Although we're not even sure which two major candidates will be on the ballot next spring to replace the late Bill Young in Pinellas County, the Democratic and Republican congressional campaign committees in Washington are wasting no time in trashing the opposing party's (potential) nominees.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) sent out a press release on Tuesday charging that state representative Kathleen Peters was now "furiously flipping and flopping," regarding her camp's clarification of a story that was published in the Tampa Bay Times that stated she would not support a delay in flood insurance increases.
Tens of thousands of Pinellas County residents will likely see their property insurance rates skyrocket due to the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. There has been movement among Gulf state lawmakers to delay the rate increases for a year, but according to the Times , Peters is not interested in a delay and prefers a more comprehensive approach.
Today Peters' spokesperson Mark Zubaly issued a statement: “Kathleen’s comments to the Tampa Bay Times regarding Flood Insurance rates were that simply delaying the implantation of the rate increase for one year solves nothing — We must stop the recent changes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) implementation completely! All a delay will do is create a year of uncertainty, cripple our real estate market, and send our local economy spiraling back into recession. “
Peters faces lobbyist David Jolly in the Republican Primary for CD13 that takes place in January. The winner will face former state Democrat Alex Sink, the state's CFO from 2007 to 2011, who has been blasted by the Republican Party of Florida for being a carpetbagger (the longtime Hillsborough County resident is now renting in Pinellas).
While that tag may or may not hurt Sink in the general election in March, Republicans have what they think is a much more toxic issue — President Obama's stumbling health care overhaul, which appears to be growing more unpopular by the day.
Today the DCCC's loyal opposition, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), issued a pamphlet addressed to all Democratic House candidates that provides "some advice on how to sell government-run healthcare." It lists three congressional Democrats who went down to defeat in 2010 when the ACA was an issue.
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2013.