Florida Democrats area tearing each other apart over Patrick Murphy’s Senate campaign announcement. The problem? In the eyes of many Florida Democrats, Murphy isn’t sufficiently liberal and they don’t appreciate DC Democrats handpicking their nominees:
There’s a nasty fight within the Florida Democratic Party over Rep. Patrick Murphy‘s establishment-backed 2016 U.S. Senate bid and an official party organization that has been attacking Murphy and urging outspoken liberal Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando to get in the race.
The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida, which is chartered as an official branch of the state party and says it has about 200 members, organized a Monday conference call to accuse Murphy of being a “Wall Street Democrat” who isn’t far enough to the left on key issues.
That has sent Murphy’s supporters into panic mode with calls to “decertify” Florida’s Democratic Progressive Caucus and to strip one of its leaders of her status as a DNC representative for the state.
Below are excerpts from an email sent by Florida Democratic Party Campaign Committee member Celeste C. Bush:
This action runs counter to our Democratic Party’s very existence. We cannot have “so called” Democrat leaders aggressively attacking an elected Democrat or any Democrat running for office. A Democratic leader is just that – a leader of Democrats – not just some Democrats that fit a preconceived notion of what constitutes a Democrat.
These “so called” leaders have just slapped the face of the Florida Democratic Party, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democrat National Committee. They have assumed authority for party actions that was not theirs to command. A lot of work, money, and effort has gone into the decision that Patrick Murphy had made with the help of the true leaders of our Party.
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The experiment with having a “Democratic” Progressive Caucus has obviously failed. They have assumed power they do not have.