Wasserman Schultz and Kendrick Meek...you reap what you sow when you don't support your own.

madfloridian

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Sat Aug-09-08 11:43 AM
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Wasserman Schultz and Kendrick Meek...you reap what you sow when you don't support your own.

These two South Florida Democrats have had to be pushed to really and truly support the three Democrats running in that area. These Democrats are doing well against the entrenched Republicans, but Wasserman Schultz and Meek made it clear they would NOT campaign against their "friends" there....the Republican incumbents.

Now according to the Miami-Dade blog, one of the Republican incumbents, Mario Diaz-Balart, is able to go to a church and use the talking point that these two major Democrats don't support his Democratic opponent because they are friends of his.

As the blogger points out what Diaz Balart said is not "totally" true because they have given support to two of the Democrats....they just won't speak ill against their Republican friends who are Bush type ideologues. And Wasserman Schultz has refused to donate to Annette Taddeo. More on that below.

Republican uses his Democratic friends while campaigning in a church.

Attention in the camps of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Kendrick Meek. This is what you get from your failure to be fully on board the campaigns of your Democratic colleagues. Your Republican incumbent friends will use your names � your Democratic names � in their desperate attempts to fend off strong electoral challenges.

...."He doesn�t say he is endorsed by Wasserman Schultz and Meek, but he says � untruthfully, but what the heck � that they�re not supporting his opponent, Joe Garcia. And it�s because they are his �dear friends.� And �I work with them.� They are his �colleagues.�

And, he says, they�re �getting a lot of criticism� for this. Who�s criticizing? He says with a deprecating gesture that �some groups� are doing it. Hey, bloggers. He�s talking about us. This blog. DailyKos. We are his �some groups.�

Here is part of a rough transcript he has put up.

"� who are dear friends. Who are getting a lot of criticism by some groups because they are not from the party that I'm in. And yet they refuse to help my opponent. Not that my opponent may not be a good guy, or (inaudible) on the issues. Because I work with them. These two colleagues are, one of them is Debbie Wasserman Schultz, from north part, center part, actually like Broward and above. The other is our own Kendrick Meek."

Here was how it began...for the first time Democrats have a chance to win in South Florida. And these two refused to campaign against their friends....the Diaz-Balart brothers, Lincoln and Mario..and Ileana Ros Lehtinen.

Two Florida Democratic congress folks prefer their Republican incumbents to their own party.

This time around, Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their relationships with the Republican incumbents, Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his brother Mario, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, leave them little choice but to sit out the three races.

''At the end of the day, we need a member who isn't going to pull any punches, who isn't going to be hesitant,'' Wasserman Schultz said.

The decision comes as Democrats believe they have their best shot in years to defeat at least one of the Cuban-American incumbents with a roster of Democrats that include former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, opposing Lincoln Diaz-Balart; outgoing Miami-Dade Democratic party chair Joe Garcia, opposing Mario Diaz-Balart; and businesswoman Annette Taddeo, opposing Ros-Lehtinen.

But Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their ties to the three Republicans are personal as well as professional: Both served in the state Legislature with Mario Diaz-Balart and say they work in concert with all three on South Florida issues.

Now I do know that Wasserman Schultz has come around to donate to Garcia and Martinez, but she has not yet donated to Ros-Lehtinen's Democratic opponent, Annette Taddeo.

Wasserman Schultz still not doing all she should do for FL Dem candidates.

Months later (at the end of June), Debbie finally put some of her money where her mouth wasn't: On the very same day, she gave $2,500 apiece to Martinez and Garcia. But not Taddeo. While this might not seem like a huge amount in the scheme of things, this particular $2,500 matters a lot. DWS is a very high-profile member of Congress, and she's the front-runner - if not heir-apparent - to head the DCCC next cycle. When she helps a candidate, that sends a signal to other members, PACs, labor unions, and wealthy donors: this is a candidate you should get behind.

Which is why it's up to us to stand up for a strong progressive like Annette Taddeo and send that message if Debbie won't. Taking on an incumbent Republican in a red district is always an uphill battle, and this race is no different. But if the progressive movement stands for anything, it's the principle that Democrats must never leave a worthy fellow Democrat behind.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz says, "I can't say enough good things about Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; she has been my friend since I was first elected to office." The netroots say, "Progressives will be lucky to have a friend like Annette Taddeo in Congress.

Those comments are from a poster at Daily Kos.

Mario Diaz-Balart only got it partly right in that church in South Florida....but Wasserman Schultz and Meek did give him the ammunition to use their names like that.

We reap what we sow.