If ever the political stars were lining up for Florida Democrats, the time is now.
By announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Governor Charlie Crist may have sparked the possible implosion of the Republican-majority grip on the Sunshine State.
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink--the lone Democrat serving as a Crist Cabinet member--announced her intent to run for Governor. Perennial Republican politician, Bill McCollum, who presently serves as Attorney General, threw his hat in the race just this past week, although Agricultural Commissioner Charlie Bronson is considering whether to compete with his GOPPER brethren. With all the negative publicity swirling about the Attorney General these past few months, the last thing Bill needs is a good old boy like Bronson (a fifth generation Floridian) facing him off in a Republican primary.
Speaking of which, let me remind you a bit of how Bill McCollum's backward thinking.
McCollum is an old school lock 'em up type, the sort responsible for Florida's number one resource: prisons.
Reference back to an April 2007 Smashed Frog post, No Longer Civilly Stripped:
...the Florida Cabinet--sitting as the Board of Executive Clemency--restored civil rights, including voting rights to non-violent felons who have served their sentences.
The only dissenting vote was cast by-and so aptly described by the Frog's buddy Blast Off-as"that notorious fascistFlorida's ultra-wingnut attorney general, Bill McCollum."
"I believe in appropriate punishment. I'm Chain Gang Charlie," said Crist, as McCollum shook his head. "I believe in justice. But punishment should never be confused with revenge. We should be able to find it in our hearts to forgive. Our Creator does."
(...)
Those soon-to-be-the-former civilly stripped will find themselves with a voice and the vote. With that power in hand, legislators will have to face a very important and very personally effected-new voting block in a State with a nasty little habit of criminalizing and 'felonizing' under the CYA policy known as zero tolerance.
And AG Bill McCollum knows it....involved voters vote. No one is more involved than someone whose rights have been directly impacted by the state or federal government.
The Powerless have become the Powerful....and they usually vote Democrat.
Howard Dean used to talk a lot about taking our country back.
It's time Floridians took our state back. We've started the restoration by painting Florida blue through the election of President Obama. It's now time to give the Governor's mansion (and the resulting open seats) a fresh coat of Democrat.
My hopes are that Bill McCollum--who represents everything gone wrong with Paradise since the Rethugs took over the state--is rejected and ejected by his own party through the primary process.
Let's get busy. It's our time.
