Ten months out, the heated contest for the Congressional seat in District 26 has already gone into attack mode.
And Cutler Bay Mayor Ed MacDougall — seen as the least likely of three hopefuls in the Republican primary, mostly because he doesn’t have a z or a vowel at the end of his last name — has drawn first blood.
And he used what will likely become a lightning rod throughout the race to do it: In the first radio advertising to air for the race, one in which MacDougall announces his endorsement from auto mogul activist Norman Braman, the former police officer and insurance salesman pretty much calls Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos Curbelo — the only Republican primary candidate making any real noise until now — a softie on Obamacare.
“With your support, I will vote to repeal Obamacare,” MacDougall says in the 60-second spot that debuts this week. Then he takes a swipe at both the Democrat incumbent, U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, and Curbelo, who some see as the Republican primary frontrunner.
“While you and I can see how fatally flawed this law is, sadly, Carlos Curbelo and Joe Garcia refuse to acknowledge that Obamacare must be repealed. They both have suggested tweaking the law, but you and I know that will only prolong the inevitable failure of this big government program,” he says, and Ladra can just see Curbelo cringe at the coupling of those two names.
In fact, if MacDougall is as smart as he says he is, he would record it on a robocall to paint a ‘birds of a feather’ picture: “Carlos Curbelo and Joe Garcia. Joe Garcia and Carlos Curbelo. Two men who are all wrong about Obamacare.”
Ladra loves writing imaginary robocalls, by the way. Go figure.
The thought of Curbelo embracing any part of Obamacare seemed like imagination, too. Then, I googled “Carlos Curbelo Obamacare” and came upon what looks like a flustered rookie mistake, which is strange because, while he is young, Curbelo is one of the most media exposed and polished postalita politicos around here. And it seems that MacDougall’s camp seized on a blunder. They’ll be chanting “He agreed with the Democrat incumbent!” for six months.
The Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo wrote in December about a video ad that the DCCC had run against the protegé of the storied, political Diaz-Balart family, that doesn’t mention him by name, but quotes people who obviously need Obamacare very badly about what would happen if he lost it. It is titled, “The cost of Carlos Curbelo’s repeal.” It is probably generic and is used against all Republicans to indicate that they would repeal the law, which most probably would.
But, when contacted by Caputo, lo and behold, Curbelo indeed indicated in an email response that he didn’t necessarily want a full repeal of the law, like any other good Republican would say (#smh). It doesn’t matter that he may be right, actually. After all, never let the perfect get in the way of the good.
The problem here is that he is comparing himself willingly to his Democrat would-be opponent. The problem here is that he’s still in a Republican primary.
“I support substituting Obamacare with legislation that genuinely makes healthcare affordable for all — including those with pre-existing conditions — and that does not punish low income earners and those that employ them,” he was quoted as writing.
It’s almost like he’s campaigning already for the general election, in a redrawn district that is pretty much split evenly three ways: one third blue, one third red and one third purple. That’s one of the reasons Joe Garcia won. Another is the Obama wave that many Dems, like it or not, rode on in 2012. Another is the tarnished teflon on ex-Congressman David “Nine Lives” Rivera, who ran out of resurrections after yet one more criminal inquiry into illegal campaign activity during said election cycle. The odds!
MacDougall told Ladra this week that the two biggest issues in the district among Republican voters is the $17 trillion debt and Obamacare. He said immigration, a topic that both Garcia and Curbelo also spend tons of time on, is number three. Again, among Republican voters.
Curbelo wouldn’t answer any of my questions. He won’t engage in this. Because he is running in the general, by God! My words, not his.
But maybe he’s just buying time. Because it’s not just Ladra watching. It’s the nation. And sooner or later, he is going to have to address the fact that he’s sounding like he wants to please everybody. That should be left for whoever gets through August. And this particular Obamacare angle is not likely to go away. It’s easy. It’s probably effective.
Because it’s already being used elsewhere.
In the special primary election in District 13 — a race the #CD26 candidates will get to watch play out before their primary — David Jolly is using Obamacare not only against former CFO Alex Sink, the likely Dem frontrunner, but also against fellow GOP candidate Kathleen Peters in the Pinellas County/St. Pete primary.
A mailer sent to voters over the holidays assured them that he would repeal the law — complete with screaming headlines about “losing health insurance” and “life-saving treatments cancelled” — while the two women would not, sorta telling primary Republican voters that there’s not that much difference between Peters and Sink, forcing the former to sorta backpedal on her position.
But that’s hardly going to make a difference. Because it offered Jolly an opportunity to mix photos of Obama and Sink and Peters, which if nobody reads the copy — and lots of people don’t — is enough to sway a lot of votes. Again, among Republican voters.
It’s sorta brilliant, if not entirely honest. I mean, Jolly’s mailer calls Peters a “political insider” when Jolly himself is a former Washington lobbyist (read: political insider) and it’s a little hypocritical because in that past position, he raised tens of thousands of dollars for Democrat candidates. But there are no rules about having to volunteer information about your pecados on your own campaign materials. So you just use what reminds voters that the other Republican is sounding like the Democrat opponent when it comes to what could be the single most important issue in that district, in this state, in the country.
And in this district.
Heck, I bet we see mailers very similar to these in a mailbox near us soon, with photos of Curbelo, Garcia and Obama.
And guess who’s smiling all the way to the polling booth: Former Miami-Dade Chairman Joe Martinez, who’s also got a bead on that job — even an upper hand in the three-man primary, maybe, according to his own November poll. Martinez might stand more to gain than anyone from a campaign that weakens Curbelo’s GOP cred.
Oh, yeah. It’s on.
MacDougall draws 1st blood: ‘Curbelo soft on Obamacare’ added by Ladra on
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