There is no better word to describe the Florida Democratic Party than "pathetic." Professional losers incapable of change, they have managed to wreck the Democratic brand by enshrining a Republican-lite raison d'être into their own DNA. Florida is a 50/50 state-- although Democrats in Florida won 3 out of the last 4 presidential elections.
Just under a year ago, the House had a rare victory over a U.S. spying and surveillance establishment that has no effective oversight and that has long ago run completely amok.
Patrick Murphy has a penchant for switching positions, parties, beliefs, values... everythingPatrick Murphy represents a swingy district-- the 18th district (all of Martin and St. Lucie counties and a chunk of northern Palm Beach County. Obama beat McCain there in 2008, 51% to 48% but lost to Romney in 2012, 52-48%. Obama won the state of Florida-- albeit narrowly-- in both elections.
I had an interesting call from an old friend at the DSCC this week. DSCC Chair Jon Tester and his top staffers wondered if they could get Alan Grayson to back down from a primary against Patrick Murphy. The meeting, though, went in an entirely different direction. "He's certainly a more impressive figure than Murphy." No one even tried talking him out of running.
This week was my last cycle in a long, painful treatment for cancer using chemotherapy. Medicare saved my life-- no ifs, ands or buts about it. Medicare has been better insurance than the platinum standard insurance Warner Bros gave me as the president of one of their divisions-- not "as good"-- BETTER. Medicare-- other than Part D, the Republican Party prescription drug plan that is oriented towards their Big Pharma campaign donors, not towards patients like the rest of Medicare-- is a wondrous and blessed thing, something every American should be proud of and willing to fight for.
A new Mason-Dixon poll indicates that if Rubio seeks reelection, even the strong showing expected from Hillary Clinton in Florida probably won't help Democrats take his Senate seat-- or at least not New Dem "Democrats." Rubio is leading Debbie Wasserman Schultz 53-36% and Patrick Murphy 50-38%.
Russians have occupied more than a few NATO capitals including Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Berlin and even Paris. No one wants to see that happen again. And yet the West seems to be pushing Russia up against a wall right now with devastating sanctions that are crippling the Russian economy and roiling the country's politics. And nuclear-armed Russia is a lot stronger militarily than the U.K.
Tuesday I blundered into putting on MSNBC before Chris Hayes' show started and the ghost of yesteryear political journalism was barking away happily. Appropriately enough, Chris Matthews' guest was Alabama racist throwback Mo Brooks who was eager to get on TV and accuse President Obama of being-- at best-- weak and, at worst, a traitor. Brooks and Matthews are from another generation, a generation where brain growth ceased many decades ago.
