Thank You from DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen

Fla. Dems Good on Environment, Reps Not So Much

The League of Conservation Voters released their scorecards for Congress. Can you guess what the pattern is? Of Florida Republicans, only Ileana Ros-Lehtinen does as good as any Democrat and that's only one person. Beyond that, all Democrats do way better than all Republicans. No shocker there.

Alcee Hastings (D), 92%
Ron Klein (D), 92%
Timothy Mahoney (D), 92%
Kendrick Meek (D), 92%
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), 92%
Bill Nelson (D), 91%
F. Allen Boyd (D), 85%
Corrine Brown (D), 85%
Kathy Castor (D), 85%
Robert Wexler (D), 69%
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R), 69%
Vern Buchanan (R), 62%
Gus Bilirakis (R), 38%
Ginny Brown-Waite (R), 38%
Mario Diaz-Balart (R), 38%
C.W. Bill Young (R), 38%
Mel Martinez (R), 36%
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), 31%
Ander Crenshaw (R), 15%
Ric Keller (R), 15%
Connie Mack (R), 8%
John Mica (R), 8%
Adam Putnam (R), 8%
Dave Weldon (R), 8%
Tom Feeney (R), 0%
Jeff Miller (R), 0%
Cliff Stearns (R), 0%

Republicans Don't Support Troops As Well As Dems

Check out the latest scorecards from Disabled American Veterans and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America...

DAV:

Bill Nelson, 100
Allen Boyd, 100
Corrine Brown, 100
Kendrick Meek, 100
Robert Wexler, 100
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, 100
Alcee Hastings, 100

Mel Martinez, 60
Jeff Miller, 66
Ander Crenshaw, 66
Ginny Brown-Waite, 66
Cliff Stearns, 66
John Mica, 66
Ric Keller, 50
C.W. Bill Young, 66
Adam Putnam, 66
Connie Mack, 66
David Weldon, 66
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, 66
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, 66
Tom Feeney, 66
Mario Diaz-Balart, 66

Notice a pattern here? All of the Dems have 100%, while none of the Republicans has anything better than a mid-range "D." So much for supporting disabled troops.

IAVA:

Bill Nelson, A+
Allen Boyd, A
Corrine Brown, A
Kathy Castor, A
Timothy Mahoney, A
Kendrick Meek, B
Robert Wexler, A
D. Wasserman Schultz, A+
Ron Klein, A+
Alcee Hastings, A

Mel Martinez, B
Jeff Miller, B
Ander Crenshaw, B
G. Brown-Waite, B
Cliff Stearns, B
John Mica, B
Ric Keller, A
Gus Bilirakis, A
C.W. Bill Young, B
Adam Putnam, C
Vern Buchanan, B
Connie Mack, B
Dave Weldon, C
I. Ros-Lehtinen, A
L. Diaz-Balart, B
Tom Feeney, B
M. Diaz-Balart, B

Republicans do a little better on this one, with Keller, Bilirakis and Ros-Lehtinen all getting an "A." Dems still do better, Meek has the lowest grade on our side of the aisle, and he still has a "B." The only "A+" grades amongst Florida's delegation are Dems and the only grades below "B" are all Republicans. Again, which party actually supports the troops?

Bilirakis in Trouble

A recent poll by Momentum Analysis has Gus Bilirakis in trouble in his re-election bid in FL-9. Gus only hits 45% in the poll. Newcomer Democratic challenger Bill Mitchell currently sits at 22%, but as the campaign moves forward and his name recognition increases, he's likely to take a large chunk of the 34% undecided vote. Undecided voters tend to break for the challenger, particularly in a Democratic year such as 2008. Additionally, the undecided voters lean Democratic, 46%-37%.

Polling in the District on generic terms gives a 47%-38% Republican advantage with 15% undecided at this point, meaning Mitchell has a legitimate shot at making a move here if he has a strong campaign. Bilirakis is unpopular and polls lower than a generic Republican, meaning once people learn his name, they are less likely to vote for him. On top of that, he has little record to run on and is an inept campaigner. This race could well be in play.

(400 likely voters were surveyed September 20-22, 2008 and there is a margin of error of +/-4.9%.)

Gus Bilirakis Does NOT Believe Women are Equal to Men

Recent House VotesPaycheck Fairness Act - Vote Passed (247-178, 9 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill to increase penalties for pay discrimination and protect employees who share salary information.

The House passed H.R. 1338, to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, by a recorded vote of 247 ayes to 178 noes, Roll No. 556.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis voted NO

Congress.org Vote Statistics

(Congress.org is the group that ranked Congressman Gus Bilirakis less effective than even the non-voting members of the House.)

Let's Rape Someone Else's Neighborhood

It's been awhile since we checked in with mini-Mike. I wonder what Gus is up to...

Accepting an award for being Greek?

Honoring Eagle Scouts?

Feigning interest in elderly veterans (while letting our active duty soldiers boil in the Iraqi sun?)

Inserting chips in seniors citizens so they won't get lost from their caretakers?

Nope. He's headed to ANWR with his GOP brethren to figure out how we can continue to feed our oil habit by drilling in the Arctic Refuge. I suppose he would prefer raping someone else's neighborhood in hopes that he won't have to flip-flop on his Florida off-shore drilling position. (Flip-flopping on that one comes a little easier when the VP spot is being dangled before you as in the case of our newly-enGAYged governor.)

What a loser.

Gus Bilirakis Re-election DOWNGRADED by Cook Political Report

Four GOP seats: Getting squishy?

Story from The BUZZ: http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/07/four-gop-seats.html

Today, July 03, 2008, 59 minutes ago Wes Allison

The non-partisan Cook Political Report today shifted its ratings of four Republican-held U.S. House seats in Florida, including the seat held by Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor.

The seats held by Bilirakis, who facing former Plant City Mayor John Dicks, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami were moved from "Solid Republican" to "Likely Republican."

Cook's House editor, David Wasserman, also moved the seats held by Republican Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Miami and Rep. Ric Keller of Orlando from "Likley Republican" to "Lean Republican."

"While it's not likely that a majority of the races moved from 'Solid' to 'Likely' Republican will become competitive by November, the poor national climate for the GOP and the DCCC's unprecedented financial edge makes even very difficult districts for Democrats worth keeping tabs on," the publication noted.