No this is not about Clinton's attempts to change the rules in the middle of the game.
This is about the looming Democratic congressional race primary in the FL-15, now that incumbent Repuglican Dave Weldon has dropped out.
The guy I have liked for months, ever since meeting him at the PNHP national annual meeting (despite the name, I am not he; he is not me; we have no other relationship) is Dr. Steve Blythe, an up by his own boostraps physician from a working class background, progressive Democrat, environmentalist, single payer supporter. He was running and fighting the good fight well bebore Weldon's surprise announcement.
But now that Weldon is out, local Democratic Party establishment types are eyeing the race.
Here is Dr. Blythe's inititial response:
Forging Ahead
I have mixed feelings about Weldon dropping out of the race. On the one hand, it would have been hard to fight the financial resources that he would bring, but on the other hand, he was an easy target - almost everything he stands for - war, torture, raping the environment, building up big business but not expanding Pell Grants or health care to children - I stand totally in opposition.
None of the potential Republican candidates appear too worrisome. Meanwhile Democrat former county commissioner Nancy Higgs has announced that she will enter the race. Although I think Nancy is a good person, and would be a good representative for us, I think she is too tuned in to party politics. For this reason I will continue my campaign and challenge her in the primary. A lively primary season will hopefully help us get out the anti-Neocon message - that life is more than deregulation and tax cuts.
My positions against unneccesary war, against torture, against imprisoning people without their Constitutional rights, against raping the environment and destroying our wild places and wildlife, for health care as a fundamental human right, and for restoring opportunity in America are positions on which I will never compromise, and that is my promise to the citizens of this district!
That is a fighting progressive Democrat. He is still my guy!
You can hear him on progressive Florida radio
And see him speaking on YouTube.
Here's Dr. Steve Blythe talking about health care.
If you like what you hear, you can donate to him at his ActBlue site.
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Disclaimer: Despite the similarity in our names, I DrSteveB, New Yorker, Pediatrician and longtime diarist on dKos, am not Dr. Steve Blythe, family physician in Florida and Demmocratic candidate for FL-15. We have no relation beyond my meeting him in person once and supporting him for the reasons stated above.