DeSantis rocks at Trump National

On Saturday, Republican candidate for Governor Ron DeSantis appeared at Trump National in Jupiter with “The Great One” Mark Levin, Fox pundit Dan Bongino, and CD1 Congressman Matt Gaetz. The large crowd was welcoming and enthusiastic, and possibly indicative of a surge in popularity for his candidacy. With some polls showing that the double digit lead held by Adam Putnam has waned, Ron appears to be making the most of his endorsement by President Trump, and has begun to define his value proposition as governor.

Ron has had support among the tea party grassroots since before his election to the sixth congressional district seat (Coastal from south Jacksonville to New Symrna Beach including Daytona Beach) in 2012. A tea party conservative, he is a key player in the House Freedom Caucus. I have long been a fan of his work in Congress, repealing Obamacare, opposing the Iran deal, and pushing for oversight of the corruption at the top levels of the Justice Department and FBI. His candidacy for Governor though, had seemed to be weak.

For the most part, Ron had seemed to be touting his Congressional bona-fides, and his campaign literature and fund raising appeals seemed more a call for Congressional re-election than a bid for the top executive job in the third largest state. A line of attack from the Putnam camp is that he is running his campaign on Fox News (Ron is a regular), has never held an executive job, and knows little about the Florida issues outside of Washington.

It was a different message we heard on Saturday. First, his surrogates described his work in DC as just as much “Florida Issues” as national ones. Health care, Immigration, tax cuts and de-regulation to boost the economy – these are all things that concern us within the state’s borders.

When Ron took the podium, he brought the focus back locally. Water issues and toxic algae, sanctuary cities and immigration, these are state issues, as is opposing common core and introducing civics back into the K-12 curriculum. He drew a sharp contrast to Adam Putnam on Sugar money (he doesn’t take it), ethanol mandates (Putnam opposed a measure to stop the measures that were harming the marine industry), and Congressional term limits (Putnam opposed).

Although his website is still short on specifics, he seems to be holding his own on the issues with Putnam and referred the audience to the Fox News debate between them last month, which he feels he won.

On the Democrat side, Jeff Greene seems to be developing a lead. With the money he plans to put in the race, a unified GOP will be needed to hold on to the Governor seat. DeSantis and Putnam are both credible candidates, but a tightening race may see the race turn negative. Let’s hope not.

At the end of the day, the Trump factor may make the difference. The President has endorsed DeSantis, and praised his work with the Freedom Caucus. There is evidence that Putnam has never really been a Trump fan. We will see how much weight that carries in Florida.

The Elephant in the Room

Congressman Brian Mast, speaking at the Abacoa chapter meeting on Monday, confronted his critics and doubled down on his call for age limits and the ban on the sale of “gas operated, semi automatic” rifles, such as the AR-15 and AK-47. (Actually that definition probably applies to many of rifles sold that are not single shot bolt action devices.)

In an attempt to guide the audience down the path of his thinking, he asked a series of questions, starting with “who would keep the gun laws as they are?” (most raised their hands.) Very few agreed with “expanding background checks”, “raising age limits”, or banning other categories of equipment, but there was support for restrictions based on mental health. He referenced the “national firearms act”, in place since the 30’s that bans the retail sale of automatic weapons, and argued most don’t think that infringes on the second amendment.

A self described owner of many firearms himself, who grew up around weapons and was trained in the military, Congressman Mast supports the usual gun rights position that guns are tools and you don’t blame the tool for the action of the wielder. That said, he does object to the “lethality” of semi-automatic rifles in the hands of the mentally defective, and believes that the sale of these weapons should be stopped “at least for a while”, while we figure it all out.

Banning the sale of the AR-15 and the like would obviously lead to banning the possession of such of course, and by some counts there are over 3 million AR-15 variants in the hands of American citizens, who are almost entirely law-abiding. That, presumably is part of “figuring it all out”.

While Brian also touched on other topics, such as his support for the tax cuts, opposition to the omnibus spending bill, opposition to sugar subsidies (controversial in Florida), and his initiative to open a Congressional office in the VA hospital.

He also deflected criticism he has received from low conservative “scores” from Heritage Action and Freedomworks. Heritage assigned him 46% on their “key votes” where the average house Republican is at 64%. Freedomworks has him at 49%.

“I wasn’t elected to represent Heritage Action” was his defense, and suggested that he supports President Trump in areas where these organizations do not.

To be fair, the scoring is somewhat one dimensional and a vote is not always what it seems. Your really have to look at the votes and decide for yourself. Heritage Action dinged him for example, for reauthorizing the CHIP program and supporting FAA reauthorization without the privatization they wanted. Most bills have pros and cons, and there is room for interpretation.

During the Q&A, most focused on his position on guns. Teri Hughes lit into him for blaming guns for Parkland, even though there were so many governmental failures that did not adequately deal with the shooter before hand.

Then Linda Wummer asked the question many of us were thinking – how are you going to win your base back and get re-elected? Many people in the room have been strong fans of the Congressman, worked for him in 2016, and have defended him against critics since he was elected. His current difficulties are self-inflicted. Calling for a gun ban is tilting at windmills – it is not likely to happen, and there is no upside to proposing one (if you are a conservative).

Brian is now facing a primary challenge from Mark Freeman and Dave Cummings – something that would have not have happened without this stumble. The Democrats have Lauren Baer and Pam Kieth – neither likely to draw many Republican votes, but in this narrow R+4 district, turnout in November will be key.

