Oh Noes! Panicked Buchanan Begs McSame to Visit Former GOP-Stronghold of Sarasota

John McCain is having to come to Sarasota -- an area he should be winning handily -- at the behest of soon-to-be defeated Congressman and thug Vern Buchanan.

Said soon-to-be re-elected state representative Keith Fitzgerald: "When McCain is having to spend time shoring up Sarasota, they have a problem on their hands and they know it."

Yeah.

Here's the analysis of failed Sarasota Republican chairman Eric Robinson. Watch for him to be posting his resume around town very, very soon. Maybe he and Vern can go into some sort of corrupt business together that will eventually fail.

Robinson discounted the chances that Sarasota County could fall to Obama. Instead, Robinson said that McCain was coming to Sarasota because the county posted record voter turnout in 2004 and has historically been a Republican stronghold. That year 82 percent of registered voters turned out, 54 percent of them for Bush.

"It's not that we're in play, it's that they need us to balance out the east coast of Florida," Robinson said.

Hey, you can either take the word of the guy that won an election in Sarasota -- and part of Manatee -- in 2006, or you can believe that they need to "balance out" the rest of the state. Yes, that old famous political tactic, "balancing out."

According to Real Clear Politics, Obama is up +2.

FiveThirtyEight has Florida looking mighty blue.

Sure, Eric. Just going for "balance." Whatever you say.

Boy, can you imagine that panicky phone call from thug Vern to McCain?

SOME CHIPPER McCAIN CAMPAIGN WORKER: Good morning, McCain Campaign! Country First!

THUG VERN: Yeah, give me John McCain.

SCMCW: Who may I say is calling?

V: It's Congressman Vern Buchanan. It's urgent.

SCMCW: And may I tell him what's it's regarding, Congr...

V: Goddamit! Get him on the goddam phone! It's a fucking emergency!

SCMCS [startled]: Ye... Yes, sir (sob)... have a blessed day... and remember! Countr...

V: Get him on the goddam phone right now!

SCMCS: (sob!) (transfer's call)

JOHN McCAIN: McCain here.

V: Jesus, John. Thank God. I just talked to Eric at the Sarasota Republican Party H-Q. It's a disaster. A fucking disaster!

JM: Calm down, my friend. What's going on?

V: Jesus, John -- don't Davis and Schmidt show you any polls? We're losing Florida!

JM: My friend, what did you say, my friend?

V: Goddamit. John. Listen to me. We're losing Florida. And it's starting in Sarasota. You've got to get down here.

JM: My friend, I will be down there, my friend, immediately, my friend. People need to hear the truth about Barack Obama, my friend. For example, my friend, did you know, my friend, that he, my friend, is, my friend, a Muslim, my friend? Also, my friend, a, my friend, communist? Also, my friend, a terrorist? And, finally, my friend, he will, my friend, raise your taxes.

V: Senator, you may want to lay off the 'my friend' stuff just a bit. Jesus.

JM: I'm on my way, Vern, my friend. We'll do what we can to shore up Sarasota. But tell Eric, my friend, when he talks to the press that we're doing something like balancing out the rest of the state, my friend.

V: Okay, Senator, will do.

JM: Thank you my friend.

V: [sigh] Thanks, Senator. We'll see you soon. [away from phone] Hey, are those bundled checks still coming in? [hangup]

Fin

We can take Florida. And it will, in fact, start in Sarasota. Two more weeks.

Buchanan Inspires Online Activism

Check out the first episode of Vern's Office from Emily's List:



Also check out the new web site Boot Buchanan.

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.

Buchana Hates His Workers, Customers, Ethics, Campaign Laws

If true, this helps prove that Vern Buchanan is a very bad person:

Two former executives for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan's auto dealerships said they were pressured to donate to Buchanan's 2006 congressional campaign and were offered cash and gifts as inducements, which would violate federal campaign laws.

The former employees, Carlo A. Bell and Joe D. Kezer, are suing Buchanan, alleging his auto dealerships cheated customers. The alleged violations of campaign finance laws are not part of the lawsuit. The former employees went public with the claims this week, after Buchanan's lawyers rejected their $43 million offer to settle the lawsuit.

Anyone who would do this type of thing should be barred from Congress. And anyone who votes for someone who would do this doesn't care about what's best for Americans or Floridians.

Buchanan Hates Working Families, Loves Big Oil

Vern voted against the "Use It Or Lose It" bill at a time when working families (like mine) are struggling to pay for rising gas costs. Republicans are touting drilling closer to Florida's coast as a way to bring prices down -- a claim that is ridiculous when the oil companies already have leases to 68 million acres they aren't currently drilling, apparently because they won't get big enough profits quick enough on those acres. The bill would've required oil companies to drill on the leases they already have or they wouldn't get further leases. Vern voted against that and for continued high prices for working families and potentially for oil spills on our beaches. Thanks, Vern!

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.

Vern Hates the Environment

The League of Conservation Voters recently released scorecards for Congress. How did Vern do? Poorly:

Vern Buchanan (REP), 25%

Not only did all of the Democrats do better than all of the Republicans, With one exception, all of the Democrats did more than twice as good as all the Republicans. And most of the Democrats voted in favor of the environment more than four times as frequently as most of the Republicans.

I wonder how many of these Republicans own property that will be beachfront property when most of Florida is under water because of global warming? I'm just saying...