Discussion for article #245953
So far the usual Democratic candidates have fared very poorly in Florida outside of the urbanized areas. Maybe they need someone to actually shake it up down there. Grayson to date has been popular among Democrats so it’s interesting to see Reid take this approach.
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“His actions aren’t just disgraceful to the Democratic Party, they disgrace the halls of Congress,” Reid said.
Well, if Grayson’s actions disgrace the halls of Congress, you’d better expand that criticism to a large number of other Congress members. If you swing your gloves a little wider, you could take down half the State Governors–or more–as well. Maybe you could take aim at Rick Scott as a start?
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Nope. Murphy is the candidate that Democrats are getting behind, not Grayson. Grayson is merely showboating and trying to be a spoiler.
I have no problem with him staying in the House, but he is far too loose a cannon to be putting in the Senate for 6+ years.
This is a seat we have a real chance at picking up. The GOP list of candidates is surprising weak, and Murphy is quite solid. We don’t need Grayson mucking up the waters.
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Why is this the first I’m hearing about Grayson potentially turning out to be a sleazeball?
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But what would that do? Isn’t he term limited from running again? Harry Reid attacking a Republican is just a fundraiser that writes itself. I’m interested as to why he’s going at Grayson so hard. FL is potentially a great opportunity for Dems to pick up a Senate seat, and I don’t want to see anyone screw that up.
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I would hope that Reid would keep his mouth closed on Grayson. Reid has not been so popular in the work he flip flopped on in the senate. If all candidates will be vetted as Reid expects of Grayson, let’s go for it, but that will not happen. I believe Grayson has a pretty good chance to win that seat in Florida and does not need Reid’s criticism at this time.
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I probably agree with Grayson on a lot of stuff, but my opinion of him has really gone downhill over the past few years. I’m not sure how out of line his actions really are in this case, but if they are pretty serious, it is important to hold members of our own party to a high standard of ethical behavior. Impossible to call out corruption, graft, and cronyism in the GOP and Tea Party if we don’t do it in our own.
Also, I think his stance on the Ted Cruz “birtherism” is ridiculous. Not that it doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on, it might, but substantively, it has nothing. If you can’t beat Ted Cruz on his policies, his personality, and actions in the Senate, you deserve to lose. You shouldn’t have to revert to birtherism tactics that make our party look stupid and petulant.
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Don’t know. The man has a pretty erratic past, actually. The very public and very ugly divorce with his wife certainly didn’t help his reputation any.
He has done some good work (he clerked for both Ginsburg AND Scalia…which is probably the best encapsulation of the guy I can imagine), but he has done some really off the wall things too.
Anyway, he is entering this primary without the support of the FL Democratic Party, which as I pointed out above, has already gotten behind Patrick Murphy. Of course, this won’t be the first time Grayson has run against the wishes of the state party, either. His first run for office, he was defeated in a primary, which the winner went on to lose in a close election to a republican. He then won the seat the next election, then lost the seat, then won another seat…
Its a sort of pattern with him.
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What if Grayson actually is ethically challenged, and has been using his place in Congress to promote and profit from a questionable hedge fund? Wouldn’t Harry Reid be quite wise to avoid potential embarassment by distancing himself in advance?
I’d definitely like to know more about the substance of these claims. I don’t think Reid is the kind of guy to put himself out there like this unless he knows there’s something to it.
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While I’m not hugely impressed by Murphy, Grayson has always seemed to me a curse on the Democratic Party. I’m proud of Harry for taking the opportunity to nip this charlatan. If Republicans had anywhere near the same standards, party leaders would have to ask three-quarters of their candidates to drop out.
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Because Patrick Murphy is the guy the Democrats are behind in Florida. There has been a pretty big push to get behind Murphy for some time now, and a significant push to keep Grayson out of the primary.
I don’t think Grayson’s politics have the sort of state wide appeal that he apparently does. Murphy seems a much better chance of winning the seat. And yes, the seat is most definitely winnable for us. Besides Murphy being a solid candidate,the republican line up is shockingly weak.
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He has all that ugliness with his wife or ex-wife or whatever. He’s kind of like Anthony Weiner … known for throwing some great fire bombs at the GOP, but are basically icky people.
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Indeed, he is all about putting on a show. No maturity whatsoever. His latest idiocy is saying he would file a lawsuit challenging Ted Cruz’s eligibility if he gets the nomination. Real stupid showboating that makes liberals look bad.
Yes, plenty of nuts on both sides of the aisle there, and that is where they belong.
Murphy is the right choice for the Senate, and is polling considerably better than Grayson against Republicans.
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He has no place in Congress let alone the Senate. He doesn’t even belong in Florida. Democrats with any moral compass should repudiate this fascist loving asshat.
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Then you should be wanting Grayson to shut his mouth because Murphy is a far better candidate. Grayson is very abrasive and offensive, he will not get the “middle” vote required in FL. He’s more a House “district” guy. He’s not big league material, very immature
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I remember Grayson from his first time in Congress, before he was defeated by Alan West. I was a big supporter of his then, because he seemed to speak truth to power and knew how to stir things up. The fact that the Rahm Emanuel types were discomfited by him only made me like him more.
But using his position in Congress to promote a sleazy hedge fund doesn’t sound like the kind of thing I’d like to get behind. It’s specifically that charge I’d like to hear more about. I can see that the guy is a big self-promoter, and erratic as well, as you say. So I guess it fits?
Meanwhile I went and checked out Patrick Murphy, the establishment choice. Of course, now I remember, this is the guy who took out Alan West after he came to Congress by defeating Grayson. So big plus for Murphy there. On the other hand, he’s a child of privilege who went to elite private schools, was arrested for drunk and disorderly at 19, and was a Republican until he switched parties to run against West. He even contributed to Romney! On the other other hand, he won reelection by a big margin in a Republican-leaning district, and is a clear liberal on social issues. He is young and charismatic and I can see why the establishment types are thinking, this is a guy who can win a statewide election in a swing state.
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I used to like the way Grayson was so outspoken and bold, but the more I watched him, the more I thought he was just a huge dick. Good riddance, I say.
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Alan Grayson strikes me as the Chris Christie of the Democratic Party. That’s not intended as a compliment - he’s a blowhard who has no compunction against preaching one thing and doing the opposite (Christie’s famously outrageous expenditures on his expense account while a US Attorney, for example).
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When ethical issues are involved, I don’t care what the candidates positions are.
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