Monday is the first day of early voting in Florida's August 30 primary. It's a day of stark choices for Florida, none more so than two very high profile races: one where the whole state decides on a Senate candidate to face Rubio between reactionary careerist Patrick Murphy and progressive national icon Alan Grayson, the single best member of Congress, and one just for FL-23 residents (southern Broward County from Weston and Davie inland to a stretch of coast from Dania Beach, Hollywood, Sunny Isles down to Miami Beach) between the symbol of Democratic Party self-serving corruption, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and earnest progressive reformer, Tim Canova.Wasserman Schultz originally drew the district for herself when she was in the state Senate, tossing the GOP 2 or 3 extra congressional districts in return for them allowing her to create one of the most Jewish districts ever drawn anywhere outside of Tel-Aviv. But the demographics of the district have changed it significantly now and it is now over 38% Hispanic, over 10% African-American and nearly 4% Asian-American. Democrats still have a 22 point registration advantage and Obama beat Romney 178,314 (62%) to 109,959 (38%). The winner of the August 30 primary will be the next member of Congress for the district.This is Wasserman Schultz's first contested election and she's managed to make a hash of it, particularly seeming to buckle under pressure to agree to a debate and then abruptly pulling back and saying she would just do a 15 minute debate, waking up thousands of voters for the first time to what a really awful Representative they've been sending to Washington since 2005. Funny that Patrick Murphy, in the Senate race, is, like Wasserman Schultz, also too scared to debate.Susan Smith, the president of Florida's Democratic Progressive Caucus may have been talking about Murphy or Wasserman Schultz or both of them when she said, publicly, that "We caution Democratic candidates that by refusing to hold town hall meetings or debate their primary opponents, they may be sending a message that our party doesn’t value or trust voters. They are undermining our goal of having an informed electorate. They are also failing to define their campaigns and are weakening Democratic Party chances to win seats in the state legislature, the Congress and the U.S. Senate. We deserve better."Grayson's campaign manager, Michael Ceraso told the media, which has already been calling out Murphy for his cowardice, that "The only way Patrick Murphy gets on a debate stage is if his dad buys him a spine. He’s backed Social Security cuts, Keystone XL, the Benghazi Committee and condemned President Obama. It’s an abomination of a record, and Democrats would boo him off the stage. Patrick knows he can’t risk defending himself. Only a Wall Street creation could have this much contempt for the democratic process, by refusing to stand before Florida voters and defend his record."Ceraso was certainly talking about Wall Street shill Patrick Murphy in the statement but it fits Wall Street shill Debbie Wasserman Schultz as well. Many Democrats were nauseated this week to see Clinton-- up to her old tricks-- rush to Miami to try to save Wasserman Schultz's collapsing campaign. Watch the video below and please consider contributing to Canova, Grayson and all the Florida progressives by tapping the Blue America thermometer on the right.
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