Anybody who doesn't think the Al-Arian issue won't cost Castor votes,

[Bombtrack]

probably thousands of them, is off their rocker, IMO. Whoever's side you believe, all that has to happen is for independant groups to run boogie-man Palestinian ads that portray her as being incompetant when it comes to dealing with radical Islamists in her own supervision, and it will turn people off from her. Yeah, it's not cut and dry, she'll have her refutation of the issue, but do you really think she's going to run ads refuting it? I doubt it. It's going to be something that they state their side on, and then ignore, and hope it goes away, but in the eyes of people on the fence, it will haunt her. Even without this, I beleive, looking at the demography, Martinez has the clear advantage by at least a few-to-half a dozen points, with probably mid single digits undecided. I believe it will seal it because of this issue.

I don't dislike Castor at all, but I now think that EVEN Deutsch would be a stronger general election candidate, and I HATE him.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. Fine if it puts Penelas in the lead. It's her problem and she should....

have been more careful. Besides, Penelas is much stronger than she it.

[Bombtrack]

2. I really hope it's not too late. I'm going to be working my ass for Alex

when I get back down there in about a week

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. Seriously Bombtrack, If Mel Martinez is going to be the candidate...

then we MUST have Alex Penelas to counter-act him.

What are Alex's chances at this point?

[Bombtrack]

4. It would really take something big. He's been in third-place poll-wise

for quite a while. A really good GOTV among the hipanic community could give him the upset though. Just inform democrats that he's the only one who can beat Martinez in all likelihood, his proven record of success as mayor(such as his early childhood initiatives and leading all counties in job growth), and attempt to clear up the lies and deceits that people like Jim Defede, and Deutsch's gang of cronies have spread about him.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. Could Hispanic/Latino turnout make the difference?

[Bombtrack]

6. clearly in the general election. It's unclear in the primary

[madfloridian]

7. The Al Arian issue is why Dean endorsed her, and the south FL papers.

MoveOn also endorsed her. Dean said the reason he named her a Dean Dozen was because of the unfair tactics going on. She handled the Al Arian thing as best she could with the FBI ignoring her requests for info.

[King of New Orleans]

8. Go ahead and work hard for Penellas but keep your slander

to yourself

Here's Al-Arian



Campaigning with GeeW in 2000.

Al-Arian also visited the White House several times after the election.



Penellas will lose big, probably won't crack 20%. If he works hard to help Kerry win in the fall, he'll be able to redeem his reputation and have a shot at a future statewide race.

[Bombtrack]

9. How the fuck am I slandering anyone?

You're slandering me with that lie.

[DavidFL]

10. That may be true...

but, and I mean this in a non-offensive way, can we at least get the facts of the al-Arian case out there when discussing this issue here? I'm not defending, or persecuting, al-Arian because I'm not entirely clear on what the circumstances of his case are myself. However, after reading several of John Sugg's and Salon's pieces on al-Arian, and what both have said about the Tampa FBI and DoJ offices, the Hillsborough County Court judicial mob, Jeb's connections with al-Arian, W's connections with al-Arian, The Tampa Trib's former "reporter" Steve Emerson -- who did most of the paper's stories on al-Arian -- is nothing more than a rightwing hack who was spreading disinformation on behalf of "Christian" Zionist and neocon Daniel Pipes -- not to mention that Emerson now regularly contributes to WorldNetDaily.com, that Sugg was sued by Emerson for defamation and subsequently dropped his suit before trial, that Judy Genshaft fired al-Arian after appearing, of all places, on Bill O'Reily's show (which Emerson had a hand in, in feeding O'Reily his one-sided version of events about al-Arian), and that Ashcroft is using the smokescreen of "secret evidence" which can't be revealed for "national security reasons", it would seem something very funny is going on. Sorry for the run on sentence, but what I mean to say is it's obvious the public is not getting the full story, to say the least.

