Got a tweet Tuesday night about a headline on the St. Pete Times Buzz Blog that read: "It's looking like House Speaker Corcoran in 17-18."
You've gotta be friggin' kidding me.
This isn't new, but the absurdity doesn't go away just because it's happened before.
Pasco County Representative Richard Corcoran, a former chief of staff to then House Speaker Marco Rubio, was elected to the state House approximately 11 weeks ago, was it? He's gone up to Tallahassee for some committee hearings in all probability. Met with his constituents, surely. But how does anyone know he deserves to hold such an estimable position six years from now?
The Times/Herald's Marc Caputo reported earlier this week on the announcement, while blogger Peter Schorsch wrote Thursday about how Corcoran was able to win the post.
Again, other than the fact that he's a close Rubio ally (and also one associated with using a Republican Party of Florida AmEx card), Corcoran isn't well-known. So isn't it sort of preposterous that we already know he will be leading the state House of Representatives in six years?
Maybe for those who hang in Tallahassee or aspire to, these are silly things to ponder. But while I would hardly associate myself with the non or apolitical types, forgive my naivete, but there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with a system that has lawmakers choosing the very important leaders over half a decade from now.
This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2011.