Charlie Crist Ducks Broward Demo Meetings
BY BUDDY NEVINS
As the largest Democratic organization in the state, Broward’s party organization has no trouble getting all types of speakers at its meetings.
Yet, Florida’s most talked about Democrat – Charlie Crist — has been conspicuously absent from the monthly meetings of the Broward Democratic Party.
Apparently Crist wants to avoid a public clash with the nugget of vocal Nan Rich supporters embedded in the Broward party, speculated two party officials.
Rich is Crist’s opponent in the Democratic primary.
With Broward backers from her years as a state senator from Weston, Rich has attended Broward party meetings.
Her supporters are outspoken. If Crist showed up, there is a possibility they would heckle him for refusing to debate Rich and for being a former Republican.
Rich supporters clashed with me at a recent meeting when I opined that she can’t win. At a smaller Democratic club meeting in Davie, a senior citizen publicly threatened to beat me up in the parking lot for my anti-Rich sentiments.
I always said politics in Broward was a contact sport, but being physically threatened over a governor’s race! By a senior citizen!
Really.
It is doubtful Rich supporters would physically threaten Crist. But would they greet him with boos, hisses and jeers?
Why would Crist take the chance and end up on the evening news being abused by fellow Democrats?
That’s how come Broward Democratic officials believe party activists will have to wait to see Crist at one of their meetings.
May 7th, 2014 at 9:54 am
I would pay money to see that fight between two these two Senior Citizens.
“In this corner, weighing in at 150 pounds, Kid Viagra…”
May 7th, 2014 at 10:14 am
Crist could show up to events in the county other than Demo Clubs. The associations, cities and county put on events all the time. So far I have heard from Crist but I haven’t seen him anywhere.
Don’t blame Rich supporters, but it’s a losing battle for them. Part of the problem is not to anger Rich supporters so in November they will still vote for Crist instead of not voting at all.
May 7th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
I am glad to see the chaos that this is causing the democratic party, especially in Broward. But it is almost sad to see their party hijacked.
He wants to be in office again at all cost. Sadly, the cost may be Florida’s.
May 7th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
Maturity comes with age ? I would have to say no after reading this.
Voting for Christ in primary!
May 7th, 2014 at 1:24 pm
My major complaint about the left n right is that they harass especially when they obviously don’t have the majority like Lenin n hitler
May 7th, 2014 at 2:10 pm
This pretty much how Crist operated when he was still trying to secure the Republican nomination for the Senate. He spent a lot of time attending fund raising events, but avoided anything where he might have to answer hostile questions.
Even with the people running the state party helping Crist, he still couldn’t win the GOP nomination. Why? Because the grassroots rebelled.
Crist’s campaign is making it apparent that Democratic activists in FL just don’t have as much clout in their party that their Republican counterparts.
May 7th, 2014 at 3:52 pm
i’m voting for rich
May 7th, 2014 at 9:58 pm
Is it true that Crist wants Adderley to run FDLE if elected?
May 8th, 2014 at 6:04 pm
1. Sam: Kid Viagra isn’t a pound over 125.
2. Independent: You’re almost right. Crist was at a major Hollywood Chamber event a few months ago & he was at his well publicized HQ opening recently. Dissenters could have shown up in force, but only a very few did.
3. Republican: Interesting that your last sentence indicates hat you believe a Scott win would be bad for Florida. I certainly agree with that.
4. Wiseman: Christ isn’t running. If he wanted the job he wouldn’t have to.
5. Count…: Stop drinking the Tea Party Kool Aid.
6.Kevin Cerino: You’re just wrong across the board. It’s Democratic activists & leaders at the highest level who want Crist to run & win.
7. Ghost: It’s Rich
8. Senor Censor: Do you think Charlie Crist even knows who Adderly is?
May 8th, 2014 at 8:26 pm
Bad and Worse. Some choice.
May 9th, 2014 at 9:44 am
Was it Jack Shifrel who threatened to beat you up in the parking lot, Buddy? Are we taking bets on that? I want in!
I want to unseat Rick Scott, so I’m willing and ready to support his contender in the general election. Meanwhile, however, Nan Rich’s campaign has engendered profound hostility, resentment and outrage amongst her vocal supporters. If I were her, I would step in and publicly state that she expects her supporters to support and advocate for her party to focus on ending Rick Scott’s rein over Florida and not on disparaging any other Democratic candidate for the primary.
Nan should also state whether or not she intends to support and to vote for Charlie should he be her party’s nominee. Now, some of her supporters assert that Crist should state publicly whether he intends to support and to vote for Rich should she be the party’s nominee- but who cares??
One contender is a newly minted Democrat who has been a professional politician attempting to gain and regain power by proclaiming that he’ll serve and represent whichever side will have him. The other is a life-long Democrat who has, I assume, sworn and oath to support Democratic candidates has an active member of the party’s infrastructure.
What’s been happening here is that instead of pulling the Florida Democratic Party to the left and along a more progressive pathway towards the general election, Nan Rich’s most vocal supporters have instead been ginned up to get angry, to get resentful, to get accusatory and to start dropping friends and disparaging acquaintances, all in their efforts to formulate their circular firing squad.
Nan Rich has a lot more influence on such individuals and their perspectives on strategy to unseat Rick. She should say something, and say it publicly.
Some voters choose to support whomever they believe represents their personal and political values. Other voters, however, have promised the Democratic Party that they will support the party’s candidates, and there’s really not that much personal stuff going on there. Those Democrats are adhering to their promise and advocating for a Democrat- even a Democrat that had been a Republican and then an independent- to end Rick’s run on the state of Florida.
