Democrats close to Florida party leadership are buzzing over the bold call Monday from Democratic progressives to replace senatorial candidate Patrick Murphy with Alan Grayson -- and an equally bold, retaliatory call the very next day from a party executive chair to disband the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida.
Fuming over the attempt to sabotage FDP's choice to run for Marco Rubio's seat, Celeste Bush, DEC chair of St. Lucie County, said in an email distributed Tuesday,"Yesterday an unprecedented action was taken by Susan Smith, (president) of the 'Democratic' Progressive Caucus and Nancy Jacobson, an elected DNC member."They called a press conference to discredit Congressman Patrick Murphys run for U.S. Senate. You may have seen some of the news stories."
In fact, news of the press conference went viral in social media and was reported as national news on TV.
The Progressive Caucus called out Murphy, a Republican less than four years ago, as too moderate to replace Rubio and insisted liberals were looking for another candidate -- namely U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Central Florida.
"This action runs counter to our Democratic Partys very existence," wrote Bush. "We cannot have 'so called' Democrat leaders aggressively attacking an elected Democrat or any Democrat running for office. A Democratic leader is just that a leader of Democrats not just some Democrats that fit a preconceived notion of what constitutes a Democrat."
Continued Bush, "These 'so called' leaders have just slapped the face of the Florida Democratic Party, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic National Committee. They have assumed authority for party actions that was not theirs to command. A lot of work, money, and effort has gone into the decision that Patrick Murphy had made with the help of the true leaders of our party. ...
"The experiment with having a Democratic Progressive Caucus has obviously failed. They have assumed power they do not have. ... Susan declared that the progressives were the grassroot, foot soldiers of the party and that without them we would have trouble electing Democrats. She stated that her caucus was the bridge that tied the progressives to the Democrats. I would say that it was a 'Bridge Too Far!'
"Nancy Jacobson should be stripped of her DNC credentials. The sole role of the DNC and its members is to elect Democrats. That does not include discrediting them. Decertify the 'Democratic' Progressive Caucus for this action. Let them be who they are: 'Progressives.' Let them try to get the attention of the media with that moniker," wrote Bush.
The St. Lucie County DEC chair also claims the progressives' press conference told "lies 'not in our name.' They stated that Patrick supported cuts to Social Security when actually he is on record making only one change to SS -- raising the tax cap so that people who make over $120k a year would pay more taxes to shore up Social Security. They said he supported Bowles Simpson, when he never ever has. ..."
Expressing the progressives' argument on Monday, former Walton County Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Frank Day noted Democrats ran former Gov. Charlie Crist against Gov. Rick Scott last year and the former Republican failed his new party.
"Florida voters who are looking to vote for a conservative will no doubt prefer the eventual Republican candidate over the Republican-lite one," Day said. "Just ask Gov. Charlie Crist. I remember when Florida Democrats were told we had to rally around Crist because he was the only 'viable' candidate who can raise lots of money. And what happened to Crist? Voters looked at him and his opponent and couldn't tell the difference."
Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant was not answering Sunshine State News' phone calls Tuesday night. Nor were Jacobson or Smith available.
Grayson, meanwhile, has not committed to challenge Murphy in the 2016 primary. Currently engaged in a nasty divorce in which he accused his estranged wife of bigamy and is seeking an annulment, Grayson did worse against Republicans than Murphy in a Quinnipiac poll released Monday.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
