Ausman & Greene

This is an old story that I should have mentioned before. Former West Palm Beach Mayor Jon Ausman endorsed Jeff Greene. The kicker about the endorsement is Ausman is a paid consultant for the Greene campaign.

Turns out that Ausman is also a paid consultant for Greene, having been paid $4,000 for providing about 35,000 e-mail addresses to the campaign.

Ausman, of Tallahassee, said the arrangement isn’t unusual. He said he often does consulting work for candidates he also endorses. But the money, he said, buys his political expertise, not his support as a party official.

“Everybody knows I work in political campaigns for a living,” said Ausman. “I’m a little surprised it’s actually a story.”

I'm surprised the story is being reported now. Several establishment Dems e-mailed me off-the-record about Ausman's ties to Greene. I thought I did a post update to mention Ausman's ties to Greene. Turns out I didn't. (My bad.) I'm surprised the Meek campaign didn't raise more of a fuzz about Ausman.