Two Palm Beach County Commission Democrats endorse Governor Crist for US Senate. [View All]

[seafan]

Orlando Sentinel:


From Jim Stratton
October 14, 2010
2:49 pm

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Earlier today, Palm Beach County Commissioners Burt Aaronson and Shelley Vana endorsed Gov. Charlie Crist for Senate, backing him over Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek.

Then Vana went even further, asking Meek, who is mired in third place behind Crist and frontrunner Marco Rubio, to get out of the race.
“I respectfully ask Congressman Meek — whom I love — to take one for the team,” Vana told the Palm Beach Post. “While we love Kendrick, at some point Kendrick has to know there’s a greater good here.”

Crist, who yesterday got the endorsement of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wasted no time getting the word out. His campaign not only issued a press release — “I am honored by the courageous and generous support of Palm Beach County Commissioners Burt Aaronson and Shelley Vana” — it also sent, in a separate e-mail, phone numbers to contact the commissioners.

Dems loyal to Meek, a former state lawmaker, reacted angrily.

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Palm Beach Republicans tried to capitalize on the split, with County GOP Chairman Sid Dinerstein telling the Post that racism was driving some Democrats to Crist. Dinerstein said white Democrats — “the ones who supported Hillary, not Obama” — are “teaming up with Charlie to throw Kendrick under the bus …”

Though Democrats have worried privately for months that Meek could not beat Rubio, Thursday’s events put those concerns in the public spotlight and highlighted the problems Dems face with less than three weeks until Election Day:

One school of thought maintains that the the most critical thing now is defeating Rubio. And with Meek stuck at 22 percent in the polls, Crist, who’s acceptable to many Dems, is the best hope for winning.

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Then the GOP cranks up their vaunted racial hatred firehose:

From Jane Musgrave
October 14, 2010
1:59 pm

The chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party today accused local Democrats of racism for abandoning their party’s candidate in favor of independent candidate Charlie Crist.

“This is racial politics at its ugliest,” GOP chairman Sid Dinerstein said. “The white Democrats, the ones who supported Hillary not Obama are teaming up with Charlie to throw Kendrick under the bus so they can say more nasty things about an Hispanic American.”

Democratic leaders, who gathered to support Commissioner Burt Aaronson’s decision to endorse Crist, vehemently objected to Dinerstein’s characterization.

Marvin Manning, president of the Century Village of Boca Raton Democratic Club, said 70 percent of voters in Century Village supported Obama in the 2008 general election. “I totally reject any issue of racism,” he said.

“Mr. Dinerstein should be ashamed of himself for invoking the racial issue,” said Stanley Siegel, a member of a PAC that voted Monday to ask Meek to get out of the race.

Andre Fladell, a south county political activist, agreed.

“It’s a reckless comment which was made to create a very unhealthy result,” he said. Democrats who are endorsing Crist over Meek simply believe the governor can beat GOP candidate Marco Rubio. “It’s about viability. Period,” he said.

Laid bare for all to see are the vitriolic, race-bating monsters that have taken over the Republican Party.


Nowhere is it more clearly seen that racial hatred is the GOP's weapon of choice to foment violence.



Stopping the forces of this vicious right-wing assault on our state and country is paramount.


Marco Rubio must be defeated.