Jeff Greene

Whatever one thinks of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is competing for the Republican nomination for Governor, and Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Senator, it has to be said that both have dedicated years of service to their state in public offices!

It was assumed that both would easily be on the ballot for the Fall 2010 elections, but now that assumption has been totally upended by the wealth and television ads of two extremely rich, non politicians, both of whom have had “shady” backgrounds in the business world! 🙁

Rick Scott is now ahead of McCollum by 44-31 percent in a Quinnipiac poll, despite the fact that he was involved in a massive Medicare scam in the 1990s, which helped to enrich him to the point of being an extremely wealthy multimillionaire! He seems to be cocky enough to believe that he is qualified by his business corruption experience to run the state government of Florida! What gall this man has, to say the least! 🙁

Jeff Greene, who was involved in real estate dealings during the Wall Street crash in 2007-2008, and is a BILLIONAIRE, but has no government experience, trails Congressman Meek by just two points, 29-27 percent, which is considered a statistical tie!

So the power of “deep pockets of money”, massive television advertising, and being seen as an attack on the “establishment”, have catapulted both Scott and Greene to what can now be seen as likely nominations for Governor and Senator, respectively! 🙁

Is this good for Florida, and since similar situations are occurring in other states, for America? Can we expect these businessmen with shady backgrounds to bring about “miracles” and effective change?

Anyone getting away from emotional reactions, and thinking rationally, must have serious reservations that this is a positive trend! But it certainly follows along with the direction of the conservative Supreme Court, which is doing everything possible to promote the power of rich people and corporations over the American political system! 🙁

If these candidates, and others like them elsewhere, triumph, one should expect quick disillusionment, when it is recognized that there are no “magic” answers or quick, easy solutions! The author would prefer to have people who have been committed to public service to manage our government at the high level of Governor and Senator, rather than “rookies” who are arrogant enough to think that because they are wealthy, automatically, that qualifies them to lead the American people, who are overwhelmingly middle class, but with a growing percentage of poor people, who also need some consideration, which is highly unlikely from those who wield such wealth and live in their own “parallel universe!”

As if the state of Florida did not have enough trouble with corruption and bad government, we now see the recent entrance of a multimillionaire and a billionaire into the races for Governor and Senator!

Rick Scott is challenging Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican nomination for Governor. With his ability to flood the state with commercials in an intense manner over a short period of time, Scott has suddenly become a real threat to McCollum becoming the gubernatorial nominee of the GOP, something a few weeks ago thought of as automatic!

Without trying to make McCollum appear to be the “good guy”, which he is not, Scott has absolutely no political experience, and was the head of a corporation involved in the most massive Medicare fraud case in American history during the 1990s! This man has the gall to think he should be the Governor of the fourth largest state, and is seen as extremely right wing, so much so that McCollum, who had expressed opposition to the Arizona illegal immigration law, changed gears after Scott came out endorsing such legislation for Florida! 🙁

As if that was not enough, we also see Congressman Kendrick Meek, assumed to be easily on the way to the Democratic nomination for Senator, suddenly on the last day possible to enter the race, faced with the candidacy of billionaire Jeff Greene, who has never held political office either! And this man benefited from manipulation of the real estate market in 2008, and has had friendships with Heidi Fleiss, the famous madam, and Mike Tyson, the boxer–all of which makes him highly controversial and objectionable to many observers! 🙁

Both Scott and Greene are using their ill-earned, extreme amounts of wealth to attempt to defeat candidates who have been office holders, taking advantage of the anti government and anti incumbent resentment that exists across the country, and therefore grab power!

But with their shady, unethical, and immoral backgrounds, is this what Florida will want? Will the average citizen be won over by a barrage of slick political commercials to vote for these crooks who have no shame, and show a high level of arrogance? 🙁 The thought is terrifying to the extreme! 🙁