Polk County GOP Congressman Adam Putnam is in a fiery race for the Republican Party nomination for Agriculture Commissioner with State Senator Carey Baker.
But the 4-time elected Representative still has a job in Washington D.C., and this weekend he was in Orlando, along with the rest of the Florida GOP establishment for their annual confab.
According to a report in Sunday's Miami Herald/St. Pete Times, Putnam had this to say about polls that show Republicans are angry about the fate of the nation, as their poll numbers ascend as the 2010 Congressional elections grow near:
"But anger alone will not retake the majority for the Republican Party," said Putnam, who is running for state agriculture commissioner. "It is just a passion. It is not a plan for government. … So for our Republican Party to be successful at the state level and at the national level, we have to have people understand what our vision and what our leadership will bring."
In a sign of just how disenchanted voters are with the political establishment, a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found Tea Party activists more popular than either the Democrats or Republicans.
"America has fallen out of love with the Democratic Party, but they have not fallen back in love with us," Putnam added.
Sage words indeed. As the Tea Party movement continues to make its collective voices heard, most analysts consider that even though those Tea Baggers frequently say they're disgusted with everybody in Washington, they'll vote GOP come November.
Maybe, maybe not. The Florida Republican Party is not taking anything for granted.
Bob Starr, the chairman of the state Republican county chairmen caucus, told the Palm Beach Post over the weekend that they will be actively trying to bring in those Tea Baggers within the party.
The Post reports on that, along with another Adam Putnam quote:
The first item of "new business" for Starr's county chairman caucus meeting this weekend: how to recruit Tea Party members.
Ideas included taking voter registration forms to rallies, collecting e-mail addresses and offering financial support for their rallies.
The Tea Party movement was spawned in response to Obama's stimulus plan and push for health care reform.
"Nobody talks much about hope anymore," said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, who is running for state agriculture commissioner.
"It's been replaced by another emotion which is infinitely more powerful, which is, frankly, anger, uncertainty, even fear about the future of this country."
Although Putnam has a very solid conservative record in Washington (though voting for the $700 bailout will no doubt be an albatross around his neck during his campaign), state senator Baker will try to position himself as the true conservative in their race for Ag Commissioner. Although much (too much?) has been made about the Crist/Rubio race being a barometer of the fissure in the GOP between pragmatists and true believers, this race could be just as significant if viewed under that prism.
This article appears in Jan 6-12, 2010.