Editor’s note: This week, SaintPetersBlog launched a new, semi-regular feature that will run during the duration of the special election in Florida’s 13th Congressional District. It is simply a smart wrap of the day’s events in this battleground seat. If you think a story or tweet or ad should be included in our round-up, email me at [email protected].
Weekends may be a little slow in ordinary campaigns, but not all is quiet in Florida’s 13th Congressional District.
Here is the day that was for the Special Election in CD 13:
Don’t mess with Chuck Todd — Politico reports the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce was thrilled when NBC News asked to broadcast a Feb. 25 debate for Pinellas County’s 13th Congressional District, moderated by political director Chuck Todd. But chamber president and CEO Bob Clifford told the Tampa Bay Times the Alex Sink campaign rejected the idea. This move continues the Republican narrative that Sink is “afraid” to argue Republican David Jolly one-on-one, supported by the claims she backed out of a number of other scheduled meetings, including one where she instead attended a Washington D.C. fundraiser. At this point, Sink would be hard pressed to argue the point after dissing Todd, a native of Miami.
Another tough day for Republicans — The Tampa Bay Times rips apart a 30-second National Republican Congressional Committee ad attacking Alex Sink’s support of Obamacare, which flashed pictures of Sink, Obama and California’s Nancy Pelosi. The NRCC ad says — out of context — that 300,000 Floridians will lose “current health plans,” without the claim that those individuals will be without insurance next year, when it would be illegal to go without healthcare. What it doesn’t say is that although they could pay more, they could also be eligible for better coverage. Ouch.
Gotta give credit where credit is due — David Jolly attempted to reach out to the two Largo seniors featured in the Democratic SuperPAC “We Saw” TV spot released earlier this week, writes Mitch Perry in Creative Loafing Tampa. He looked up the number of Elizabeth and Rod Snedeker, names familiar to Jolly because they would occasionally contact former U.S. Rep. Bill Young. “I am sure that every professional consultant would have advised me against calling people who appear in my opponents commercials, but I looked up their phone number on the Internet without telling anybody and I called them,” Jolly told Perry on Saturday morning. They weren’t home (or maybe they have caller ID).
Republicans may have a point, now they just have to make it — The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent picked up on Alex Sink’s “exciting prospect” comments Friday. The Democrat was talking about last week’s CBO report that workers will voluntarily cut back on hours — enough for more than 2.5 million jobs — based on eligibility for federal subsidies with the Affordable Care Act. Leading the GOP responses, Paul Ryan contends federal “safety nets” create dependency and a disincentive to work. Sargent says it is a “legitimate argument to have,” but not an argument that many Republican candidates will make. “If they are going to engage Sink’s actual argument — which is being made by multiple Dems across the country – they’ll have to say that more directly,” he writes.
