With his battle with Congressman Connie Mack for the Republican nomination to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson intensifying, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux continued to hammer his GOP rival and looked to play a little political judo over former Gov. Charlie Crist.
LeMieux was a longtime friend and ally of Crist, serving as his chief of staff and as deputy attorney general under him. Crist appointed LeMieux to the Senate to serve for 16 months. Having abandoned the Republicans after being surpassed by Marco Rubio, Crist continued to run for the U.S. Senate with no party affiliation.
Speaking to members of the new media on Friday, LeMieux insisted that he had backed Rubio as soon as Crist left the GOP -- and maintained that Mack had backed Crist for months after he had abandoned the Republicans. LeMieux said Mack had backed Crist as late as August 2010 -- months after Crist left the GOP in May of that year.
LeMieux also pointed to Mack backing Crist for office during his years as a Republican. Connie Mack had a very strong relationship with the former governor, said LeMieux.
LeMieux returned on Friday to attacks he made against Mack at a media event in Tallahassee on Wednesday -- and continued to hammer the congressman for a history of violence and abuse and financial misconduct.
Once again, LeMieux pointed to an article from the Miami Herald last week that related Macks troubled personal and financial past.
I dont bring these things forward with any enthusiasm or happiness, LeMieux insisted, noting that he was an intern for the congressmans father, U.S. Sen. Connie Mack III who held the seat Nelson currently holds from 1989 until retiring in 2001.
LeMieux continued bashing Mack for supporting earmarks and voting for congressional pay raises. He also took aim at Macks opposition to the Arizona immigration law, insisting the congressman accused supporters of the law of using Gestapo tactics.
Looking toward November, LeMieux said Democrats would be able to hammer Mack on his past and give Nelson a third term in the Senate.
The Democrats are going to have a heyday with this, LeMieux said, adding Mack would have a difficult time and perhaps an impossible task to defeat Nelson in November.
LeMieux also said he did not think Mack was senatorial material.
I dont think hes fit for the office, LeMieux said. I know what makes senators successful and I dont think he has the temperament.
LeMieux was asked on Wednesday -- Ash Wednesday, a traditional day of repentance in some Christian churches -- if he regretted backing Crist over the years.
No, he said, before addressing his own personal life and conduct. Weve all made our mistakes. We all have feet of clay -- on this day I think this is something we should all recognize.
Macks camp fired back on Friday afternoon, insisting LeMieux had far closer ties to Crist than their candidate.
"Let's be clear, Jeff Cohen, the campaign manager for Mack, said on Friday. There was one -- and only one -- person who was Charlie Crist's self-declared political maestro -- George LeMieux. He benefitted lavishly from Charlie Crist. He was personally rewarded by Charlie Crist with his hand-picked appointment to the U.S. Senate. To this day, George LeMieux remains the consummate insiders insider and a political hack, and he has now single-handedly succeeded in turning his own campaign into an embarrassing political joke."
The two sides exchanged fire all this week -- with the Mack camp sending two open letters to LeMieux after the former senator called their candidate the Charlie Sheen of Florida politics at the media event in Tallahassee on Wednesday.
Cohen sent a follow-up open letter to LeMieux on Thursday -- pushing back against the Charlie Sheen comparison.
Drug and alcohol addiction is a serious concern. To compare your opponent, Connie Mack, to Charlie Sheen is both offensive and outrageous, Cohen wrote. The Mack family including Congressman Mack, his wife Mary and his parents have been leaders in standing up against the rising use of drugs among our citizens.
I know you believe it was cute (albeit juvenile) to bring in Charlie Sheen. Instead, it was offensive, demeaning and belittling to the hard work that so many people including the Macks have done for so long in dealing with the serious problem of addiction, and particularly drug and alcohol addiction among teenagers, Cohen added. As I said before, you were always proud to be known as a bare-knuckle, take-no-prisoners political operative, but I would be curious as to whether the Partnership for a Drug Free America, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other hard-working anti-drug and alcohol addiction organizations would find your Charlie Sheen comment as funny as you do. Let me assure you, they wouldnt.
George, your embarrassing campaign has gone beyond slinging mud to rapidly sinking into quicksand, which for you, must be a very lonely and desperate place especially for someone who for so long has proudly proclaimed himself to be Charlie Crists political maestro, Cohen wrote before signing off with deep disappointment but no surprise.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
