As Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson ramps up his 2012 re-election campaign, a "nonpartisan" group is working to soften up his Republican competition.
Progress Florida launched a website -- DirtyHari.org -- to attack state Sen. Mike Haridopolos, Nelson's first announced GOP opponent. The PF-sponsored site, which bears the fetching headline, "Haridopolos Exposed," assails the Senate president for his "cushy UF teaching gig," "extreme positions" and "double-dipper hypocrisy."
Though Progress Florida calls itself "nonpartisan," its senior advisory board is loaded with left-wing operatives and organizations. Most are active in Democratic Party or union politics. Others promote liberal social agendas, including additional rights for homosexuals and benefits for public employees.
Because the leftward tilt of Progress Florida's advisory board could capsize Nelson's putative claim to be a "moderate" Democrat, the senator's name does not appear on the Dirty Hari site or PF's home page.
But Sunshine State News has learned that the two-term senator and the St. Petersburg-based group have a host of friends and causes in common. While Progress Florida officially fashions itself as "nonpartisan," PF and its advisory board members toe the Democratic Party line on a full range of social and economic issues.
PF's advisers also put their money where their mouth is, as board members have personally donated more than $10,000 to Nelson. In addition, many of these advisers sit on boards of other organizations that have contributed to Nelson.
Founded in 2008, Progress Florida calls itself "a nonprofit organization promoting progressive values through online organizing, media outreach and networking with Florida's leading progressive organizations."
Among the goals stated on its website, PF says it seeks to "generate hard-hitting, traditional and new media coverage. ... We work with our extensive network of members and advisers to maintain a 24-7 rapid response media operation that pulls no punches when taking on the radical right."
According to documents obtained by Sunshine State News, "Progress Florida has a strong internal infrastructure in its connection to and support of Bill Nelson. PF's board of advisers has a long history of supporting Bill Nelson."
Mark Ferrulo, PF's executive director, called the advisory board "simply a group of progressive leaders. ... From time to time, we run ideas by this group of people for feedback, hence the name 'advisory board.'
As for his organization's nonpartisan status, Ferullo said, "I dont know if there are any Republicans on the advisory board. We dont ask or, frankly, care.Our criterion for asking someone to join our advisory board is: Are they a leader in Floridas progressive community?"
Adding that Progress Florida is governed by a separate board of directors, Ferullo said, "All my interactions with Senator Nelson and his staff throughout the years have been almost entirely focused on one issue: the fight to protect our coast from oil drilling.Nelson has been a champion in this fight and Ive publicly thanked him for his stance on that issue over the years, including in my role at other groups before PF existed.
"We have no relationship with Senator Nelson in any election-related context.Progress Florida has never endorsed a candidate for office and we do not coordinate with any candidates or political parties on election-related activity," Ferullo said.
Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Nelson, said, "I don't know anything about Progress Florida or a 'Dirty Hari' website, but I do know it's farfetched to try to link Senator Nelson to it."
After viewing the site, McLaughlin added, "The sad thing is, the worst stuff on there looks like it's true and straight from legitimate news publications."
Despite the denials of any institutionally coordinated effort, Progress Florida and its Dirty Hari site clearly serve twin objectives -- protecting Nelson's left flank from other liberal challengers and attacking the senator's only announced GOP opponent.
If politicians can be judged by the company they keep, Nelson's liaisons at Progress Florida speak volumes about his political agenda. Here's a rundown on PF advisory board members who constitute an interlocking political network with Nelson and the Democratic Party:
MONICA RUSSO: president of Florida's Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has donated $11,000 to Nelson's campaign.
RICH TEMPLIN: communications director of the Florida AFL-CIO. The union has given Nelson $50,419 over the course of his career.
ELLEN FREIDEN: chairwoman of Fair Districts Florida, which received the lion's share of its financial support from Democratic donors.
BARBARA DE VANE: lobbyist for the National Organization for Women. During the fall campaign, she blasted Republican lieutenant governor nominee Jennifer Carroll, saying, "[Carroll] may be a woman, she may be a minority, but she supported her party 100 percent of the time."
PAMELA BURCH FORT: trial lawyer and director of Civic Concern, a progressive think tank. She contributed $250 to Nelson in 2010.
BILL PHILLIPS: former Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and political adviser, whose clients include the Florida Education Association. He sits on the board of Florida Together, a gay-lesbian organization that backed11 Democrats and one Hispanic Republican in Florida's 2010 congressional elections. Florida Together says its mission is to "achieve complete equality for Floridas lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population through political and social action."
ADORA OBI NWEZE: president of NAACP Florida. Adamantly opposed Gov. Jeb Bush's One Florida plan to end affirmative action in the state.
NADINE SMITH: executive director of Equality Florida, which promotes gay marriage.
DEREK NEWTON: Miami-based political consultant. Discussing Nelson's re-election prospects, he told the National Journal: "I think he's more vulnerable in a primary than he is in a general. He comes from a great line of political moderates in Florida. He's no lefty, so he'd be tough to beat in a general election.''
BILL NEWTON: Florida Consumer Action Network. Affiliated with US Action, this group says it "mobilize[s] activists from dozens of allied and affiliated organizations, including environmental, church, labor, civic, and senior citizen groups." The US Action affiliate in Wisconsin said it played "a leading role in organizing" the teacher walkout in that state.
ALAN BROCK: president of Florida Young Democrats.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
