Jon Ausman v. Florida Democratic Party Redux

Jon Ausman continues to fight the Florida Democratic Party over his recent suspension. What interests me is this hysterical statement Ausman gave to the Florida Capital News.

Ausman said he endorsed Jeff Greene, who lost the U.S. Senate primary to former Rep. Kendrick Meek, because the Palm Beach billionaire would spend $40 million on a general-election campaign and help the whole Democratic ticket. He denied it was because Greene paid him for campaign work. Similarly, Ausman said he supported Leon County Commissioner Nick Maddox instead of former Commissioner Cliff Thaell on merit, not because Maddox paid him $500 for a strategy plan.

Who is Ausman kidding. He has a long-established reputation as a political mercenary. Political outsiders pay for Ausman's political consulting and Ausman endorses them. It isn't surprising that a political consultant would support his candidate. Ausman could just say he worked for a candidate because he believed that person was the best for the job. Instead, Ausman wants people to believe that the financial relationships he has with his candidates has no bearing. No one buys that for a minute.

Quote of the Day

"Yet another reason to love him>>>Rod Smith boots (a-hole) Jon Ausman from @FlaDems State Executive Committee."

Peter Schorsch, on Twitter.

Ausman was removed ans suspended from the Executive Committee. Ausman is hated by Florida progressives. So Schorsch's tweet isn't surprising.

Jon Ausman Removed From Executive Committee

On April 30th, Judicial Council voted to remove Jon Ausman as Florida Democratic Party’s State Executive Committee. Ausman was found to repeatedlty have broken the Florida Democratic Party's rules of conduct. FDP chairman Rod Smith reviewed the Judicial Council's ruling. Smith decided to suspend and remove Ausman as committeeman. Below is Chairman Smith's letter on his decision.

J.Ausman

Kenneth Quinnell Hearts Sunshine State News

It looks like Kenneth Quinnell is still sore about losing the Florida State Committeeman race to Jon Ausman. Quinnell links to the conservative Sunshine State News' attack on Ausman to make his point. I find that interesting considering that Quinnell has repeatedly attacked the Sunshine State News.

Quinnell bragged, "I’ll be doing a takedown of this Sunshine State News attack on the Florida Education Association." Quinnell dismissed a poll on Alan Grayson commissioned by the Sunshine State News by comparing it to the conservative-leaning Rasmussen. When the Sunshine State News attacks Ausman it is suddenly a reputable news web site. Joy-Ann Reid's reporting found the Sunshine State News is run by (surprise) Republicans.

Quinnell worked on the Meek campaign. Meek won several Florida Netroots awards while Quinnell was working on the campaign and running the awards. (Meek won best use of Twitter with barely any tweets.) Ausman received a $4,000 check from Jeff Greene and later endorsed him. Both these guys have serious conflicts of interests. I am more than happy to see them attack each other.

I am just amazed at Quinnell's hypocrisy. Quinnell is a Democratic loyalist except when a Democrat blocked his accession to power. Quinnell doesn't like the Sunshine State News except when he can use it to hammer a political enemy. Quinnell is not a progressive. He uses the Florida Progressive Coalition blog to settle scores and gain access into the Florida Democratic Party. Anyone who thinks Quinnell (and for that matter Ausman) is a progressive is kidding himself.

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.

Kendrick Meek Death Watch: Crist Getting Dem Money

The powerful progressive blog Taliking Points Memo ran a story titled "Are Democrats Abandoning Kendrick Meek In Florida." The question is rhetorical. Florida Democrats Jon Ausman, Carol Roberts and Joe Angelo have endorsed Jeff Greene over Meek. The fact that Meek has been in the Senate race for nearly two years and didn't seal up endorsements is pathetic. Meek is getting flanked by Greene in the primary.

Gov. Charlie Crist has tapped into the Democratic fundraising machine. The St. Petersburg Times reports of Crist receiving donations from trial lawyers and unions. Lance Block hosted a fundraiser for Crist. In attendance were Former Democratic Florida House Speaker T.K. Wetherell and Dexter Douglass, a former advisor to Lawton Chiles. Rep. Darryl Rouson (D) was at another Crist fundraiser.

Even Democratic guru Steve Schale admitted support for Meek has been weak.

"There is certainly a 'Can Kendrick win?' or 'Can Jeff win?' factor," said Democratic strategist Steve Schale, "but I think most of it is personal loyalty (to Crist)."

The well-staged photo-op of Crist and President Barack Obama was not an accident on the part of the White House. Florida Democrats took the Obama-Crist photo-op as an unofficial endorsement. The White House knows Meek is a horrible candidate and feel Crist is the best chance for Democrats to keep the majority in Congress. Crist will meet with Vice-President Joe Biden tomorrow in Pensacola.

