Could The Gaetz Mess Really Be Connected To The Florida Sham Candidate Scandal? | Talking Points Memo

Call it a harmonic convergence. Or simply too good to be true.

There are some indications that two scandals roiling Florida politics may actually be connected, tying the federal probe of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to a slate of sham candidates that cropped up across the state in 2020.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1368882
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Gaetz involvedin a scam or a sham? Nah, Matt? Couldn’t be. One thing for sure, Matt ain’t talking. I think that this story is bad for him, or he would. Since sham may be involved, so likely is Tr_mp. Matt’s “wingman” is going down and he and Matt are birds of a feather. Matt can’t complain about speculation if he won’t clear the air. Keep that story alive!

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Sure, why not?

By the time they get done with Gaetz, he’ll be tied to Red Tides, every crooked Florida politician, and T****.

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The sham candidate — Alexis Rodriguez — received 6,000 votes and finished third, while the incumbent — José Javier Rodriguez — finished second, 32 votes behind the GOP nominee.

Now that’s good tradecraft. Always pick a sham candidate with a first name alphabetically ahead of the guy you want to defeat. That way the voters will see your sham guy first, and some will stop there.

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“…the rapidly emerging degeneracy of Rep. Matt Gaetz…”

My favorite garage band name.

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The question is, where did the $44k paid to the sham candidate Rodriguez come from? Where did the 100s of thousands of dollars for the campaign mailers for the sham candidates come from? If they came from some other candidate’s campaign fund, then someone’s going to jail.

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Inquiring minds want to…wait…what are we talking about?

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At this point in the story, why the heck not? Flori-duh. Gotta love it.
Gaetz showed his true colors long time ago. In for a penny, in for a pound.
The Chauvin trial is an education and a mind blower.
Thanks for yr piece. Much appreciated.

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A plot to run a bunch of fake candidates to try to affect the outcome of elections smells a bit to this non-lawyer like racketeering.

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Sounds more like a doctoral thesis. For dummies. So, yeah, you are correct. From a lurker. Rock on.

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Wonder where they got the idea…

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Proclivity? The Truth? Do they hire people to come up with stuff this absurd? Should I call my organization Despicaty? Or perhaps the Suggestion?

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Hunter Biden’s laptop, of course.

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MOAR Flawduh popcorn!

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The election was tainted, perhaps much like the front of Matt’s pants after the Hooters girl did her act. Lots of directions for investigators to go now. The investigation certainly isn’t about a night on the town. If crimes are involved, I hope that the US Atty will demand more than Matt reciting 10 utterances of “MAGA” as penance.

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We should totally run that Spanish potato farmer against Donald if he tries again.

image

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Manafort used to run campaigns in Ukraine.

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Forget Remember it Jake, its Florida.

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The more, the merrier.

Why must we choose?

I think the former guy would not have been able to resist Matt’s “mini me” behaviors. So yeah, I am betting we learn that a lot of this disgusting and criminal behavior was planned and sometimes executed at the former guy’s dumpy estate in FL.

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