One candidate is really turning up the temperature in the already heated Republican congressional primary for the chance to run against U.S. Rep. 
Joe Garcia in November.
And just in time for the absentee ballots, which will arrive in a few days.
Cutler Bay Mayor Ed “Mac Daddy” MacDougall, who drew first blood in the campaign in January when he said Curbelo was soft on 
Obamacare, has hit Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos
Curbelo again. This time with a double whammy attack — both on every Cuban radio station and in the mailboxes of Hispanic absentee voters — that questions Curbelo’s party loyalty.
“Is Carlos Curbelo really a Democrat disguised as a Republican,” the mailer asks.
Read related story: Former David Rivera staffers endorse Carlos Curbelo
Both the mailer and the radio ad remind voters that Curbelo “led the attack against Marco Rubio” by siding with former Gov. Charlie “Which Way Do I Go?” Crist when both ran for the U.S. Senate in 2009.
“His is a cunning and convenient conservatism that is inconsistent with his record,” Curbelo said back then, referring to 
Rubio.
Calling Curbelo’s record liberal, and saying that he just “pretends to be Republican,” the two-pronged anti-Curbelo campaign also brings attention to his inopportune quote to Marc Caputo in December of last year when he said he was not for an outright appeal of Obamacare, since it could be fixed, and his vote on the School Board to float a $1.2 billion tax bond referendum to voters.
But Ladra thinks it’s this picture of Curbelo and Crist, the latter with a calming hand on the giddy schoolboy’s shoulder, that’s going to catch the attention of Republican voters — Republican Hispanic voters, ahem — who pretty much despise the former guv as a turncoat and can’t believe he’s reared his ugly head again to challenge Gov. Rick Scott.
Well, that and the dissing of their darling, Sen. Rubio (more on that later).
Read related story: Carlos Curbelo keeps mum re 2010 attack on Marco Rubio
“When you go to vote for your Congressman, please, remember how much Carlos Curbelo is like the Democrats,” the mailer finishes.
It doesn’t mention MacDougall anywhere, except in the disclaimer on who paid for the mailer/ad, which indicates that Curbelo is the front runner — the one to take down.
“He’s not the right guy to go to Washington,” MacDougall told Ladra. “What troubles me is that here is a fellow who is supported by the establishment and he has not spoken on any of the issues whatsoever. All he talks about is what a good job he’s done on the school board.
“District 26 deserves to have someone who’s going to give them more than just soundbites,” MacDougall said, adding that it wasn’t really about Curbelo, but rather about putting the best candidate against Garcia in November.
Curbelo said he was not going to comment on the negative ads and told Ladra to just use the quote his campaign manager, Nicole Rapanos, gave to the Miami Herald.
“Carlos has been working to build and strengthen the Republican Party in our community since before he was old enough to vote, and he has a strong record of driving a conservative reform agenda as a policymaker,” Rapanos apparently said in a written statement, calling the MacDougall campaign “the frivolous attacks of a desperate candidate.”
Ladra bets the other Republicans running in the primary don’t think they are all that frivolous. Those include former county Commissioner Joe Martinez and attorney Lorenzo “Larry” Palomares-Starbuck, both of whom should send MacDougall some thank you cookies for this gift.
Oh, and don’t forget about former Congressman David “King Nine Lives” Rivera, who said he disengaged from the race but is officially still on the ballot and could still be running. You never know with David.
After all, he’s Rubio’s BFF still, isn’t he?
New campaign ad questions Carlos Curbelo’s GOP loyalty added by Ladra on
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