Abruzzo joins Aronberg’s ‘Mainstream’ effort
by Michael C. Bender | July 14th, 2010Rep. Joe Abruzzo tell us he’s signing up to raise money for the 527 political advocacy group known as Florida Mainstream Democrats and knows at least one Democrat who his money won’t be helping: state Rep. Rick Kriseman.
“Rick Kriseman is about as mainstream as Dennis Rodman,” Abruzzo said.
The group hasn’t spent anything this year beyond consulting and web site management, but clearly it’s created quite a stir.
Abruzzo’s jab at Kriseman comes after the St. Petersburg Democrat was critical of attorney general candidate Dave Aronberg, who Abruzzo supports, saying it was misleading for Aronberg to use the 527 in his Democratic primary with Dan Gelber.
Kriseman, like Aronberg, is a former chairman of the original Florida Mainstream Democrats, which spent the past six years recruiting conservative voters to the party and promoting moderate candidates. Kriseman, who shut down the original group earlier this year because a lack of money, said any campaign propaganda sent by the new 527 would look like the old group was endorsing Aronberg.
(Some background on the flap here and here)
Abruzzo, who told us earlier this year that he’d rather vote for independent Charlie Crist than Democrat Kendrick Meek in the U.S. Senate race, was careful to say he’s not making decisions about where the 527 spends its money.
But he said he expects the group to spend cash to help Aronberg.
(Top contributors to the committee include FPL, $25,000, and Florida Crystals subsidiaries, $25,000. The group has also received money from Alliance CCE, a political committee run by State Farm lobbyist Mark Delegal, and Committee of Florida Agents, a political committee run by State Farm insurance agent Glenn Ritchie.)
“The committee heads are using the resources to fund Democrats who are fiscally conservative, anti-tax and pro-job creation,” Abruzzo said. “The perception is that of course it will help Dave.”
We asked Abruzzo if he thought Gelber was a “mainstream Democrat.” “Absolutely not,” Abruzzo said. “Dan Gelber, in my estimation, represents high taxes and large government.”
Abruzzo said he hoped Mainstream money also would be used to help state House Democrats like Mac Bernard of West Palm Beach and Leonard Bembry of Greenville, neither of whom have primary opponents this year.
Abruzzo said his alignment with the new Mainstream is a natural fit. He, along with Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, helped organize meetings last year with about a dozen House Democrats — about a third of all House Democrats — in an attempt to form a pro-business caucus. He sees the re-creation of Mainstream as a way to help that cause.
“There are different philosophies on job creation” among House Democrats, Abruzzo said. “Our main focus is that high taxes is not the answer. Some members of our caucus don’t agree. This group would be to help broaden that discussion.”
Tags: Dan Gelber, Dave Aronberg, Democrats, Joe Abruzzo
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July 14th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Joe Abruzzo ENDORSED democrat senatorial candidate Jeff Greene, who made his billions on the backs of those who lost their homes.
Greene, who ran in CA as a republican and LOST, then moved to Florida and is running as a democrat.
Time for Abruzzo to go, as well as, Aronberg.
Abruzzo backs a billionaire who parades around with Lindsey Lohan on his yacht in the Caribbean. That’s the type of ‘leadership’ that Abruzzo is promoting.
Some rich guy, who uses his money to promote himself. Florida doesn’t need this type of democrat and the resulting Hollywood publicity he would garner.
Do I smell an Emanuel or Wexler promoting all this?
July 14th, 2010 at 10:20 am
This is a joke right? Abruzzo’s oversimplified soundbytes about being “anti-tax” vs. “high taxes and large government” reveal his absolute lack of knowledge or ideas on economic policy. The irony here is these “Mainstream” Democrats should really have their only party instead of sharing political space with their fellow Democrats with whom they apparently fundamentally disagree, but since this is an entrenched two-party system they have to use the “Democratic” party as their election machine. The same is true for Republicans their various useless factions.
July 14th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Abruzzo shows his true colors by aligning with the crooked Dave Aronberg, and shows his total ignorance by calling Dan Gelber “high taxes and big government.” Gelber is a tough-as-nails former Federal prosecutor who was busy chasing down terrorists and criminals in the Soviet bloc while Dave was plotting a political career. Aronberg’s arrogance and entitlement is astounding for someone with such huge liabilities, like illegally paying staffers through slush funds and taking FPL, big sugar and oil industry money. Waiting to see if the Feds investigate his campaign…
July 14th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Abruzzo isn’t a lefty whack a doodle. He is moderate and promotes business. We need business in this economy. Our state is circling the drain.
Sames Snakes if you think Greene is bad, you ought to look up the record of Meek. His scandal is far worse than any Lohan gossip you can offer up.
http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/povped/part2/index.html
July 14th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Hey Situation Abruzzo…you are not mainstream…you are a Republican little kid with lots of money & “the family” is helping you.
Go back to NJ or Chicago & play with your horses!
August 10th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Before I begin, I have to say, it was painful to read the articles around this. I guess in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter what letter a candidate has after his or her name, this whole ugly mess is exactly the sort of thing that is causing voter angst on both sides.
I’m just a regular guy; I work, I take care of my responsibilities, I play a round of golf now and again, I go to church regularly, and I basically try to be as good an American as I can. Until fairly recently, I, like most people, haven’t done much more than vote for whichever slug I considered the lesser of the evils on the ballot, and then grumbled about the choices I had to make washed down by a beer or two. And then I would remain silent until the next cycle.
I guess I’ll pause here to pick up my club and drag my woman into the cave since by now some of you probably have me written off as some sort of Neanderthal.
My point is this. Besides the use/mis-use of the 527 Committee, the thing that sticks out to me is the loose usage of the terms “mainstream” and “socially moderate.” By the way, the very idea that a 527 Committee exists is exasperating to me. You, (politicians) put a rule in place to over-ride another rule so you can avoid contribution limits?! I take that to mean that you just make up crap as you go along to confuse us. Shame on all of you!
Back to the terms “mainstream” & “socially moderate” for a minute. What do they mean to any of you? It seems to me that by using such terms you think you’re in line with what us regular people, (i.e., your constituents) have in mind. I think you’re sadly mistaken!
The state of our state, our local and county governments, and federal government bears that out. On every level, you all just do what you have to do to get elected. You smile, make a few speeches, raise a bunch of money after changing the rules to suit your desires; and then you sit up there in your lofty towers looking down on us regular people making laws that we mostly don’t want; all the while making your own lives as cushy as possible.
Open your eyes and ears, and smell the roses as it were. We regular people are no longer sitting by gritting our teeth and holding our noses when we vote. We are not simply going to wash it down with a couple of beers. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve woken up and we are watching you very carefully, and we will be holding you accountable for your actions. Before and after elections!
If I may make a suggestion; a lot of you are very soon going to find out what it feels like to live under the crap you’ve been ramming down our throats for so long. For those of you that remain and the new people getting in, start legislating with that in mind. Start thinking in terms of whatever office you’re running for as a temporary gig.