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Andrew Gillum: The Running Man

May 18, 2019 - 8:45am

Andrew Gillum brought healthy doses of his charisma, bankroll, and grit to Tampa on Thursday in an effort to rally Democrats for the 2020 election and beyond.

The main photo op for the local press was his presenting a large facsimile of a $100,000 check to Florida Democratic Party chairperson Terrie Rizzo. The dough, according to Rizzo,  will be used to register and energize Democratic voters to “turn Florida blue.”

Gillum’s presence on a steamy day brought Hillsborough County progressives, party operatives, state Sen. Darryl Rouson, state Rep. Fentrice Driskell, and county Democratic chairperson Ione Townsend to the Marshall Amphitheatre at the University of South Florida.

Most importantly for Gillum and his cause, the press showed up in droves -- cameras, notepads and all.

Gillum, who stormed through a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2018 only to lose to Ron DeSantis by a tad more than 30,000 votes in the general election, took the opportunity to chastise the Florida Legislature.

“The voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 4 (65 percent), giving felons the right to register and vote. The amendment got more votes than myself or Gov. DeSantis,” Gillum noted.  “Republicans, Democrats, and NPAs supported it.”

The Republican-dominated Legislature during the 2019 session passed a bill requiring people with felony records to pay all court costs and fees before they can vote.  Approximately 1.4 million felons in Florida are now eligible to vote, but many would be blocked from doing so by what Democrats characterize as a ”poll tax.”

DeSantis has given every indication he will sign the bill.

Gillum, considered a rising star by Democrats nationally as well as statewide, shrewdly remains in the public eye while solidifying relations with the state party. No one doubts there is a high profile political race in his future.

Asked by Tampa Bay Beat about a “next time,” Gillum demurred, asserting he is laser-focused on recruiting, registering, and motivating Democratic voters for next year and beyond.

The former Tallahassee mayor is saying all the right words and acting like a candidate. Andrew Gillum is the running man.

Andrew Gillum Thursday at the University of South Florida
Andrew Gillum Thursday at the University of South Florida

Jim Bleyer, a former reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and Tampa Tribune, writes the Tampa Bay Beat blog.

Comments

If He is the best that they got, they are in trouble. What's more troubling, is a far, far left candidate, plagued in scandal, nearly beat the Republican novice candidate. This is more concerning than Gillum by far...

Yup. That's because hate, envy, and revenge drive members of the Democrat party - not logic.

BINGO!

He's just another "taken care of" Demshevik uncle Tom used to keep all those otherwise-pesky negroes in line, and handpuppet for pasty old white guy Gyorgy "Soros" Schwartz and his fellow rich, racist occultocrats. Now he can take his seat next to Sharpton and the rest of the loyal criminal enterprise crew as yet another propaganda circus clown. The five pillars of Demslam (rhymes with islam, for you millennial Bernie voters) are DICTC: deceit, incompetence, corruption, tyranny, and cowardice.

Unless the Dems also won the Florida House or Senate, it made no difference if Gillum won ... other than he would have been able to veto some of the totally stoopid Republican legislative moves like the boondoggle toll roads bill and arming school teachers. At the very least, the Dems need to win the Florida Senate in the next election. They only need to pick up four seats. Same in D.C. Dems need to keep the U.S. House and re-take the Senate, again, just by turning four seats. The GOPs are welcome to keep the Jerk-In-Chief in the Oval Office ... as long as the Dems control the House and Senate.

You are so very wrong on so many levels. First, the incoming governor got to select three new supreme court justices to replace three outgoing extremist leftists. The Supreme court then flipped from having 4 leftists and three moderates to now having 6 moderates and 1 leftist. This was HUGE and it will allow for much good legislation to get passed that will not get tossed out by the previous four leftist justices. Sit back and enjoy the action as democrats in Florida flip their wigs regularly while they watch from the sidelines as the Republicans get the work done.

Very, very thankful he didn't win in Florida. The man is a joke. Glad this is what the Dems have got for Florida! Are Millennials in Florida really so dumb to vote for someone like this? He's already caught up in several corruption scandals

How dumb were the millenials and Republicans who voted for Trump ??? Trump appears to have invented corruption at the presidential level ... and he's clearly a compulsive liar, a serial cheater and adulterer, a con man like Barnum, and a fraudster like Ponzi it's amazing how the GOPpers continuously call the kettle black ... with Don the Con as their head man!

But you would have rather had Adolph Rodham Hitlary. That says a lot.

Looks like the only votes they're attempting to 'mobilize' are felons. What does that tell you about Florida Dems' base and target base? I guess Gillum is the right person to embrace and promote felon participation since he shares their background. Looks like he stayed away from appearing in Tallahassee, probably afraid he'll get shot since he turned it into Florida's crime capital. He should team up with Stacey Abrams and do a Losers Tour.

Gillum has proven himself to be a "corrupt Clown": There's NO OTHER WAY to put it !

Thank God for those 30,000 votes! Had Gillum been elected, Florida would already be looking like Venezuela!!

Perhaps not quite Venezuela, but certainly like California, Oregon, Colorado and Arizona!

Comments are now closed.

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