The Democratic leadership rallied behind former state CFO Alex Sink on Wednesday as Republicans ramped up their attacks against her. Sink is the Democratic candidate in the special election March 11 to replace the late U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., in Congress.
Sink joined Vice President Joe Biden in Coral Gables Wednesday night for a fundraiser. Republicans were quick to point out that Sink avoided Biden on the campaign trail back in 2010 when she was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate running against Rick Scott in the gubernatorial race. Groups supporting Republican David Jolly, including the conservative American Action Network and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), quickly pounced and pointed out how Sink went out of her way to avoid Biden four years ago.
Alex Sink and Joe Biden have a lot in common, including their love for President Obamas dysfunctional health care law, which guts Medicare and is costing our country jobs, said Katie Prill, a spokeswoman for the NRCC. Its very clear that Alex Sink has already aligned herself with the most liberal Washington Democrats so it should be no surprise to Pinellas families that she will vote with the most liberal Democrats in Congress.
But Biden wasnt the only big-name Democrat to go to bat for Sink Wednesday. The Florida Democratic Party brought in former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., to attack Jolly on veterans issues. A disabled Vietnam veteran, Cleland led the U.S. Veterans Administration under fellow Georgia Democrat Jimmy Carter before serving in the Senate.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DNCC) also went after Jolly on veterans affairs and insisted he would support military action against Syria.
From veterans to seniors, special-interest lobbyist David Jolly has a long record of wanting Pinellas families to pay more while protecting unfair tax breaks for his corporate clients and the ultra wealthy, said David Bergstein, a spokesman for the DCCC, on Wednesday. Lobbyist Jolly has consistently put his radical, tea party ideology over the values of Pinellas families. And whether Jolly is advocating for an attack on Syria, trying to privatize Social Security or making veterans pay more for the health care theyve earned, its become clear Pinellas residents simply cannot trust special-interest lobbyist David Jolly.
But Republicans also went on the attack, launching a new commercial hitting Sink for backing President Barack Obamas health care law.
Alex Sink has made it clear that her loyalty is to Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, not Pinellas County families, said Prill on Wednesday. Sink continues to support Obamacare even though its gutting Medicare, causing Florida families to lose their coverage and costing our economy over 2 million jobs. Pinellas families cant trust Alex Sink in Congress.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
