If anyone currently has to hold a relationship to support their political ambitions, there is no better example at current than Florida governor and possible GOP vice presidential running mate Charlie Crist.  

The over-tanned and lanky Crist's private life has been full of rumors and speculation since 2006 when he was running for Governor.  Rumors of homosexual trysts were as common as womanizing reports.

In either case, I could care.  But the Florida media wants you to know Charlie is engaging in a heterosexual lifestyle.  More below the fold.

This will be a short diary but I thought it was pertinent to point out that Barack Obama is finally back in teh Sunshine state adn about to speak at the St. Pete Times Forum in downtown Tampa, Florida.

Liveblogging on the event -- though not much -- can be found here

Live streaming of Obama speaking can be found here -- Internet Explorer required though.

And as the rally has gotten underway, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has endorsed Barack Obama

I was distraught and I despaired that C.W. "Bill" Young -- the 19 term congressman serving Florida's 10th congressional district (mostly Pinellas county, Florida including St. Petersburg, Palm Harbor, Dunedin and the beaches) was getting a free pass this election cycle.  He'd be facing Samm Simpson once again come the general and he would likely win in a walk.

That's changed a bit.

Simpson does not have a free path to the general election any more.  She faces a primary challenge from a candidate who previously had statewide and national exposure from his failed 3rd party gubernatorial campaign in 2006.  I'm talking about Max Linn, who has entered the fray with a (D) next to his name.

In teh 2006 cycle there was a weekly diary posting asking people to promote their candidate.  The name of the diary had certain terms that have fallen out of favor with some Kossacks and in the mains trem media ("pimp your candidate" was it's name) so this is my (sad?) attempt to mimick what was done with a more open name (unless Dick Clark is deeply out of favor in dKos land for his role in "Bowling for Columbine" in which case the title has to go back to the drawing board).

At any rate, below in the comments is your space to promote your (NON PRESIDENTIAL) candidate.  I figure the Daily Kos community  needs to start becoming aware of the congressional, state and possibly even local candidates that deserve our interest and support (be it volunteer or financial).  Hat tip to Thereisnospoon and his diary from yesterday that got me to finally try posting this...  It's time for Candidate Bandstand!

On Friday afternoon, I got an email from John Dicks congressional campaign.  I've been getting them from time to time and had been wondering when the next one would be sent out.

Dicks is one of four Democrat candidates in Florida's 9th congressional district, trying to gain the chance to run against Gus Bilirakis in the fall.  The other three candidates are Bill Mitchell, Michael Van Hoek and Anita De Palma.

As I wrote in my last diary regarding the FL-09 race, Dicks is supposedly the best poised financially at current to challenge Gus Bilirakis.  That's part of the reason why I had wanted to hear from his campaign...  in order to hear what he has planned and such.  This email left me wanting, and led me to another voice on the issues, which I will go into detail about below the fold.

The daily community edition of the St. Petersburg Times (in my instance, the North Pinellas Times) highlighted the fact Gus Bilirakis has five people who wish to unseat him as the representative of Florida's 9th congressional district (taking up a good swath of the Tampa Bay metro area for those nationally who do not know where the heck FL-09 is).

UPDATE  here's a map:

Four Democrats, one Independent (of the principled loonie-right-but-non-Republican variety) and short profiles on each are featured in this article in question.  Short, disappointing profiles that don't address much, but at elast serve as an introduction to local congressional candidates for the seat.

Bilirakis - a toady riding his fathers name into office in 2006 -- has over a half million dollars in his coffers for his re-election campaign...  But can that overcome his growing reputation as being a rubber stamp vote?

Wow, a non Presidential Primary diary here at Kos!  Who would believe it?!  Snark aside, living in FL-09 I've been paying attention to the potential challengers of Gus Bilirakis this coming November.  The Democratic primary field is already crowded with Bill Michell, former Plant City Mayor John Dicks, and Michael Van Hoek.

yet as I said, another name has come to light.  I only foudn out about thsi through a fundraising invitation email sent out by another candidate (Jack Killingsworth who is running for Supervisor of Elections in Pinellas County, Florida).

Just who is this person and what are their credentials?  Join me below the fold to find out.

The St. Petersburg Times reported C.W. "Bill" Young will seek his 20th (!!!) term in the US House and run for re-election this year.  This should be a bucket of cold water on any and all potential candidates who were mulling a run if Young was to retire.

There are no viable opposition candidates for this rather purple district.  The only challenger that has presented herself is Samm Simpson who had a recent net based skirmish inspired by her endorsing Ron Paul and being called on it by a progressive activist.

I spent most of last Thursday thru Saturday in Los Angeles with an annual check-up at the House Ear Institute.  When I finally checked my email on Sunday morning, I found an email from a political operative in my inbox, asking me what I thought of the campaign website and a campaign newsletter from former Plant City, Florida mayor John Dicks?

