No Democrat has been more unsparing in blasting Republicans this year – be it for their lack of support for a health care reform bill, to the carping by Vice President Dick Cheney- than Orlando area Congressman Alan Grayson.
He's also turned on the Florida NetRoots folk, who have been thrilled and inspired by his directness and frankly at times lack of civility (such as calling an adviser to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke a "K Street whore", or saying of Cheney last week that he ought to "STFU").
Grayson defeated Republican Rick Keller last year in his bid for re-election, and the GOP is angry and wants the seat back in the worst way.
Yet up until now, they haven't had a serious challenger to run up against the controversial Representative.
Now that's changed, as Ocala State Senator Kurt Kelly says he will soon enter the race.
The Orlando Sentinel quotes Kelly saying, “Every indicator is pointing to me jumping in the race." Also from the blog post:
A self-described conservative, Kelly said his campaign would highlight the major differences between his policies and those of Grayson. “There will be distinct differences between Kurt Kelly … and Alan Grayson, who has done a marvelous job of pandering to the extreme left,” Kelly said.
He specifically pointed to Grayson’s opposition to the troop surge in Afghanistan. “Terrorists are there to kill Americans,” said Kelly, who said he supports President Barack Obama's plan to send more soldiers.
Last Friday night, Pasco Republican State Committeeman Bill Bunting said on the public affairs program Florida This Week that some Republicans were trying to persuade State Senator Corey Baker to run against Grayson. Baker is running for the Republican nomination for Agriculture Commissioner vs. the man Bunting is supporting in the race, Polk County area Congressman Adam Putnam. So it would be a two-fer for Putnam supporters.
No word if Baker has any interest in doing that, but one thing's for sure- he'll be pretty active in the Senate next session.
Among the bills he has in the hopper for next spring includes a crackdown on illegal immigration; SB 856 would
institute a "basic pilot program" to require all public employers to utilize electronic verification to ensure persons employed by state government are legal residents of the United States or have met the citizenship requirements in place. Private businesses will be exempt.
Also, remember the good ole' days (like two weeks ago) when the U.S. Senate was talking about including a government run public health option that could have either an opt-in or opt-out for the states? Well, Senator Baker was ahead of that, announcing legislation in July that would put a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot allowing Floridians to reject whatever health care bill may ultimately come out of Washington.
Baker is sponsoring the bill in the Senate. In the House, it's being supported by Scott Plakon. In a joint statement when they announced the legislation, the two said, "We believe this unprecedented power-grab by President Obama and Congress is clearly not in the best interests of the citizens of Florida."
Such posturing has led analysts to describing the relatively conservative Putnam as the, well, I don't know if we can really use the word moderate, so let's say "less" conservative than Baker.
This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2009.
