Max Linn, a democratic candidate for Congress in FL-10, is in trouble once again for portraying his association with Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency. FL-10 has put forth some suspect candidates for the Dem. nomination in the past (See Samm Simpson, pro-life, Ron Paul supporter) But Max Linn truly takes the cake. With the polls for the Florida democratic primary set to close on the night of August 26th, lets hope that its not Max Linn or Samm Simpson as the last man or woman standing.
It appears as though Max Linn has finally exasperated his nine lives in the political scene. After garnering only 1.9 percent of the votes in the 2006 Florida gubernatorial election, Linn is trying to buy a seat in the United States Congress. The millionaire turned politician may have finally bitten off a little more then he can chew. During a debate with Samm Simpson and Bob Hackworth(F-10 Dems) last Wednesday, Max distributed photo copied pictures of himself with Obama to hundreds of people before the debate. The photo can still be viewed here as the last photo in the flashing sequence.
Unfortunately for Max, the jokes on him this time as staff from Obama's campaign attended the debate. After months of misrepresenting himself as having Barack's endorsement, Max should be told to no longer falsely associate himself with the presidential nominees name. Having your name associated with Max Linn can only bring a negative spin. After suspending his campaign in June, he offered these statements
"Today Max Linn announced his intention to suspend his candidacy for Congress in Florida's 10th District. Max feels strongly that the best action he can take for the people of this community is to throw his full support and energy behind Sen. Barack Obama. With an impact much greater than one additional Democratic Congressman, President Obama will be in a position to deliver on issues like health care, ending the war in Iraq and providing greater security to homeowners here in Florida."
The following day he was back in the race saying the press release was a mistake.
Controversy overshadowing a Max Linn campaign has become the norm. In the early 90's, Max was accused of sexual harassment by his secretary at A.G. Edwards that doomed his bid for State Senate. In 2005, Max was faced with a similar allegation by another former employee. Max stated that "Very often when people know you have a lot of money, they come after you." From an "emergency" plane landing on an interstate to claiming to "put my hand on a stack of Bibles" to say Gov. Charlie Crist is gay , the Obama campaign is to be commended for catching this phony candidate. So as questions surround Max Linn and Samm Simpson, it appears as Bob Hackworth is emerging as the only candidate that has a chance to defeat 38 year incumbent Bill Young.