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Landrieu
Now ABC News is reporting that Dems are throwing a $100 million sweetener into the health care bill to lock down Landrieu’s vote.
Does that mean she’ll be acceptable for next year’s Palm Beach County Democratic dinner?
One of the biggest laugh lines at Saturday night’s annual fund-raising dinner for the Palm Beach Democratic Party turned out to be this:
“It is a true honor to be one of your keynote speakers tonight.”
State Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, delivered the line, then paused knowingly, drawing laughter from the audience of about 350 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
“We’re still hoping to get an out-of-town keynoter,” county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel said this morning. But, he said, “you can have a dinner without a speaker.”
The Dems’ $150-and-up dinner at the Palm Beach County Convention Center is on the same night as a “Going Green” lecture at Mizner Park in Boca Raton by former Vice President Al Gore, with tickets ranging from $44.10 to $339.
Kucinich
He’s the second Democratic keynoter to be scratched this week. The party dumped Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu on Tuesday because local activists were upset by her refusal to commit to blocking a Republican filibuster of health care overhaul legislation.
After Kucinich was announced as the replacement speaker, state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, threatened a boycott and state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, County Commissioner Burt Aaronson and state Rep. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, voiced disapproval today.
Kucinich has a long history of criticizing the actions of the Israeli government, voting against congressional resolutions in support of Israel and opposing sanctions against the anti-Israel government of Iran.
His critics have “falsely characterized” those stances as being anti-Israel, Kucinich said this afternoon in an e-mail to Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel. While defending his position, Kucinich said he didn’t want the controversy to hurt the local party’s money-raising efforts.
Read his complete statement to Siegel after the jump….
Its original Jefferson-Jackson name was dropped because of qualms about Thomas Jefferson’s slave ownership and Andrew Jackson’s Indian-removal policies. Then the renamed Truman-Kennedy-Johnson dinner’s planned keynote speaker, moderate Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, was unceremoniously dumped this week because party leaders disliked Landrieu’s stance on health care reform.
Now Landrieu’s replacement — liberal U.S. Rep. and former presidential candidate Denis Kucinich, D-Ohio — is prompting a boycott threat from state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, because of Kucinich’s voting record on Israel.
State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, has announced he won’t attend or support the event, calling Kucinich “someone whose position on Israel stands in total opposition to the conscience of this community.”
As noted this morning, Palm Beach County’s Democratic Party has dumped moderate Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu as its keynote speaker for next week’s annual fund-raising dinner because party activists are displeased with Landrieu’s stance on health care.
Landrieu says she’s “very skeptical about a government-run national option” and won’t commit to voting to cut off a Republican filibuster to force a vote on Democratic health care legislation.
County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel announced the dis-invitation of Landrieu this morning.
“This is news to us,” Landrieu spokesman Robert Sawicki said in an e-mail this afternoon. “Sen. Landrieu agreed to do this event as a favor to Palm Beach Democrats, and no one from the Palm Beach Democratic Party has notified us about a change in plans for the dinner.”
Landrieu
Landrieu, a moderate who recently described herself as “extremely concerned about a government-run, taxpayer-funded, national public plan,” has not committed to voting to cut off a likely Republican filibuster and forcing a vote on the legislation.
The event used to be known as the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, but Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson’s slave ownership and $20 bill portrait model Andrew Jackson’s “Trail of Tears” Indian-removal policies offended the sensibilities of local Dem leaders. The name of the event was changed to the Truman-Kennedy-Johnson dinner instead.
County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel said the party hopes to draw about 500 people to the $150-and-up event.
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