It might be Rich, and it might be Crist, but when one side of that primary battle starts proclaiming that they won’t vote (I hear a lot of that) or that they’ll vote for Rick Scott (I heard that yesterday) should Crist be the party’s nominee, then it’s Rich and not Crist who should be showing up at “Demo meetings” and stop her ducking when her supporters have been slinging their vitriol at the other Democratic contender.
Running for a seat isn’t only about values and positions on the issues. It’s also about demonstrating political professionalism. In the race between Rick Scott and Alex Sink, there can’t be much argument against my assertion that it was Scott who had demonstrated his professionalism as a candidate. He’s formidable. It’s scary. Leadership, public speaking, strategy, tact and lots and lots of TV commercials are all things that voters look for- especially those who are not as loyal to a party as the rest of us who regularly follow all these political narratives and who participate.
Many of us would love to see this state and this nation voting for candidates solely based on their values and on the issues, but it’s not gonna work like that in the general election. The anger Buddy describes here- including heckling and threats and insults and parking lot problems- is just not a good sign that we’re getting political professionalism from the top of Nan Rich’s little ticket, and that has been filtering down amonst her supporters who have entirely lost focus.
What party activists and insiders should instead be seeing is Democratic Party unity and focusing on the Republican: Rick Scott. Personally, I’m not so interested in who will be the Democratic nominee for Governor. I am calmed and comforted by the certainty that no matter who wins the primary, that the contender against Rick Scott will be on the Democratic ticket- and that’s not an opinion, despite some of the wailing from Nan’s supporters. That’s a fact.
FROM BUDDY:
No, it was not Jack Shifrel.
Thanks for this very thoughtful comment.
May 11th, 2014 at 8:27 pm
Who has less credibility, a convicted Ponzi scheme operator or the Daily Kos? It’s probably a toss-up.
But general lack of credibility and being wrong about a particular set of events are not the same thing. And in the case of the judgeship-selling allegations against Charlie Crist, the Ponzi man and the Daily Kos may well be right.
Scott Rothstein, who pleaded guilty several years ago to running a $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme, has testified under oath that he and Crist had an arrangement whereby in exchange for campaign contributions, Crist named judges to the bench in Broward County who would rule favorably for Rothstein’s law firm. Rothstein’s allegation doesn’t come out of the blue. In December 2009, the Daily Kos reported the following:
Rothstein’s law firm gave $52,000 to the state GOP on July 28, 2008, the same day that Crist appointed Jay Hurley to the Broward County court. A day later Rothstein’s firm donated another $25,000 to the party.
Crist appointed Rothstein to the 4th DCA Judicial nominating commission on August 25, 2008, four days before Rothstein contributed $140,000 to the RPOF. Rothstein and his firm gave $100,000 to the RPOF on January 26, 2009. Crist appointed Judges Carlos Rodriguez and Barbara McCarthy two days later.
The Kos report also mentions the appointment of Spencer Levine to an appellate judgeship. Levine, who at the time of his appointment was Chief Operating Officer of Broward Health, lacked judicial experience and hadn’t even practiced law for several years.
Levine’s appointment was the subject of stories by Bob Norman, a Broward Palm Beach New Times columnist, and Thomas Francis, a reporter for the same paper. According to Francis, attorneys at Rothstein’s firm landed a highly privileged meeting with the executive leadership of the North Broward Hospital District in September 2008, the month after Rothstein was appointed by Crist to the nominating committee for Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeals.
The subject of the meeting apparently was whether to participate in a class action law suit. Levine was at the meeting. The acting general counsel, who normally would make decisions about whether to sue and whom to select as outside counsel, was not. At the time, Levine was seeking the judicial appointment he would soon receive.
Norman’s report is along similar lines, but is more direct. According to his source, a North Broward Hospital District vendor, Rothstein boasted that he had Spencer Levine “in his pocket and that he was going to get him on the Fourth District Court of Appeals.” Which he did.
How did Rothstein know he would “get [Levine] on the Fourth District Court of Appeals”? Given the reports from the Daily Kos and the Broward Palm Beach New Times, Rothstein’s answer — “for certain contributions, people were appointed to the bench” — seems highly credible.
Don’t forget what the article fails to mention is that Judith Levine, Spencer Levine’s wife, was appointed as BSO General Counsel by Lamberti the future felon. Corruption is everywhere. The taxpayer can never get a fair chance.
So, Crist appoints Lamberti with Rothstein influence, Lamberti appoints Crist frat boyfriend Tom Wheeler as Undersheriff. Then Lamberti appoints Judith Levine as BSO General Counsel. Then Crist appoints Judith’s husband, Spencer Levine to the 4DCA. All paid for by Rothstein money. God I hope the Feds make more arrests. It doesn’t get any dirtier than this.
May 12th, 2014 at 3:57 pm
In a choice between Charlie Crist as a Democrat and Rick Scott as a Republican- and a tea party Republican at that, yes, I’ll vote for Crist.
The above information is troubling, but so is living in this state, and so is living in the United States. The left has good reason to appreciate some marginal progress in getting a foot in the door in a Republican ruled state.
If Nan Rich can make her case that she’ll have the ability and the willingness to campaign effectively to moderate Republicans, to right-leaning independents as well as to Democrats, then that’s great! But, if Charlie is either the inevitable or the likely candidate, then the alleged sleaze and corruption in the spheres of both Crist and Scott will become simply a matter of getting that foot in the door for the left and for Democrats in facing a very right-wing legislature.
No one will be claiming that the world has been saved, let alone the state and its humanity. There’s much work to be done to enhance democracy for the benefit of all people, and yet another election is not going to hand us our democracy as we will have it on a platter.