Harry Reid calls for Alan Grayson to drop out of primary. [View all]

[madfloridian]

I may get aggravated with Grayson sometimes, but he's been good for our state and good for activists.

I don't think it is Harry Reid's job to protect Patrick Murphy's candidacy by requesting Grayson to drop out. Someone today said they are protecting Murphy, recently still a Republican, at Grayson's expense.

Sen. Harry Reid calls on Grayson to drop out of Senate race

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Friday called for U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson to drop out of the race for a Senate seat in Florida.

Reid said in a statement that Grayson claims to be progressive but seems to have "no moral compass." He said Grayson used his office to unethically promote a hedge fund that until recently had been based in the Cayman Islands.

Grayson is running in the Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. His campaign did not immediately respond to Reid's call to quit the race.

His business activities have come under scrutiny for the past several months. The New York Times on Thursday reported that Grayson promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business for his hedge fund.

.....Reid's decision to take sides in a Democratic primary is unusual. But the Democratic establishment has been getting behind U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, seeing him as the stronger general election candidate in a swing state.

This kind of thing goes on often in our state. One time they forced a fellow teacher of mine and overall good guy with great candidate potential out of a race to put a hand-picked Republican in....a guy named Tim Mahoney. Good Christian, family man.

That good Christian family man was caught in a sex scandal

West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress who worked on his staff and was threatening to sue him, according to current and former members of his staff who have been briefed on the settlement, which involved Mahoney and his campaign committee.

Mahoney, who is married, also promised the woman, Patricia Allen, a $50,000 a year job for two years at the agency that handles his campaign advertising, the staffers said.

A Mahoney spokesperson would not answer questions about the alleged affair or the settlement, but said Allen resigned of her own accord and "has not received any special payment from campaign funds."

Senior Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chair of the Democratic Caucus, have been working with Mahoney to keep the matter from hurting his re-election campaign, the Mahoney staffers said.

A spokesperson for Emanuel denies that account, but said Emanuel did confront Mahoney "upon hearing a rumor" about an affair in 2007 and "told him he was in public life and had a responsibility to act accordingly." The spokesperson added that it was a "private conversation" that had nothing to do with Mahoney's re-election prospects.

Sounds to me that morals matter most if you are a grassroots activist kind of candidate.