The Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the Senate heated up this week with the two leading candidates exchanging fire.
Earlier this week, U.S. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., released a Web video on Tuesday, firing away at U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., his main opponent for the Democratic nomination. Grayson’s Web ad relied heavily on an Inside Gov list released in recent weeks which ranked Murphy as one of the least effective members of Congress. The ad also featured “I’m Just a Bill,” a song from a “Schoolhouse Rock” cartoon segment that first ran in 1976 and offered children some basics about how laws are passed.
But, later in the week, the Web video was gone, leading Murphy’s camp to fire back on Grayson. Politico Florida asked Grayson’s team why the ad was pulled but the campaign would not comment.
“Why did Alan Grayson launch an attack ad, only to delete it less than 24 hours after releasing it?” Murphy’s team demanded on Friday. “Was it because his attack against Patrick had been rated completely false by PolitiFact? Was it because he had violated the copyright of 'Schoolhouse Rock'? Grayson is refusing to comment.”
"This irresponsible and false attack from Alan Grayson is everything that's wrong with Washington, putting political point-scoring above working together to get things done,” added Joshua Karp, a spokesman for Murphy’s campaign. “But what's even worse is that Grayson now wants to duck all responsibility for launching it, avoiding comment for deleting it less than one day later. Democrats -- and all Floridians -- deserve much better.”
Grayson released another Web ad on Wednesday. In the second Web ad, Grayson stays positive, ignoring Murphy and his other rivals in the race and showcasing his record of success in Congress. The video is included below.
Attorney Pam Keith, also running for the Democratic nomination, stayed out of the fray but she threw a jab at some of the Republican presidential candidates on immigration.
“Just to help out here, an alternate title for the ugly term ‘anchor baby,’ is U.S. citizen,” Keith noted on Tuesday. “You know, in case you're struggling with it.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
