I am a fairly liberal Democrat, so you won’t find a lot of agreement between me and the senior state Senator from Pinellas County, Jack Latvala, a Republican. I don’t like a lot of what Latvala stands for. If he had even an inkling of who I am, I have every confidence he’d say the same thing. But I have sort of mentally branded Latvala with a special mark afforded far too few Republicans these days. It indicates he is the kind of Republican who is not interested in simply destroying government — “drown it in the bathtub,” in the immortal words of anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist. I believe Senator Latvala has an interest in governing.
Like I said, how that governing gets done — well, we’re probably going to disagree. A lot.
But late last week I read a post here on comments by Latvala, and found myself whispering quietly, Thank God for Jack Latvala.
The issue is one of these social media disasters in which Pinellas GOP state committeeman Dan Tucker referenced County Commissioner John Morroni’s battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and the Commissioner’s endorsement of Darden Rice for City Council. Ms. Rice is active in a number of leading politically progressive ventures.
I have every confidence Mr. Tucker — an apparent Tea Party activist — made what he thought was a clever quip on a Facebook post. It turned out to be a disaster. He has since apologized.
Which brings us to Senator Latvala, who stepped forward in a big, loud way:
“I call upon Dan Tucker to resign and if he refuses I will ask Lenny Curry to remove him.”
It is a big deal for a Republican of Senator Latvala’s stature to call so directly for the removal of a state committeeman. Not incidentally, if anyone still has questions about the impact of social media, please take note. I cannot imagine Mr. Tucker is long for this political world.
As I’ve said, I have no insight into Republican machinations. I have my suspicions, but no real knowledge of how things work.
What I do know is that it this: Senator Latvala wasn’t brave for doing this. He didn’t even expend any political capital. It was just the right thing to do. It was the right thing to come forward and demand action from the party to which the Senator belongs.
What I also know is that Governor Rick Scott hasn’t had a Lieutenant Governor in something like eight billion years. He needs one. This point has been demonstrated over and over and over again. I understand that Scott and Latvala are very different kinds of politicians. I also understand that the job of Lt. Governor is essentially being ready for something awful to happen to the actual governor, which means understanding politics in this state, and the job itself.
A chance at a state-wide voice for Senator Latvala, and a chance at some good PR choosing a somewhat different leader (from a region Scott needs to win in 2014). Could a thoughtless, heartless Facebook comment from an idiot state committeeman leverage a new Lt. Governor, and launch a gubernatorial re-election campaign? In Florida? Why not.
