I spent most of last Thursday thru Saturday in Los Angeles with an annual check-up at the House Ear Institute. When I finally checked my email on Sunday morning, I found an email from a political operative in my inbox, asking me what I thought of the campaign website and a campaign newsletter from former Plant City, Florida mayor John Dicks?
It would seem that Dicks declared his intent to challenge for Florida's 9th congressional district on October 1st. Both he and long-announced candidate Bill Mitchell would be trying to unseat Gus Bilirakis (Bush toady and misanthrope) in the heavily Republican district.
What's did I see on Dicks' site? All that after the jump...
The content of the email I had been forwarded basically talked about the first month of campaigning and encouraged people to visit John's website -- John Dicks for Congress.
The newsletter also showed some of the Tampa Tribune article announcing Phyllis Busansky -- the Democratic candidate for FL-9 last cycle and former Hillsborough County Commissioner -- had endorsed Dicks in the primary. Nice announcement to let people on to, right?
The thing that got me, though, and actually stopped me from writing a diary here on Daily Kos regarding Dicks announcement until now, was a few small things on Dicks web site... One that may be minor but large to some of the Kossacks around the country...
You can't find one reference to John's party affiliation on his web site. This is a primary election he has to prepare for and not saying anything about the party he is involved with seems like he's hiding to try to win over the crowd in a general election campaign instead.
In fact, reading over some of his stances it keeps me thinking he's pandering to the Republican district when he should be trying to get the Democratic nomination. Instead of striking down the Iraq war, he trumpets aiding our soldiers -- which can be looked at as a non-answer to pro or anti war. Yes, the troops are important but so is getting them home and stopping the mockery in Iraq.
All in all, I'm left wondering about John Dicks... Even if he ultimately faces Gus Bilirakis next November, coming off moderate in the suburbs of the Tampa Bay metro region tends to get ignored with thanks to the me-first, gung-ho suburbanites who tend not to give Democrats the time of day once they hear their party affiliation. How else do you explain a congressman representing the district who avoids public appearances and campaign appearances as if they were a threat to his life?
I don't know what to think about John Dicks... Maybe I'm being too picky? Or perhaps not picky enough?
UPDATE/EDIT: I forgot to add a blogger peeve that can be seen easily on Dicks web site... Something that could get him in trouble with local media companies as well. His Blog/News area isn't truly a blog, but what's worse is he displays the full text of articles of stories that run about him. I'm unaware if this is with permission from the media in question but I'd wager not. It's a peeve and I'm being picky but it's also a preemptive complaint.