Sometimes it's better just to let a campaign speak for itself. This is a re-print, in full, of the GoFitzGo campaign journal addressing the nasty attack ads coming from Ray Pilon and the RPOF.
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Some things never change. For three campaigns in a row, Keith’s opponent has looked him in the eye, shaken his hand and vowed not to resort to nasty attack ads. "Oh, you won’t see any of that stuff from me!"
But once again, Keith has an opponent who is running a highly negative campaign and, as in the past, the claims are based on distortions, innuendo and lies But because you deserve honesty, let’s break it down and get to the facts.
KEITH DID NOT VOTE TO INCREASE HIS PAY
The Republican Party of Florida is running ads statewide against all Democrats in tight races claiming they voted to raise their pay by 7%. The claim is false. There was no such vote. There was no such bill. Sometimes the ads leave off the number or percentage and simply claim that a Democrat voted to raise his or her pay.
Here’s a challenge for the Republican Party of Florida, and any Republican candidate who signs their name to that outlandish claim: produce the bill in which Keith and his colleagues voted to raise their pay.
KEITH DID NOT WASTE TAXPAYER MONEY ON PRIVATE PLANES
Many voters received a mailer from Keith’s opponent with the outlandish claim that Keith "was among a handful of career politicians who spent $37,000 on private plane flights during this time. Unbelievable."
Yes, it is unbelievable.
This desperate attack is based on a July 27, 2009 St. Petersburg Times article that discussed a $37,000 travel cost for a bi-partisan group of 19 different legislators in the region for the 2009 Legislative Session.
Here’s the truth: Keith used a charter flight twice in that period at a cost of less than $1000, roughly equivalent to a commercial rate. There are government rules which limit reimbursement for private flights to a comparable commercial rate. Keith almost always drives back and forth to Tallahassee. There simply is no scandal here.
KEITH HAS WIDE SUPPORT IN THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
Keith has been portrayed as "bad for business," not based on his record, but on a single grade from the Chamber of Commerce taken out of context. It is attacks like this that turn people away from politics. Keith has found a way to not only be a strong advocate for labor, for the environment, and for smart growth, but for the business community as well.
After his first term Keith actually received high grades from the Chamber and they endorsed him. The truth is Keith has a strong pro-business reputation. That’s why he has support from the Florida Realtor's Association, the Retail Association, the whole alternative energy sector, among many other business interests.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce gave Keith a rating of 100 in 2007, and an 80 in 2008 when they endorsed him. Here’s what Keith’s website said then:
We are pleased to announce that Keith has won the endorsement of Florida Chamber of Commerce. In their endorsement letter, the Chamber writes, "At no other time in our state's history has it been more critical that legislators provide leadership that protects Florida's businesses and business owners," and goes on to state that Keith's "election to the Florida House will help produce sustained economic growth and promote Florida's competitiveness in world markets."
This endorsement demonstrates Keith's effectiveness as a legislator and his ability to serve as a pragmatic leader, bringing together voices on both sides of the aisle.
According to Project Vote Smart, he supported the Florida Chamber of Commerce 67 percent of the time in 2010. While this wasn’t enough to win him an endorsement this time around, it’s worth noting that the Florida Chamber of Commerce didn’t endorse Keith’s opponent, either.
Even just last year, the Manatee Chamber of Commerce had good things to say about Keith:
Fitzgerald believes Florida needs to become a more "normal" state known for its high tech and health care workforce, commitment to alternative energy and as a model for arts and mass transit.
"He’s sharp," Neil Spirtas of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce said of Fitzgerald after the breakfast. "For a state to pivot is an institutional change of great magnitude, but he’s right that there’s a need for a change. He talks about the need for alternative energy in Florida. We’ve been working in Manatee County on green and sustainable business. There’s a lot of good there, not to mention jobs. When things are down you need to refresh."
CAREER POLITICIAN VS. "NEWCOMER"
Of all the claims in the ridiculous campaign literature from 2010, the most laughable is that Keith is a "career politician" while his opponent is a "newcomer".
Ray Pilon was elected to the Sarasota County Commission and served four years between 1996 and 2000. He subsequently ran for sheriff, not once but twice, and lost both times. This is at least his fourth campaign for public office. To top it off, he is currently a Tallahassee lobbyist.
And while there’s nothing wrong with any of that, it is funny to suggest that he’s a "newcomer" to either politics or Tallahassee.
By contrast, Keith has been a career educator. He started tutoring as a teenager, moving on to teach grade school children in a school for dyslexics, and later earning a Ph.D. in political science. He has taught university and college students for over 28 years at Indiana University, Grinnell College and New College. That was, and still is, his career: Teaching. Four years ago he branched off into active politics as well, winning this seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Is there anything inherently wrong with a whole career in politics? Not necessarily. It just doesn’t apply to Keith Fitzgerald.
GO FITZ GO!
The GoFitzGo campaign is actually used to all of this. Two years ago, the state GOP and their allies poured over a million dollars into more than 40 mailers and weeks of vulgar TV ads so over-the-top, so fear-based, that the Sarasota Herald-Tribune published a post-election editorial not just lauding Keith’s victory, but excoriating his opponent for their campaign. (SHT, 11/7/08, p.8A). The operatives behind that campaign even went so far as to run a straw-man Green Party candidate – a candidate no one in the Florida Green Party organization had ever heard of – in an effort to siphon votes from Keith (which worked... to the tune of 1,177 votes). Even after the local papers exposed this ridiculous fraud and plainly linked it to the GOP, the same people behind his opponent’s campaign nonetheless sent out attack ads from a candidate who participated in zero political activity.
And now the same crowd is behind Keith’s current opponent. Whereas last time Keith was a "double-dipping, illegal-alien-loving, tuition-hiking career politician responsible for $4 a gallon gas!" this time they’ve decided he’s a "pay-raising, private-plane-flying, grade F incumbent career politician who’s dealt a crushing blow to Florida’s economy!" And just like before, it’s all lies and distortions.
In the State House, Keith has proven himself to be a leader with the integrity to stand up to special interests and fight for the people of Florida. These are the same interests that attack good public servants, good people like Keith.
This election cycle, let’s remember that we deserve honesty – not 30 second lies on TV, or glossy distortions of the record. We deserve it, and so do good public servants like Keith who want the best for their family, their neighborhoods, their state, and their country.
The people of District 69 did not fall for the lies and distortions then. And they should not fall for it now.
Cross posted at the Spencerian.