During a week when two politicians are arrested and the one-time frontrunner in a special election ends up losing, Tampa Bay Times political editor Adam Smith decides that the Loser of the Week in Florida politics is a state Senator who was called the c-word by grassroots activists opposed to a bill she is sponsoring.
Senator Kelli Stargel is the Loser of the Week because her “bill to restrict small craft beer brewers from selling directly to the public has made her a poster child for legislators appearing much more concerned with protecting powerful special interests than the free market and small businesses,” writes Smith.
Smith all but implies Stargel’s sponsorship of this legislation is why one craft beer supporter called her at home on Easter Sunday (yes, you read that right. Her HOME on Easter Sunday) and called her the B-word and the C-word.
I guess after being called a b*tch on Easter Sunday, being named the Loser of the Week ain’t so bad.
Stargel isn’t even the bronze medalist for Loser of the Week.
Doesn’t Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto deserve the title more than Stargel? After all, Benacquisto lost in the special primary election in Congressional District 19 after starting the race as the overwhelming favorite.
Doesn’t Scott Batterson deserve the title more than Stargel? After all, the OOCEA board member was indicted by a grand jury on one count of bribery and two counts of soliciting unlawful compensation as a public official.
Doesn’t my friend, Rep. Dane Eagle, deserve the title more than Stargel? After all getting arrested for drinking too much beer is a much worse offense than sponsoring legislation unfair to craft beer brewers.
I swear Smith sometimes picks odd choices for the Winner and Loser of the Week just to be a) different than conventional wisdom and b) prickly.
The choice of Sen. Stargel as Loser of the Week certainly fits in those two categories.
