Falling star, part 2
It’s almost generous to say that
Alan Grayson may be watching his political future crumble right now … since he already saw it fall apart two years ago.
In 2016, Grayson thought he was ready for a promotion from the U.S. House to the Senate. But his fellow Democrats thought he was ready for a timeout. The party’s one-time darling — a guy who once made
liberals swoon with his brash talk against Republicans — didn’t even fetch 18 percent in the primary.
Now he’s back, and it’s not clear anyone cares.
Incumbent Darren Soto may be less fiery and more moderate, but he’s been backed by … well … almost every Democratic group you can imagine.
Soto touts endorsements from the Young Democrats, the Human Rights Campaign, the AFL-CIO, firefighters, police, the Latino Victory Fund, Joe
Biden — oh, and every single Democratic member of Congress from Florida.
Meanwhile, Grayson is dusting off praise that Oliver Stone gave him back in 2010.
Grayson just seems to have worn out his welcome. Partly because he makes controversy as often as he makes progress. Partly because of his past questionable ethics — including the hedge fund Grayson was caught running while also serving in Congress. And partly because Alan Grayson’s No. 1 cause always seems to be Alan Grayson.
It’s that last part that drove Celebration resident Stephanie Garber away.
Years ago, Garber was a Grayson loyalist. She sung his praises. She wore his T-shirts. She told friends to listen to him. This year, she’s filming ads for Soto. Asked why, Garber said she came to believe that Grayson was “more focused on himself than the progressive platforms of the Democratic Party,” describing his attempt to challenge a sitting Democrat as “the final straw.”
Interestingly, while Republicans seem to be abandoning their establishment party darling (Putnam) for a candidate even further to the right in DeSantis, Democrats are doing the opposite in ignoring the fiery extremist for the more soft-spoken moderate.
Certainly, anything is still possible. Grayson or Putnam could reignite passions of old. Soto or DeSantis could stumble.
But right now, it looks like two men who were once viewed as their party’s best hopes are now on their last legs.