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/19/bubba/index.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/sugg03112004.html

http://www.academicfreespeech.com/lawsuit2.html

http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2003-02-26/news_feature2.html

http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0798/9807028.html

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/0214204

http://w3.usf.edu/~uff/AlArian/Current.html

Moreover, why aren't the Democratic and Republican Senate candidates setting the record straight about the al-Arian matter? Are they even interested in doing so?

Why isn't Castor talking about the funny business going on to defend herself?

[King of New Orleans]

11. Castor really doesn't have to do anything

The attacks have been done in underhanded manners and have been debunked by local newspapers. Bob Graham also spoke out against them. Betty has a big lead and can rise above the fray.


As for the General Election, I do think Martinez would be a tougher candidate than McCollum, but Martinez is certainly beatable. The fact is that Castor's home area (Hillsborough) is a swing area (as is the whole I-4) and she's well positioned there. Gore won Florida in 2000 with an abysmal % of the Cuban vote so it's not necessary to win the Cuban vote to win Florida ,though I think Kerry will do better with the Cuban vote this year whether Martinez is on the ticket or not.

[JohnLocke]

12. I was thinking about this yesterday...

I don't dislike Castor at all, but I now think that EVEN Deutsch would be a stronger general election candidate, and I HATE him.
And I thought the exact same thing.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

13. I support which ever Democrat can win in the General Election.

[Orangepeel]

14. Oh, nonsense

The "Al-Arian issue" is a stupid non issue. A University president was supposed to fire a professor because of allegations of nefarious ties (that were so nefarious the FBI cleared the guy for a White House visit afterward)? Nonsense.

As to whether or not republicans will use the Al-Arian issue, of course they will. But that's simply not a reason not to vote for a candidate. Republicans will ome up with any number of other ridiculous non-issues to use against Deutsch or Penelas. You think they won't call Penelas soft on terror because he wants to withdraw troops from Iraq?

[Blue Wally]

15. Unless..........

The Al-Arian issue mobilizes the Jewish vote in southeast Florida. That could be crucial in the primary (for Deutsch) and in the general election (against Castor).

[Orangepeel]

16. I don't think it will

Most people will see it as the bogus charge it is.

From the St. Pete Times

U.S. Senate candidate Betty Castor has been trying to convince Jewish voters she was right to not fire Sami Al-Arian from the University of South Florida when he was under investigation for allegedly raising money for terrorists.

Some of that hard work appears to have paid off.

Last week, the Jewish Journal endorsed Castor over U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, a Hollywood Democrat and an observant Jew.

The Journal, produced by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel to cover Jewish affairs and community news from Miami to West Palm Beach, cites her experiences as USF president, state education commissioner and state legislator, and her support for causes of interest to Jewish voters, including a bill to fund Holocaust education in the public schools.

"Many Jews could be inclined to vote for Deutsch as the only Jew in the race," the July 27 editorial says. "This behavior is un-American, un-Jewish and un-democratic. It is our obligation to vote for the best candidate, notwithstanding his or her religion."

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/08/01/State/Castor_picks_up_Jewis.shtml

[madfloridian]

17. Ah, and that is the purpose of it.

Look up Friedman's law firm. Wonder if they are aware of his involvement in the anti-Castor website? Wonder if the law firm condones this type of thing?
Wonder if the people posting anti-Castor posts at the DFA blog are on a mission to accuse her of anti-semitism.

[sidestreamer]

18. I'm getting images of the campaign against Max Cleland in my head

If Castor gets the nomination, Martinez/McCollum will probably repeat that same tactic and link Castor not only to Al-Arian, but will embellish and link her to all the famous terrorists and Islamic dictators the Republican have fought...

Also, I remember Bill McBride's campaign. Perhaps we need an asshole to hold the seat, and we can all agree that Deutch is quite an asshole.

[madfloridian]

19. Read Daniel Ruth's Tampa Trib column yesterday about Deutsch.

"Petey can't help being Petey" or something like that. It was scathing, and deservedly so.