On My 22, I wrote a blog post declaring that Meek had no chance of becoming a U.S. Senator. I stand by that assessment.

Kenneth Quinnell Profiled On Firedoglake

Kenneth Quinnell is running for a county Florida State Committeeman seat. These are positions filled by each county's Democratic Party. Quinnell is running against party establishment candidate Jon Ausman. FiredogLake did a recent interview with Quinnell.

Update: Quinnell concedes the race to Ausman.

Florida (Non)Primary Update

Tamara Lytle and John Kennedy of The Orlando Sentinel have written an informative summary of how the DNC and RNC are dealing with Florida moving up the primary. The current status is that Democratics and Republicans in the Florida legislature voted "virtually unanimously" for the Jan. 29th primary date. Florida Republicans will lose half their delegates. Democrats lose all. Governor Charlie Crist has reiterated he will not move the primary back.

Republican Party of Florida Charman Jim Greer maybe able to deliver all of Florida's delegates to the Republican National Convention.

State party Chairman Jim Greer said he has found a loophole. The Jan. 29 vote is binding, but the actual delegates won't be named until later. And if the RNC won't accept that, he said, the eventual nominee can use his influence to make sure all of Florida's delegates are seated.

The DNC is leaving the FDP lousy options if they don't move back their primary. What is likely to happen is either a delegate-selection convention or mail-in ballots. The other hope is the eventual nominee asks Dean to bury the hatchet with the FDP. With the way things have been going that is not a guarantee.

Charlie Crist hinted that he might lobby Democratic candidates to campaign in Florida. I believe when I see it.

Update: Tally likes the delegate-selection idea.

Update: Crist and Senate minority leader Steve Geller agree that there will be no shut down of the Senate or House. Jon Ausman, of the DNC, sent out an email urging Democrats to use parliamentary procedures to grind the Florida legislature to a halt. I'm glad they agree on that. The daily business of state government shouldn't be affected because of the primary mess. There are too many problems the legislature need to address. Ausman's idea doesn't help matters.

DNC Smackdown Continues

Obama Barack and John Edwards have pledged to the Democratic National Committee not to campaign in Florida before the January 29th primary.

Edwards: "Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina need to be first because in these states ideas count, not just money. These are places where voters get to look the candidate in the eye and measure their policies, ideas, and integrity."

Obama campaign: “Because states that violate DNC rules will not be allowed to contribute to the delegate tally, we urge all states to ensure their compliance with DNC rules so they can participate in our Democratic nominating process. Our campaign will work within the rules established by the DNC to earn the support of Democrats across Americaand run a grassroots campaign to unite Americans around Senator Obama’s commitment to challenging the conventional thinking in Washington.”

As usual, Hillary Clinton is officially on the fence.

Clinton campaign: "We've received the letter and we are reviewing it. Sen. Clinton is 100% committed to campaigning in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina. She believes that these four states have a unique and special role in the process. There are other states that are going through a process now and we are going to let that process play out. But no matter what happens with those states, that will not affect our committment to these four states and we will compete in those states no matter what day those primaries or caucuses are held."

The only other candidates whom haven't signed the pledge is Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. Those two guys couldn't be picked out of a lineup by registered Democrats.

Florida progressive bloggers have been lambasting Howard Dean for punishing Floridians. The Jon Ausman email clearly details how the Florida Democratic Party ignored the DNC's warnings and pushing to move the primary up. Florida Democrats underestimated how much sway Dean has in the party and that the DNC isn't counting on Florida turning blue in 2008.

Florida Democrats don't understand how much the party hates them for the 2000 election. Nationally, Florida is considered Texas-Lite. They aren't in a position to tell the DNC to fuck off and then make demands. The thing about poker is a better player can call the other's bluff. Bill Nelson or Karen Thurman are getting smoked by a cardshark. It never occurred to them that Dean would get the candidates on his side. Pathetic.

Jon Ausman vs. Florida Democratic Party

Jon Ausman is a Florida representative of the Democratic National Committee. He has released an email that is critical of Florida Democrats aiding Republicans in moving the primary date up to Jan. 29th.

***

Dear Friend:

On 25 August 2007 three DNC Members from Florida - State Chair Karen
Thurman, former State Chair Terrie Brady and former two-term Vice-
Chair Jon Ausman - were given the opportunity to present the Florida
Democratic Party´s (FDP) delegate selection plan to the Democratic
National Committee (DNC) Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC).

Karen Thurman spoke about the efforts by Democratic legislators to
prevent the Republicans from moving the primary before the 5 February
cutoff date. Jon Ausman spoke of the difference between primaries
and caucuses. He noted that primaries have 6,700 voting locations,
caucuses only 50 to 150. That 24,000 active military who were
Democrats cast absentee ballots in 2004 along with 105,000 civilians.
They would not get an opportunity to vote in a caucus. Terrie Brady
spoke about the municipal elections scheduled for 29 January and that
the property tax referendum was on the same ballot.

