Southerland is easily the most vulnerable Republican congressman in Florida. There are even some pundits who have labeled Southerland the most vulnerable Republican congressman in the nation. Southerland has been hobbled by his own unforced errors including, most recently, a revelation that his campaign held an all-male fundraiser in which his supporters were encouraged, in an invite sent out by his campaign, to leave the misses at home.
Basking in her father Bobs name, Graham was riding high, claiming she will help fix Washington and bring the North Florida Way to the Beltway.
The only problem is, Graham reeks more of the Potomac than the Gulf Coast or Wakulla Springs. Southerland landed a meaningful punch this week in a new TV ad which paints Graham as a lobbyist for her work for the Andrews & Kurth law firm back in 1989 and 1990 when her father was sitting in the U.S. Senate. Graham insists she never did lobbying work despite her prominent father.
But the ad targets Graham for other Beltway connections besides her possible lobbying.
"Liberal Gwen Graham is hiding the truth," the narrator of the ad says. "Graham was Washington lobbyist and liberal political consultant who has taken thousands of dollars from Nancy Pelosi and her special interest allies."
As she tries to position herself as a moderate, Graham has jettisoned much of her political past. Back in the 2004 presidential campaign, after her fathers political career ended with a disappointing bid for the Democratic nomination, Gwen Graham went to work for two of the most liberal Democratic presidential candidates in recent years: Howard Dean and John Kerry.
Fast forward ahead a decade and Graham is trying to claim the political middle. She wont say if she would have voted for Obamacare. Despite taking cash from Nancy Pelosis PAC and being the darling of the DCCC, Graham wont say if she will vote for the California Democrat to be speaker of the House. Instead, she keeps saying she is a Graham Democrat like her father who represents North Florida values.
After the revelations about the idiotic men-only fundraiser, Southerland needed to change the conversation and draw a little blood. With his latest attack, he has done just that. Southerland might be one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the nation, but he is showing he intends to fight all the way to November.
Tallahassee-based political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
