Strange Debate Tactics in Central Florida

Recently in Central Florida Districts 24 and 8 encompassing Orange, Seminole and other counties we have had a couple strange debates. The strangest by far was Alan “Die Quickly” Grayson having a debate with third party challenger Peg Dunmire of the fake “Tea Party” reportedly funded by Alan Grayson himself. Joining the entourage was George Metcalfe, an independent; and Steven Gerritzen, a write-in candidate from the Whig Party. Mr. Grayson clearly wants as many conservatives to the right of Republican challenger Dan Webster as possible to siphon off conservative votes. The one person not attending was Dan Webster himself.

Dan Webster wisely chose not to show up at the Florida District 8 debate with incumbent Alan “Die Quickly” Grayson, Dunmire and two others.

For those not familiar with Webster he is a elderly soft spoken deeply Christian man of honor and integrity. His speaking style is, shall we say, adequate. Even his most ardent supporters would never say he is a inspiring speaker. Having a free for all with Grayson taking shots at Webster with the other three vying for media attention with the modest Webster would not be the best of debate outcomes. Webster was correct in declining the debate invitation as in the end it did turn into a media circus.
Mr. Grayson stated that he would not debate unless all the other challengers were invited and Webster has stated he only wants a one on one debate essentially closing the possibility of any debates in the future.
In District 24 there was a debate October 13 with incumbent Democrat Suzanne Kosmas and challenger Republican Sandy Adams one day after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pulled $650,000 on television ads for the freshman Democrat scheduled to be spent in the final week before Election Day. The Channel 2 reporter asked her about the DCCC decision and she replied that is showed confidence in her that she would win. Good reply but Adams is projected to have a 83% chance of winning this seat.

Republican challenger Sandy Adams, incumbent Suzanne Kosmas and write in Green Party candidate Nicholas Ruiz III

Adams like Webster is a clean safe candidate that voters will feel comfortable with. There are no skeletons in the closet for either of these candidates and we assume no police repots hidden away of them waking up drunk in the front of the Millennium Mall. Safe choices for the voters come November 2.
The one bit of intrigue in the District 24 debate was Green write in candidate Doctor Nicholas Ruiz III. Why was he there? Adams is not that fussy about much of anything. She probably didn’t care one way or the other. Why would Kosmas agree to having a candidate to the left of her and possibly costing her votes? Grayson used the opposite strategy stacking the debate with candidates to the right of Webster. Why a switch in strategy to the left? To make Kosmas appear “moderate.” I don’t know at this time.
One thing is clear was that Dr. Ruiz III did not add much to the debate and should not have been on the stage. He is not on the ballot and is a write in candidate. Maybe he had ties to the sponsor of the debate and Brevard Community College. Maybe he was a reflection of the political opinions of the administration and staff at BCC? Whatever the reason it made no sense to have leftist garbage thrown out for one third of the debate. If the guy is not on the ballot he should not have been on stage, period.

Suzzane Kosmas doesn’t seem to understand that the Social Security lock box has been raided by politicians

There is a place in debates for third party candidates who are on the ballot. Franklin Perez won the Libertarian primary in Florida House District 33. If there was a debate he would have every right to be on stage with Democrat Leo Cruz and Republican Jason Brodeur. State qualified and on the ballot Florida Libertarian Senate candidate Alex Snitker cannot get a seat at any senate debates with Rubio, Crist and Meeks so why does Dr. Ruiz get a seat at the table?
This is important because as we have seen in recent debates with Christine O’Donnell, Meg Whitman and even Rubio getting ganged up on in a debate or any fight is just not fair and to a certain extent that is what happened in the District 24 debate.
Kosmas and Ruiz took exception to Sandy Adams position that the people should decide how they choose their senators. Most of the uneducated masses don’t know the original constitution had senators selected by state legislators for the expressed propose of giving states direct representation in the federal legislative process. Adams supports allowing the people of each state choose how they want to select senators by either a direct vote or state legislature. Let the people decide. Kosmas and Ruiz mocked her for this position. Ruiz went so far as to say this is why we broke from English rule. This of course is a complete misunderstanding of the constitution and why Adams wants to repeal the 17th amendment. But as we know in politics facts mean little and perception is everything. And this brings me to the main topic, why was Ruiz on that stage?

Sandy Adams is a no nonsense Republican challenger in District 24.

As a Green Party candidate and elitist Dr. Ruiz’s position have little bearing on reality. His speaking at this event was a complete waste of time. For example while the nation is going bankrupt Dr. Ruiz believes that the retirement age for Social Security should be 55.
To quote Dr. Ruiz, “My reasoning is that for Social Security we should lower the age of Social Security retirement eligibility to 55, and increase the benefit by 20%. This policy will encourage people to retire sooner, allowing them to enjoy their later years in better health, while freeing them to contribute to society in other ways. And then concurrently, for Unemployment, by lowering the retirement eligibility age and increasing the benefit, we encourage people to retire earlier, while simultaneously realizing new job openings created by their retirement that can then be filled by the unemployed.
Fiscal responsibility and the pursuit of societal justice is a matter of priorities – what policies we’re willing to fund and support, and not – and to what extent.”

Dr. Nicholas Ruiz III Green economic policies would lead to government ownership of humans, some would call it slavery, and result in the massive starvation of millions maybe billions of humans. Maybe that's the goal of the Green Party?

Now you don’t have to be a economist, although I am one, to see the flaws in this argument. Social justice is fine in the next life but on this planet real people have to work real jobs to provide food and shelter for themselves. The Social Security tax is 12.4% and the system is already in the red. Just to keep benefits at current levels the payroll tax would need to be raised to 18% this decade. So we allow people to retire at 55 for all those baby boomer’s and we raise the social security tax to 30% of a person’s paycheck? 30% to support perfectly healthy people who can work? What about other federal programs? State taxes? Local taxes? I guess a 70% tax rate on individuals is social justice for Dr. Ruiz? Why not 100%? We use to have slavery to the master why not the state? What the hell?
We got enough bull crap from Kosmas saying that Social Security was viable for the “next 25 years.” I guess Suzanne doesn’t realize the Social Security lock box is filled with IOU’s from the federal government who raided the fund for decades. Earth to Suzanne there is no lock box and the money is long gone. To the uneducated masses (Democrats) this is a valid argument and Adams could have chosen to point out the obvious but she didn’t. Having that debate would have been valid and proper. Having some leftist elitist throwing out trash just deflated the debate into the area of absurdity.
So to me the real question in the future for political debates is who we allow to be at the table and who do we omit. The democrats are notorious for BS tactics like we saw in District 8 and 24. It’s about time the Republicans like Dan Webster call their bluff and let the buffoons sit there looking like the asses that they are. Why was 20 minutes of the District 24 debate wasted on a elitist leftist living in la la land? The voters of District 24 deserved better.