Foley wouldn't mind more GOP rivals in Senate primary

The Sun Sentinel ^ | July 19, 2003 | Anthony Man

[Jacvin]

The Senate Primary is heating up.

[Jacvin]

BUMP.

[Impy]

"Such a contest would split conservative money and votes, and would make it possible for Foley to position himself (with an eye on the general election) as the (sic)responsible moderate."

Duh.

So who do you like?

[Jacvin]

I am a Conservative and will support a Conservative.

The field is not clear yet and won't be until Jan or Feb of 04.

There won't be all those Conservatives in the race.
Support will coalesce around one and the others will drop out.

I'm leaning towards Speaker Byrd but will wait to see how it plays out a little longer.

[Impy]

What do you think of McCollum?

[Jacvin]

Nice guy. Not all that Conservative.
No charisma. Can't win.

[jagrmeister]

I'd prefer no primary. Save the resources and beat the Democrats in the fall.

[fieldmarshaldj]

FL Senate race *ping*

It's gonna be Mark Foley. It's just gotta be, it's gotta ! See, I'm right because that's my opinion and my opinion is always right. I have no facts to back up my claim that it will be Mark Foley, but I don't need facts because I'm right and that's that.

The previous was a parody of a loon from another thread, in the event that the previous was not a parody and was serious, please take me to the nearest emergency room to remove the gerbil from my kiester. =8-0>

For the record, I'm rooting for Daniel Webster. We definitely need a Daniel Webster back in the Senate again. Maybe if he loses the primary, he can run as a Whig like his namesake. :-)

[Pubbie]

Somebody needs to tell McCollum to hang it up and give Webster a clearer path in the Primary (Yes, that means YOU Rove!)...

: D

[Kuksool]

Assuming Bob Graham does not run for Senate re-election, we have 4 candidates from South Florida running for the Senate: Mark Foley, Alex Penelas, Alcee Hastings, and Peter Deutsch. Do you think having so many So. FL candidates would, in fact, drain away potential votes from Foley in the GOP primary? I have a feeling that whoever is going to win the GOP nomination, needs to carry the panhandle and the I-4 corridor.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Well, you're talking about different candidates with different bases in different parties. I haven't yet analyzed all of the regional bases of the GOP candidates, but looking at the South FL 'Rats, Deutsch's base are the Gold Coast Jews, Hastings' base are amongst Dade-Broward Blacks, and Penelas' base is... well, all 5 Cuban-American 'Rats. Penelas won the Miami-Dade Mayorship because of his ethnicity, not party loyalty. That guy will be toast in a 'Rat primary. In any event, I think a few more kids will be jumpin' in the pool before they close the gates...

[Kuksool]

Wouldn't the Miami Cubans cross over and vote for Alex Penelas? Also, calling Penelas Mayor of Miami-Dade is misleading. He is not the Mayor of Miami. He is the county board president of Dade County.

[fieldmarshaldj]

"Wouldn't the Miami Cubans cross over and vote for Alex Penelas?"

In a general, perhaps, but he'd have trouble enough with that. In a primary, I would say no. Most Cubans don't vote in 'Rat primaries, the real action in Cuban areas of FL are fought out in the GOP primaries. General elections in those areas are anti-climactic (some of those local seats don't even feature 'Rat opponents, except usually for some hapless schmoe Caucasian who runs or a senseless Cuban who forgets he's running on a party label that hasn't much of a problem with the Castro regime).

"Also, calling Penelas Mayor of Miami-Dade is misleading. He is not the Mayor of Miami. He is the county board president of Dade County."

I know he's not the Mayor of Miami City, that being Manny Diaz, but on the main website, his title is listed as Miami-Dade County Mayor (did they not change the title officially ?).

[Kuksool]

Changing the name of Dade County to Miami-Dade was silly. It made things alot more confusing.

[fieldmarshaldj]

No argument there. Having two people with what seem to be overlapping jurisdictions both being called "Miami Mayor" makes it that much worse. I've heard practically nothing about Mayor Diaz, and he certainly doesn't cut a swath like his legendary predecessors.

[Jacvin]

So who decides on the nominee then?

[Jacvin]

Checked your home page out. Nice job. Love all the "pictures". except the last one. HeHe
How do you know so much about Florida politics if you're from Tennessee?

[jagrmeister]

I think we can get a good sense of who will win the general election through polling and fundraising. I would be happy with Foley, McCollum, or the state legislator who's thinking of running. I don't mind politicking to see who's the strongest candidate but then before the primary gets bloody, join forces and take on the Democrat nominee.

[Impy]

So was that Republican Mayor Joe Carollo (got arrested for fighting with his wife and lost reelection iirc) Mayor of the City of Miami or "Mayor" of the County?

[fieldmarshaldj]

"Checked your home page out. Nice job. Love all the "pictures". except the last one. HeHe"

Heh, thank you... That's a little "gem" for those who can actually make the long journey to the bottom of the page... =8-0>

"How do you know so much about Florida politics if you're from Tennessee?"

Doesn't everybody know about Florida politics now ? :-) It helps when I mind-meld with Michael Barone.