Over the weekend, Alan Grayson warned that a right-wing PAC-- who he refers to as "some pollution-spewing, book-burning group of flat-earth neo-con-artists... greed-mongering, minority-oppressing, torture-cheering, fact-loathing illiterate ignoramuses"-- has started getting serious about defeating him. "They are mobilizing their Tea Party zombies and miscellaneous undead," warned Grayson, "to help Marco Rubio defeat us-- even as we speak. Their letter screamed "t Is Crucial That Republicans Maintain Control Of The Senate! The Other Florida Republicans Running Against Alan Grayson Have Dropped Out And Cleared The Path For Marco Rubio! Only Marco Rubio Has The Poll Numbers And Support To Defeat Alan Grayson!... This race is statistically tied. Voters must know the truth! It is crucial that voters know about Marco Rubio's bold conservative vision and Alan Grayson's dangerous radical agenda.Grayson seems to have found that mildly humorous:
Let me try to edify them. Here’s Marco Rubio’s "bold conservative vision":THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.Here is my "dangerous radical agenda":JUSTICE, EQUALITY, PEACE.
While Grayson is chomping at the bit to get at Rubio, he has to contend with a smear campaign by Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer on behalf of their weak Republican-lite candidate, Patrick Murphy. Several progressive organizations began fundraising drives for Grayson over the weekend, to counter Murphy getting more money from Wall Street than any non-incumbent-- including Republicans-- running for the Senate. The banksters love him because he's consistently delivered for them on everything from pay day lending to gutting Dodd-Frank. It's not for nothing that Patrick Murphy is known around Capitol Hill as "Wall Street's errand boy," precisely what Schumer has pledged to his finaciers to deliver into the Senate. DFA pointed out that "there's been a complete upheaval in the all-important Florida Senate race."
First, Marco Rubio changed his mind. Rubio said he wasn't going to run for another term in the U.S. Senate after his presidential bid collapsed. He told a friend "he hates it." But he's had a change of heart. On Wednesday, Marco Rubio announced he was going to run for re-election after all. Second, news reports have emerged questioning corporate Democrat Patrick Murphy's own personal story. Local reporters in Florida have discovered that Murphy "exaggerated his experience and in other instances made claims that were misleading or outright false." Marco Rubio can be beaten-- but we need to have the strongest Democratic candidate possible running against Rubio. That's Alan Grayson.Alan Grayson is the best choice to provide a clear, inspiring contrast to Rubio's right-wing extremism. As a fighter for working people who endorsed Bernie Sanders, a champion for expanding Social Security and Medicare, and a warrior against Wall Street, Alan Grayson is the Democrat who can rally Florida voters to defeat Rubio and take back the Senate. Florida's Senate seat could decide whether Democrats or Republicans control the U.S. Senate. Let's make sure it's a progressive Democrat-- a Bernie backer-- who wins.Marco Rubio has a tough path ahead of him. On the presidential campaign trail he took many extremist positions that will haunt him in November. Rubio echoed Donald Trump when he proposed shutting down any place Muslims gather. Rubio denies that humans cause climate change. He wants to privatize Medicare and slash Social Security. And he's a close ally of the NRA. Patrick Murphy-- Alan Grayson's opponent in Florida's Democratic primary on August 30-- isn't the right Democrat to defeat Rubio. Murphy himself was a Republican who only just re-registered as a Democrat a few years ago to run for Congress. Murphy has been willing to cut Social Security, supports bad trade deals, and isn't reliable on workers rights or Wall Street reform. And that's not even factoring in the bombshell news that Murphy hasn't been honest about his personal and professional history, as a brutal CBS News report out of Miami just exposed. In contrast, Alan Grayson will take on Marco Rubio using strong progressive values-- and he'll win. An excellent example: Rep. Grayson spoke on the floor of the House during Wednesday's sit-in against the NRA. Grayson sponsored an assault weapons ban. Grayson has been a leader in the House on expanding Social Security and Medicare. Let's send Alan Grayson to the Senate to continue that important work.
At the same time, PDA-- Progressive Democrats of America-- sent out a letter to their national membership asking them to help make sure there's a progressive in the Florida Senate seat next year. "Alan Grayson has fought for us since his first day in Congress," wrote Mike Fox, PDA's Florida coordinator. "You may remember Alan from when he made national news early in his career for his speech on the House floor exposing the Republican health care plan as 'Don't get sick, and if you do, die quickly.' The Republicans and their media allies attacked Alan relentlessly ever since.
Like FDR said about the animosity he faced from his enemies, Alan "wears their hatred as a badge of honor." He has been the most powerful voice opposing bad trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership. He has also been the most outspoken opponent of efforts to cut Social Security. Alan opposes wars and regime change, and he listened to his voters before deciding to cast his super delegate vote for Bernie Sanders.Even though he takes all these strong and principled stands on the issues vital to us all, Alan is also the most effective congressperson in DC. He's gotten more bills and amendments passed into law than any other current House member. That's because he's smart as well as strong. He knows how to get real results.Alan gets things done for us. Now we have to get something done for him in his race to defeat and replace Marco Rubio. As a Florida resident, I'm asking you to dig deep and help Alan Grayson win my state's Senate seat. To win, Alan has to beat two Republicans. We need you to give as generously as you can right now to help Alan beat his primary opponent–a Democrat in Name Only (DINO) who supported Mitt Romney In 2012.That's right, Alan's "Democratic" opponent Patrick Murphy gave as much money as he legally could to the Republican presidential candidate who mocked 47% of Americans as takers who deserve nothing because they'll never vote for Republicans, and who believes, "Corporations are people." That's where Patrick Murphy stands: with the rich and big corporations. Alan Grayson stands with us.As Progressive Democrats, we demand actual Democrats as our candidates. Alan has to win his primary against Murphy to move on and defeat Rubio. Vote by mail ballots will be going out in a few weeks, so we must do all that we can right now to ensure a strong progressive victory. Please give generously right now. Even if it's only $5, it will make a real difference. And if you can give an hour of your time here or there, please contact me and we'll get you connected with Alan's grass roots crew.Whether it's healthcare for all, peace, combating income inequality, social justice, fighting to expose and stop the TPP, protecting our environment, or getting big money out of politics, Alan has been there for us. If we're there for him, he will be the Senator With Guts that we need to fight for us all. He consistently has our back. Now let's have his.
DFA and PDA both know what they're talking about. Please, if you give to just one Senate race this cycle, make it Grayson's in Florida. And as Mike Fox, pleaded, dig deep: