Sunday Snippets, Politics From Coast To Coast (But Mostly Duval)

Starting with the local stuff, there are some tidbits to mention and to mull over.

First: Delegates were chosen yesterday to be seated at the Democratic convention. I was really torn about this whole affair, ultimately having decided that we in Florida need to let this one go and hope that Dean or his successor think this one through a bit more the next time. But still I drove down Liberty Street past the Union Hall a little after 10:00 battling my indecisive demons. Although I didn’t stop, I could see that there was much ado about the process. The Times Union has a little write up about the event and “winners” in today’s paper.

Second: For all those who do not know, Ander Crenshaw is facing opposition this year in the form of James Joseph “Jay” McGovern (D). Don’t bother Googling the name. You won’t find anything. McGovern only just filed in early February and I have yet to determine the extent and seriousness of his campaign, although I’ve heard that he reached out to Florida CFO Alex Sink’s campaign manager, Chris Hand, for assistance. Even for those of us who concede that Ander will probably stick around a while, it’s still worth it to put as much might and muscle behind McGovern, if for no other reason than to show the GOP that Ander’s seat should not be taken for granted. Make the man spend some of that $800,000 he has and maybe even sweat a bit. I’ll keep updating with news of McGovern’s campaign.

Third: The Jacksonville area chapter of The Democratic Professionals Council is having its second meeting this week to finalize its board membership and to begin planning its inaugural event. Stay tuned for details. In the meantime, we have been added as a chapter on the DPC website, so now is a good time to sign up for email event notifications.

Fourth: Jim Daniel, Fourth Circuit judicial candidate for Clay County, held a fundraiser last Thursday at the Fraternal Order of Policy headquarters. Although I did not attend the event, a friend called me shortly afterwards to fill me in on the highlights (which were few). The one thing of interest that was confirmed by Jim’s campaign chair was that Jim is indeed raising as much money as possible (including loaning his campaign $100,000.00) to prevent any challenger from entering the race against him. While I’ve already posted my displeasure at this strategy, let me say again that it saddens my democratic (the system, not the party) sensibilities to have this race decided so far ahead of time without any concern for allowing the voters in the Fourth Circuit to get to make a reasoned choice. It no longer matters if Jim is the most qualified. We will never get the opportunity to know.

Fifth: Speaking of the judicial races, it appears that Gerald Wilkerson has dropped out of the race against Adrian Soud and Mark Hulsey, III, as his name no longer appears on the Duval County Supervisor of Elections website. This race and the one between Virginia Norton and Frederick “Rick” Buttner remain the only two that are competitive at this point.

Sixth: As I promised “Coast to Coast,” here’s some news on a gentleman named Matt Gonzalez from San Francisco. He’s a former Green Party mayoral candidate and former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Currently he does some art and has been tapped as Ralph “the [insert expletive here]” Nader’s vice presidential running mate. The only reason I bother with this bit of information is that Gonzalez, when confronted with the spoiler issue, responded, “If people worry about us spoiling the election, I invite them to earn our voters away from us.” So there’s the challenge. How’s that for perpetuating the hubris? How about asking Nadzalez whether they care more about the state of this country than they do their own egos.