Politicians always break your heart at some point, and Brian has broken many over the last few months. This seat is too important to lose over a single issue though, and we have to put on our big-boy pants and consider the big picture. If you disagree with Brian only on the gun control proposal, it is painful but not likely to make a substantive difference in the debate that has already moved on. Consider what losing this seat to a Democrat will do to the Trump agenda, and maybe you will choose the pragmatic course.

Red Meat from an Ag Commissioner Candidate

“Americans come first in America” – that was the message from Agriculture Commissioner candidate Colonel Mike McCalister this week at Abacoa.

Delivering a fiery speech that touched on all the “hot buttons” – guns, the Constitution, standing for the anthem, respect for the flag, “In God we Trust”, and fighting the “new world order liberals”, the Colonel said very little about Agriculture or the job he is running for, but the crowd loved it.

On church and state he said “We are one nation under God … and we’re going to stay that way!” To immigrants, legal or otherwise, his advice was “Assimilate, not Agitate!”.

Touching on the spirit of the founders who were both smart and brave, he stressed our American Heritage and teaching about the Constitution, which some officials, even judges act as if it doesn’t exist.

His remarks were not very different than those he delivered in past campaigns (Governor in 2010, Senate in 2012), but as then, he was well received by the audience.

On his current campaign, he pointed out that the Agriculture Commissioner oversees many things, particularly Consumer Services. Although he had a long military career, his degree is in Earth Sciences, and he currently operates a palm tree farm. He sees diseases (citrus greening, etc), labor availability and water as priorities.

Ending with a quote from Ronald Reagan, he reminded us that we are still “the shining city on the hill” and that “our best days are ahead of us.”

Also at the meeting were CD18 primary candidates Dave Cummings and Mark Freeman who tried to explain why they think Brian Mast should not have a second term.

We also heard from Dr. Robert Katz, Executive Director of America Resurgent, a veteran’s support group. This group is putting on a benefit for disabled veterans in September called “Tipping Point 2018”. Check out their website for more information.

Vote NO on PBG Ballot Questions !!

On March 13, there will be a Palm Beach Gardens Election with four ballot questions related to the city charter. There are no candidates on the ballot this year.

These questions, if passed, will have the effect of seriously weakening the term limits that we so dearly won in 2014.

You may have heard there is controversy about misleading wording on some of the questions, and a city resident has filed a lawsuit to challenge the language as dishonest. If the lawsuit is successful, voters will be told that the results will not count. It is too late to change the questions and absentee ballots have already been mailed.

It is difficult to tell from the ballot language what a yes or no vote really means, but here is our synopsis:

A YES on question 1 replaces much of the charter language to “clean it up” and bring it into line with state law. It also drops the requirement for city manager annual review, lets him (or her) live outside the city, throws out the votes for a candidate when they drop out of a race late, removes the requirement for charter reviews and many other things that go beyond “fixup”. Because there are so many substantive changes under the false guide of “fixup”, we urge you to VOTE NO ON 1.

A YES on question 2 extends council term limits from the current 2 terms of 3 years (6 total – adopted in 2014) to 3 terms of 3 years (9 total). Since this changes the rules for the current council (who would not be there if not for term limits), a very self-serving move, we urge you to VOTE NO ON 2.

A YES on question 3 allows council members to run again after their term limits are reached if they wait three years. Since this would have the effect of throwing out the 4th District Court of Appeals judgement in the Woods case, which ruled that term limited councilmen cannot run again, we urge you to VOTE NO ON 3.

A YES on question 4 drops the requirement for “majority wins” (50% + 1) in council elections. In a race with 3 or more candidates, the candidate with the most votes wins – even if it is only a small percentage of the votes cast. Since this “Incumbent Protection Act” makes it easier for incumbents with name recognition to split the opposition vote by encouraging a larger field to counter challengers, we urge you to VOTE NO ON 4.

For the actual ballot language see: SAMPLE BALLOT

With no candidates on the ballot it is expected to be a low turnout – perhaps 1000 voters or so. Keep in mind that when term limits were adopted in November 2014 – 20,000 people voted and over 16,000 voted for 2 terms of 3 years. If you think it is unfair for a handful of people to overturn the will of 16,000, then GET OUT AND VOTE ON MARCH 13.

For more information, see: PBGWatch.com

An analysis of the PBG Elections

Rachelle Litt wins the PBG Group 5 runoff

Good turnout for PBG Election

PBG Candidate Forum Videos

PBCTP Co-Hosts Palm Beach Gardens Forum on 2/28

A Prayer for our Nation’s Election

The following has been distributed by the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops:

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O God, we acknowledge You today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.

We thank You for the privilege
Of being able to organize ourselves politically
And of knowing that political loyalty
Does not have to mean disloyalty to You.

We thank You for Your law,
Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged
And recognized as higher than any human law.
We thank You for the opportunity that this election year
puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote,
But to influence countless others to vote,
And to vote correctly.

Lord, we pray that Your people may be awakened.
Let them realize that while politics is not their
salvation,
Their response to You requires that they be politically
active.

Awaken Your people to know that they are not called to be
a sect fleeing the world
But rather a community of faith renewing the world.

Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to You in prayer
Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;
That the same eyes that read Your Word
Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that they do not cease to be Christians
When they enter the voting booth.

Awaken Your people to a commitment to justice,
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when Human Lives
Begin,
And not one moment later.

Lord, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of Your kingdom.

May that make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens on earth.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

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