Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Florida Special Election Win For GOP Is More Of The Same


National Republicans are really spinning the party's win in a special election held in Florida's 14th congressional district yesterday to replace the late Rep. Bill Young (R), who had held the seat since 1971, as a big win for the party going into this year's midterm elections. Washington lobbyist David Jolly (R) narrowly defeated career politician Alexander Sink (D) by a narrow 48-46% margin. President Obama carried this district in the past two presidential elections so we're supposed to gauge this a big win for the Republicans because they were able to hold a seat their party has held for more than four decades.

The 41-year old Jolly is the ultimate Washington insider. He worked for Rep. Young as a congressional aide after earning his law degree at George Mason University until 2007 when he became a Washington lobbyist. In that role, he made political contributions to Republicans and Democrats alike. I'm not sure how much time he actually spent in Florida's 14th congressional district the past two decades, but it's pretty safe to assume it was less than the amount of time he spent in Washington. His wife of 15 years divorced him in January, making him the most eligible bachelor in Washington for single women or men. I'm not sure what floats his boat. Jolly's campaign ads featured former "The Price is Right" TV show host Bob Barker, whose facial appearance has drifted into freakdom as a result of one too many face lifts. Barker introduced Jolly at his election night victory last night in Florida via satellite hook-up with the game show's theme music playing in the background to add to the frivolity of the entire scene.

His Democratic opponent, Alexander Sink, is from freak lineage. Her great, great-grandfather, Chang Bunker, was a conjoined twin who was part of traveling freak show back in the 1800s. Sink, who formerly worked as an executive for Bank of America, was married to Florida politician Bill McBride, who ran unsuccessfully for Florida governor in 2002. Sink was the Democratic Party's unsuccessful 2010 Democratic nominee for governor, in addition to holding a string of politically- appointed positions.

It looks to me that the Washington insiders had their bases covered in this special election race yesterday, which is pretty much the norm in all congressional races across the country nowadays. They couldn't lose regardless of whether the Republican or Democrat won the election. The same can't be said for the people, who once again lost out to the ruling political elites who have totally destroyed this country.

4 comments:

Flogger said...

I agree with your conclusion. I find it funny in a gallows humor sense, Russia is slammed hard as being run and controlled by Oligarchs. Yet, the same effect of rule by the 1% is vigorously up held by our corrupt Campaign Finance System. As anyone who has ever ran for political office knows speech when it is amplified by TV, Radio, or Brochures is not "Free."

I have heard more than once by pundits that a candidates viability is determined by their ability to fund raise.

Gary R. Welsh said...

And anyone like you or I who has figured this out is frozen out of the two major political parties because our independent thinking and refusal to accept their system of governing is a threat to their very existence. I never thought I would live to say that I truly hate living in the United States of America, but it's rapidly reaching that point. An alternate reality has been contrived to give the appearance of living in a free and open society, but it's just that. Virtually every election is rigged before we step foot in the voting booth; we have only false choices. So no, we are no different than Russia or China from that standpoint.

Anonymous said...

And, Gary, there's no way out.

This two-party system will endure as long as America exists. It's written into the election code of every state.

The other party simply gives the people the "Illusion of Choice."

"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy."

- Carrol Quigley, Tragedy and Hope

Marycatherine Barton said...

"16 Reasons to Move to Iceland Right Now" -- according to the BusinessInsider. If I was young, I would.