Is Alex Sink Trying to Lose?

I wrote before that Alex Sink is making false promises by guaranteeing she can make Congress bipartisan as a freshman member of Congress. If Sink wins the general election she would be a back bencher in Congress. Short answer: Sink would have little power. John Boehner and Eric Cantor aren't going to listen to a first term Democrat. Never the less: Sink continues to campaign on bipartisanship.

Sink did this campaign ad with her father Kester.

Transcript of the ad.

Kester Sink: You’ve probably heard all the nasty things Washington is saying about my daughter

Alex Sink: That’s my dad, Kester Sink.

Kester: I know Alex is a big girl, she can defend herself.

Alex: All that fighting and lying is why Washington doesn’t get anything done.

Kester: So what are we going to do about it?

Alex: Democrats and Republicans have to work together to cap flood insurance and protect Social Security and Medicare.

Kester: She always did know how to solve problems. Got that from her mom.

Alex: Thanks dad. I’m Alex Sink and I approve this message.

Kester: And so do I.

Does Sink seriously believe that Republicans are going to help her "protect Social Security and Medicare"? The Center of Budget and Policy Priorities did a study of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget. Social Security would be cut under the the Ryan Plan.

The first element is price indexing. Under current law, Social Security benefits for new retirees are designed to keep pace with the growth of average wages. Under Rep. Ryan’s plan, initial benefits for 70 percent of earners would instead be related to the growth in prices, which in the long run grow less rapidly than wages.

Rep. Ryan’s indexing proposal imposes the greatest reductions on those with the highest earnings, and it exempts those with the very lowest earnings, so it is sometimes called “progressive” price indexing. Nonetheless, it would affect fully 70 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries — everyone with earnings above $22,000 in today’s terms. Over time, price indexing would turn Social Security into a program that provides only a small retirement benefit — and one that is largely unrelated to prior earnings.

The problem is Sink is terrified to state her policy positions so she retreats to empty rhetoric. Sink's "On The Issues" pages is filled with talking points but lacks policy proposals. Here is an example.

Improving the Affordable Care Act: Keep the Good, Fix the Bad

The rollout of the website and problems that have arisen with the implementation are unacceptable: The Obama Administration needs to be held accountable to get the website running, and making any necessary changes to fix any problems with the law. If these changes cannot be made in a timely way, then components of the law should be delayed until these issues are addressed.

But we cannot go back to a time when individuals with pre-existing conditions were denied care, seniors were forced to pay more for medicine, or insurance companies could do whatever they wanted – including kicking families off their plans because they got sick.

What is not helpful in Congress’ conversation about America’s healthcare was the government shutdown, or the gridlock in Washington that is holding Republicans and Democrats back from working together to get results and solutions – and it’s exactly this culture of dysfunction that I’m running to change.

If we delay the law there are Americans with pre-existing conditions would be denied health care coverage. Employees would not be able to get coverage through their employees by buying from exchanges. Alex Sink doesn't have a proposal for how Americans will get coverage if the law is delayed a year. The Obama administration has already delayed the penalties against employers that don't provide health care coverage. Does Sink support delaying penalties against employers for two years? Sink is more concerned with throwing talking points about the shutdown than outlining health care proposals.

Proof that Sink is scared of stating her policy positions is her avoidance of the media. Curtis Krueger reports that Sink hasn't held a press conference since Feb. 26. Sink did not stay to speak to the media after a recent candidate forum. Sink's opponents Republican David Jolly and Libertarian Lucas Overby stayed to talk to the media. Candidates speak to the media because they view it as free publicity. It is obvious that Sink has become spooked after her misconstrued statement on immigration.

Sink has denied this.

In an interview Wednesday, Sink denied taking a cautious approach in the last week of the race and stressed she wasn't avoiding the media.

"I have been all over the place" urging supporters to vote, she said, and also to "find every undecided voter that we possibly can." As examples, she said she went to the Saturday Morning Market in St. Petersburg, a festival in Pass-a-Grille and spent a few hours knocking on doors.

Sink's campaign has been scant on details to the media on where she will campaign. That is definitely a sign Sink is avoiding the media.