called in and all pretense of impartiality is out the window.
Enter Mike Huckabee - Huckabee has announced that he will be in Florida tomorrow to stump on McCollums behalf, as well as district 24 candidate Karen Diebel and district 8 candidate Daniel Webster, leaving little suspense as to who the ‘establishment’ supports. At a time when America desperately needs a break from the politics of old, the solution offered here is more of the same; career politicians.
And, with Huckabee’s eyes set on 2012, is there any doubt as to his motivation? You don’t get the White House without Florida.
For those in the state, including the tea party movement, who strive for a restoration of ethical behavior in the political spectrum, where principles and values mean something once again, let all this be a warning. The power structure in this state will not go down without a fight, and that fight will be a desperate, bloody struggle to the death. And, with unlimited resources, it is truly a David vs Goliath undertaking.
“Those who have been intoxicated with power… can never willingly abandon it.” ~ Edmund Burke
An indication of the unlimited sources?
A new stealthy group called the League of Florida Voters has bought a 60-second spot on Fox that is supposedly airing nationally because there are no TV slots left on Florida-only Fox channels. The group’s state report says only that it got $425,000 from the national arm, which as a 501(c)4, will not have to ever disclose who gave the money.
McCollum pulls Villages vice president Gary Lester aside - two days later, a check for $250,000 from The Villages was cut to the Florida First Initiative, one of the electioneering groups McCollum has used to respond to Scott’s barrage of television spots with more than $13 million in mostly negative ads of his own.
In fact, Florida First Initiative took in more than $583k in just two days adding to the $4.7m that it has raised from nearly every heavy-hitting special interest in the Capitol.
The biggest givers: U.S. Sugar, which chipped in $825,000 in the last two weeks – boosting its total investment in McCollum to more than $1.3 million this summer; $250,000 from Florida Power & Light; $25,000 from former House Speaker Allan Bense; $350,000 from Publix Supermarkets; and $100,000 from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida.
Walt Disney World, located in the congressional district McCollum represented for 20 years, has given at least $250,000. Those checks flowed through two Florida Chamber of Commerce committees, which collectively raised more than $2 million this summer to help McCollum, campaign reports filed Friday show.
Other large chunks of the McCollum money are tough to track because they came through other committees controlled by two state legislators: Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, the incoming House speaker who gave $975,000; and Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, who gave more than $608,000.
Before contributing to McCollum, the committees of Haridopolos and Cannon received large sums of special-interest cash from developers, insurance companies and the health industry.
Still believe that Bill McCollum will represent you in Tallahassee?
Part of the reason that Huckabee is campaigning for Karen Diebel is because he does not like the nasty false attacks that Craig Miller has been throwing at Karen for the past few weeks. The latest mailer, with out-of-context quotes and a message from two of the vindictive liberals who opposed all of Karen’s work to cut taxes and spending on the Winter Park Comm’n, is a new and embarrassing low.
Tom, you can go ahead and claim Karen is “establishment,” but I can’t imagine any justification or excuse for Miller’s false and nasty attacks. Let’s all start with at least being honest about for which campaigns we’re all working. I am.
Sarah, the article references the potential compromises to McCollum’s campaign, although, when aligned with McCollum and Webster, career politician is very fitting, is it not? Be honest, now!
As for your comments on Craig Miller, it’s but a distraction to the topic at hand. Are his actions any different than all the efforts made to overplay his position on immigration? That’s politics.
And why is it that if someone dares to disagree , the very first tactic employed is to besmirch the individual? I can only assume you are implying that I am “working” for Miller’s campaign because I have a favorable impression of him? Is that not questioning my integrity? I have never implied as much toward you on issues that we disagree on, out of respect.
For the record, I have not endorsed anyone in that race, nor am I employed by anyone in that race. I did speak very favorably on Miller after spending a day with him and seeing firsthand how important principles are to the man, and, believe it or not, folks can actually arrive at opinions without being compensated for it!
I agree that the McCollum-Webster axis is fairly linked to the establishment. However, is it important to ask if Schmuckabee is aligning himself with the OLD establishment? I think he is more concerned with aligning himself with the FUTURE establishment
….When he runs in 2012, I’m sure he would like governor to endorse him at a strategic moment in the Florida primary just as our governor endorsed McCain in 2008.
I don’t like that Craig Miller didn’t disclose his amnesty positions until the news made him. I would have preferred him telling people up front he wants amnesty. He also didn’t do well in his job and hurt alot of people because of his decisions.
I was evaluating the candidates for FL-24 and like the record of Karen Diebel. She is a businesswoman with a good record in government. Her principles were demonstrated getting the millage decreased from 4.7 to 4.0, that is what I read on the City tax rate, the spending cut and she even works nationally with businesses all over the country to grow.
