Stop Him Before He Runs Again

Jeremy Wallace reports, hilariously, that Vern Buchanan has his eye on "higher office."

"I don't know where my public service will take me," he said. "This is my starting point. I don't know where it evolves to."

Um. Wow.

Really?

Because I think it might evolve A.) to you cleaning out your office when Christine Jennings beats you, and then B.) the dustbin of history. Say hi to Kitty Harris for us, won't you?

Calling Judge Wapner: Vern in Court

Christine Jennings is letting loose on thug Congressman Vern Buchanan. Check out the new website: Our Congressman in Court.

Vern Buchanan just can't seem to stay out of court. Florida voters need to know
about this longstanding pattern of Vern and the way he has done business.

Check out their fact references as well.

The people of the 13th Congressional District deserve better than Vern.

Vern Buchanan Hates His Constituents

It is fairly well established on this blog and in the Florida media generally, that Congressman Vern Buchanan hates his employees so much he bullied them into forking over campaign donations.

Now it turns out Vern Buchanan apparently hates his constituents as well.

Why else avoid debates and public events where his opponent might be?

Vern's people -- those that haven't been shaken down, we assume -- chalk this issue up to scheduling conflicts.

Sally Tibbetts, Buchanan's spokeswoman, said "we look very much forward to debating all of the candidates" but that scheduling conflicts have prevented it thus far.

Democrat Christine Jenning's crew has a different -- and imminently reasonable -- point of view:

“The voters of the 13th Congressional District deserve every possible opportunity to hear the substantial differences between Christine Jennings and Vern Buchanan from the candidates themselves,” said Jennings spokesperson Melissa Smith. “Candidate debates are one of the cornerstones of our democratic system, but so far during this campaign Vern Buchanan has tried to hide from any real debate on the issues and his record.”

Marj Baldwin is the founder and head honcho of the Sarasota Tiger Bay Club. She is also a powerful presence in Sarasota politics and a force to be reckoned with. She is the one who showed Katherine Harris the door because she didn't have an invite to the event.

So she's tough.

And she seems fairly perturbed by the actions of Vern on his avoiding the, you know, people he represents.

"It appears that he's made up his mind that he's not going to appear on any platform with Chris Jennings," Baldwin said. "For whatever reason, he will not get on the platform with the other candidates for the 13th District race."

[snip]

Baldwin said that was because the club wanted to hear from all the candidates. Unless all can attend, the forum might not happen, she said.

"I cannot have Vern come by himself," Baldwin said. "It would imply that Tiger Bay would be endorsing him, just as I could not have Chris Jennings come by herself because that would imply Tiger Bay Club was endorsing her. That's the quandary I'm in."

A quandary indeed.

If you want someone in Congress who will be accessible to her constituents, support EMILY's List featured candidate Christine Jennings.

If you wonder why Vern Buchanan is tucked away in a hidey-hole and won't come out, email his campaign and ask when he'll debate Christine.

Better yet, go pay a visit to Vern and Empty Chair Charlie at Dolphin Aviation in Sarasota.

More Bad News in the Vern-iverse

When last we posted here, Vern Buchanan was having a very bad day. There were allegations that he illegally strong-armed employees at his car dealership into donating to his campaign.

The news just keeps getting worse for old Vern.

According to the Stacey Eidson at the Bradenton Herald, another complaint has been filed against Vern. Are we starting to see a pattern, here?

Another former executive of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan's car dealerships has filed a lawsuit claiming he witnessed fraudulent practices at the automotive store and was pressured to contribute to the congressman's 2006 campaign.

Carlo Bell, a former finance director at Venice Nissan Dodge, alleges in a lawsuit filed in Sarasota County Circuit Court that he repeatedly objected to the "falsification of documents" during the sale and financing of cars at the dealership.

This isn't the guy who mops the floor at night, gang -- it's the finance director. And yes, we're starting to see a pattern. From the lawsuit:

"In order to avoid campaign laws, various employees were approached and instructed to make a $1,000 contribution to defendant Buchanan's campaign fund and were then reimbursed in cash for those contributions as a means of avoiding campaign finance law restrictions," the lawsuit states. "The plaintiff (Bell) wrote a check and the same day was given $1,000 cash."

The Venice dealership is going to countersue, I guess, for "false and outrageous claims."

Yeah, good luck with that. You're going to need it.

And the reason they'll need it, as Wayne Garcia points out today, is because EMILY's List has targeted this race and is supporting Christine Jennings.

Vern is going to need all the help he can get against an EMILY's List-backed candidate. It's made all the more true by virtue of the fact that the ethical and legal troubles are piling up, too.

With Florida in play for Obama, and the level of organization we're seeing statewide, you may want to put Vern Buchanan on your watchlist for incumbents in trouble. I know I will.

Thug Buchanan Will Win At Any Cost... Even If His Employees Are Paying The Price (Illegally)

A bright young writer over at the Huffingtonpost called Vern Buchanan "sleazy."

Seems appropriate.

The author, Mr. Nathan Robinson, had some unfortunate up-close-and-personal experiences with Congressman Buchanan. Too bad for him. It reads like a scary bedtime story, the kind that gives your kids nightmares for a week.

Of course, the real scary stuff is Buchanan's win-at-all-cost strongarm tactics he employed in his 2006 campaign. Who knows what he's doing now.

Today he has come out with the official denial. From Jeremy Wallace & Carol E. Lee's article:

"They both are disgruntled employees," Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, said in his first public comments since the accusations surfaced last week.

Well, of course they are, Vern! If my bosses forced me to donate to my thug boss's campaign, I'd be disgruntled, too.

Why is any of this important?

Even as Buchanan rebutted the accusations of Joe D. Kezer, former finance director at Sarasota Ford, and Carlo A. Bell, former finance director at Venice Nissan Dodge, another former Buchanan employee, D.J. Padilla, said that he, too, was pressured to donate, but refused.

"It all happened," said Padilla, who worked in the finance department under Bell. "They said if you make a donation, they'll give the money back."

Pressuring employees for donations and paying reimbursements violate federal campaign finance laws.

Yes. Yes, it is.

That, and there is a good chance that the 13th CD of Florida -- Katherine Harris's old seat, so you know it's a doozy -- is going blue.

At long last, the voters of the 13th Congressional District of Florida deserve decent representation in Congress -- and they should hold Vern Buchanan accountable for his illegal actions.

Support Christine Jennings. She's the one who doesn't shake down employees for campaign contributions.

Vern Buchanan Hates Rule of Law, Ethics, Honesty

Apparently, Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan will hire anybody. His personal attorney is Daryl J. Brown, one of the few lawyers in the entire state who have been suspended twice by the Florida Bar. In fact, Brown isn't eligible to practice law in Florida right now. Brown's first suspension was for a campaign finance scandal involving Riscorp, a massive insurance company, where 875 illegal contributions were recorded. I wonder what party they went to? Not only was Brown involved, he lied to media about his involvement.

That didn't stop Buchanan from hiring him. In fact, Brown was involved in Buchanan's lawsuit against the developers of the Ritz-Carlton, something he did while under suspension. He later lied about his occupation on a campaign donation to Buchanan.

If this is the type of judgment Buchanan has when it comes to hiring his personal lawyer, how can he be trusted to represent Floridians ethically and fairly in Washington. He can't.