National news coverage of Florida´s presentation was covered by C-
SPAN. Two national networks provided coverage. The hyperlinks for
this coverage are provided below.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3204114n

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3524267

The staff of the RBC distributed a document, a copy of which is
attached as a .pdf file, which undermined the argument that the
relevant elected officials made a good faith effort to stop the
presidential preference primary from being moved from March into
January in violation of the DNC Rules. This memorandum clearly
showed that:

1.Florida Democratic Legislators sponsored the
bill to move the primary to January 29th;
2.Florida House Democratic Legislators voted in
committee three times for the bill to move the primary to January 29;
3.All but one Florida House Democratic Legislator
vote on the floor to move the primary to January 29; and,
4.Florida House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber
stated, after receiving a call from DNC Chair asking for help in
opposing setting the primary date before February 5, "I don´t
represent Howard Dean."
5.Florida House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber
stated, after offering an amendment to move the primary to February
5th, that the only reason he offer it was "to show that there was an
attempt to state within the Democratic Party rules." The amendment
failed on a voice vote with no debate being offered.
6.Florida Senate Democratic Legislators voted in
committee to move the primary to January;
7.Florida Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller
stated on the Senate floor that he was offering an amendment to move
the primary to February 5 only because he was threatened by DNC Chair
Howard Dean. Sen. Geller than mocked his own amendment which failed
on a voice vote without any debate.

After Florida´s presentation, RBC Member Ralph Dawson moved a motion
that did the following:

1.Found that the FDP Delegate Selection Plan was
in non-compliance;
2.Gave the FDP thirty (30) days to submit to the
RBC a Delegate Selection Plan that is in compliance; and,
3.If a plan meeting the timing requirement (the
first step of delegate selection occurs on 5 February or afterwards)
then Florida will be stripped of all unpledged and pledged delegates.

After debate and discussion, the RBC passed the motion by a vote of
23-1 (City Commissioner Allan Katz of Florida was the only dissenting
vote).

This gives the FDP two choices. It can:

1.Ignore the DNC RBC and hope that the Democratic
National Convention Credentials Committee will seat its delegates;
2.Submit a delegate selection plan which allows
Democrats to either caucus or meet in convention to select delegates
to the Democratic National Convention.

Earlier this year I supported a caucus plan to select delegates. The
State Executive Committee and Florida´s DNC Members voted to use the
primary on 29 January as the first determining step for delegate
selection. I argued strongly to support this position before the DNC
RBC.

The Democratic National Committee has the right to set a window which
divides the four states - Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South
Carolina - which can select delegates before 5 February from all the
other state selection processes.

The Florida Legislature, with strong and active Democratic support,
moved the primary before 5 February to 29 January. This was not done
by Republicans over protesting Democratic legislators. The
Democratic legislators voted in five separate committees and in two
floor actions for the bill.

Some have attempted to state that Democrats only voted for the bill
because of the requirement to have voting machines with paper
ballots. That is not an accurate and true statement.

In fact, Democratic Legislators actively support the 29 January
primary in a number of votes before it was merged into the general
election bill. This was most unfortunate because by doing so the
FDP could no longer argue that we made a "good faith effort" to stop
the move by Republicans because in fact it was a bi-partisan move.

A caucus will allow us to have a full delegation. A caucus will mean
a Democratic voter in Florida has the same value as a Democratic
voter in Iowa or Nevada.

A caucus will allow us to collect tens of thousands of email
addresses, yardsign locations and cars to put bumperstickers on.

The DNC has made a generous offer to help offset the cost of the
caucuses by offering the FDP $880,000 to help pay for some of the
costs. The DNC has not offered a single other state any funds and in
the past has never offered any monies to any state.

When elected officials blatantly blame the DNC for enforcing its
rules and ignore the complicity of Florida Democratic elected
officials in creating this situation they are not serving the
Democrats of Florida well. They may get headlines, they may get
support, but they are being demagogues rather than leaders.

It is time for leadership. We represent the Democrats of Florida and
since our legislative Democratic elected officials have failed us, we
need to make sure that their votes, in caucuses, count.

We have 27 days to get the job done. Lets get to work together and
come up with a plan which will allow presidential candidates to
campaign in Florida and receive delegates.

Lets make sure the presidential candidates know they are going to get
delegates so they work to excite our Democratic voters. A caucus is
an opportunity to build a viable, active party for November 2008.

If you have any questions, please either write me or call me at (deleted by editor).

With respect, I am,

Jon M. Ausman, Member
Democratic National Committee