Tom,
Sorry, I thought you were working for the campaign. If that’s not correct, my apologies.
Still though, I think there is a world of difference between the Diebel campaign’s criticism of Miller, and the Miller campaign’s criticism of Diebel.
Diebel’s campaign highlighted (1) a 2006 op-ed that Miller wrote, where he argues for more lenient enforcement of immigration laws, (2) the complete absence of any immigration discussion on his website until Diebel was endorsed by Team America, (3) his work lobbying with the National Restaurant Association, and (4) the praise his organization received, and he personally received, from the president of La Raza. These are all true facts.
Now, I think that there can be a rational debate over whether “amnesty” is a fair label, but it’s not just Diebel’s campaign applying that label, but also other groups that are nationally recognized on the immigration issue, such as ALIPAC. Moreover, I do think it’s completely fair and accurate to say that Miller has NOT been a proponent of secure borders and strict immigration policies.
Now, in contrast, let’s look at Miller’s attacks on Diebel. He has taken several little votes out of context and attempted to claim that Diebel “supports tax increases.” Nothing could be further from the truth. We’re starting to sound like broken records here, but it is a FACT that Karen voted for overall tax cuts, spending cuts, reductions in the city’s debt, and reductions in the overall size of government every year she was on the WP City Commission.
If you eliminate 3 programs and enact 1 new one that costs less than the 3 combined, is that a new tax? I would call it a tax reduction. And the so-called increased garbage tax? That was a mandatory vote, as the city’s contract with the waste management company required periodic increases with cost-of-living adjustments. The overall garbage fee was still lower than before the city contracted out that service. Would you have rather had the city violate their contract and then have to pay for a lawsuit, or wreck a contract that was functioning just fine and providing a valuable service? The internet service fee was a small fee if people wanted to pay their utility bills online with a credit card. There was no charge if people wanted to mail in their bill or bring in payment to city hall. The internet service fee was actually less than it actually cost the city to process the credit card payments, but because of the increased number of people who used the service, they were able to eliminate several employee positions at city hall, saving tens of thousands of dollars.
Worst of all is Miller’s latest mailer. It takes a quote slamming Diebel out of context from Eric Jotkoff, the press secretary for the FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY, and falsely suggests that the Orlando Sentinel had said those words, takes a part of another article from RedState’s Erick Erickson, who has already come to Diebel’s defense and criticized Miller’s false attacks on her, and then quotes from two liberals on the Winter Park City Commission to engage in further nasty personal attacks on Diebel . Anyone who knows anything about WP politics knows what Beth Dillaha is about. She is NOT a fiscal conservative (and neither is Margie Bridges). Dillaha is on record as an enthusiastic proponent FOR amendment 4 and other liberal causes.
Diebel defeated Dillaha in her first election to the WP Commission, and they were frequently on opposite sides of issues and votes. Diebel would vote for a tax cut, Dillaha would vote to spend more money. Diebel and Dillaha clashed frequently, and Dillaha’s opinion of Diebel is about as credible as interviewing Red Sox fans about what they think about the Yankees.
The fact that Miller has now, in the 11th hour, turned to several Democrats and liberals to attack Diebel with more lies and distortions, should show everyone his true colors. I don’t care if he’s a nice person one-on-one. He authorized the mailers and attack ads. He is responsible for their content.
The corrupt establishment is playing the ethics card on Rick Scott?
It’s almost embarrassing, McCollum will no doubt bring more of the same.
Was Mike Huckabee Ready To Sell His Endorsement to Rick Scott for $250,000?
My inside source says yes.
http://nickegorofforlandopoliticalactivist.blogspot.com/2010/08/was-mike-huckabee-ready-to-sell-his.html
Maybe Rick Scott is just flawed. How can we support a guy whose company kept gwp sets of books? Either he is a crook or incompetent, either way it is a nonstarter. We don’t need more of that.
[...] See for yourself from Central Florida Tea Party Organizer, TomT. His post can be found at http://www.orlandopoliticalpress.com/2010/08/21/who-will-bill-mccollum-represent/ and one of the Southwest Florida Tea Party organizers, RobinS. also has a revealing post at [...]
If it makes any difference…I already voted absentee and went right down the list voting encumbents and career politicians out. I believe very little and suspect everything the establishment is saying.
Well writtrn Tom…thanks, I took:
“Those who have been intoxicated with power… can never willingly abandon it.” ~ Edmund Burke
Even though we want new blood in government we also have to use discretion as we look at the newcomers. I agree with “Those who have been intoxicated with power… can never willingly abandon it.” ~ Edmund Burke
BUT I also think that there are a lot of new comers who are just as intoxicated with power and money before they even get there. Charley Crist and in this case Rick Scott. Unfortunately we do not have a good Republican candidate.