It would seem that Dicks declared his intent to challenge for Florida's 9th congressional district on October 1st.  Both he and long-announced candidate Bill Mitchell would be trying to unseat Gus Bilirakis (Bush toady and misanthrope) in the heavily Republican district.  

What's did I see on Dicks' site?  All that after the jump...

Florida's 10th congressional district is represented by C.W. "Bill" Young -- the Republican without the nerve or backbone to stand up when he saw disgraceful and disgusting conditions at Walter Reed Hospital.  Party loyalty mattered more than whistle blowing and who was hurting but the very soldiers that Young claims to love so dearly.

I won't question Bill Young's troop support in the past.  I will, however, question Democratic focus on challenging Young head on in a district that sits deeply purple and has a mixed political population.

In 2006, I was proud to be part of a small, local campaign for a state legislative seat in Pinellas and Pasco county, Florida.  The candidate was and is a 24 year local resident, a high school teacher and a small business owner.  He was running as a Democrat in a district that is considered deep Republican territory and though he ultimately lost on election night, he had a resounding moral victory of coming within 1500 votes and 3 percentage points of victory.

Carl Zimmermann was able to appeal across party lines and earn respect from both sides of the political fray while being knowledgeable and in-the-know on local issues such as homeowners insurance and property taxes -- offering solutions while his rival offered banal talking points.    

And once again, Carl Zimmermann's running for Florida state legislature and needs local help and support.  

While Bill Young is looking more and more shaky with thanks his involvement in the Walter Reed scandal, the Democratic Party -- both state and federal -- are seeing FL-10 as a prime pickup opportunity in the US House.

Adam C. Smith of the St. Pete Times reported this morning that the DCCC is sending out feelers to prospective candidates to challenge for C.W. "Bill" Young's congressional seat.  

A recruiter with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently met with prospective Democratic candidates from St. Petersburg including former state House Speaker Peter Wallace, former state Rep. Lars Hafner, and businessman and neighborhood activist Karl Nurse.

During the 2006 election cycle, Samm Simpson ran a longshot campaign against incumbent (and Walter Reed Hospital congressional focal point) C.W. "Bill" Young for FL-10.  One of the very reasons why Simpson wasn't taken seriously was because of Bill Young's involvement with the troops.  

No one should question Bill Young and his wife's dedication to veterans in the past, but this scandal has sullied that reputation.  Young, while being "uncomfortable" with things concerning Walter Reed, did one thing that endears him to the problem of the last congress:

He never requested hearings or investigations into the matter despite his being in a prominent position to do so.  More on the flip.

Does the word misanthrope properly describe toady congressional candidate Gus Bilirakis?  His anti-social tendencies and confrontation-avoiding practices have been remarked upon time and again by the media during his campaigning -- both during the primaries and the general election campaign.

He's absolutely fine when money or Washington insiders are around, but the general populous or his opponents?  Well...

I'll let the video, recorded yesterday, do the talking.  More after the flip.

Democrat Jim Davis will be debating Republican Charlie Crist (and surprisingly,  independent / reform party candidate Max Linn... Or Not.) in a few moments.  This diary is for discussion of that debate.  I don't think it is televised nationally on C-Span but will be airing here in Florida on PBS stations.

With Davis (supposedly) gaining in the polls, tonights debate has huge weight to it.  Will Jim come into his own here as he is finally seen next to Charlie Crist?  Or will neither candidate do much to improve their position?  And what of Max Linn?  Who can he hurt the most at the polls?

Samm Simpson has the david-vs-goliath task of taking on Bill Young in Florida's 10th congressional district.  With no significant funding, Samm has put out 3 would-be TV commercials on the Internet in hopes of spreading her message.

It's our job to help fund these things and get them on the air if she stands a chance in FL-10.  It could be deemed a lost cause effort, but it also is a chance for the Netroots once again to show their mettle in endorsing progressive candidates.

Contribute Now and help a true progressive out.

I gotta keep up this Samm Simpson blitz on Dkos -- though I am leaving for a few days starting tomorrow and won't be able to write for a while.

I thought Kossack's far and wide might want to check out (on there own) what they've been missing with Samm Simpson during this election cycle...  Take a look at this radio interview that Samm conducted with Tampa Bay Media back in September (it's on Google videos) and judge for yourself if she's worthy of Kossack attention (and funds).

We can compete with Bill Young, he can be defeated - but help is needed to accomplish this.

Contribute Now

I started posting diaries on Kos back in late March to help show support and draw attention to a local congressional candidate, Samm Simpson.  Phrases were thrown around by me and commentors like "purple district",  "18 term incumbent", "Grassroots support", I was overshadowed in my early diaries by stories of the day.  Be it Ned Lamont's campaign, be it one of the thousands of new outrages that the Current Occupier of the White House has bestowed upon us, etc...  Samm's campaign in Florida's 10th Congressional district has been overshadowed time and again when mentioned on Kos.

Florida and Congress, of course, are the hot button subject of the moment...  Unfortunately the focus is on FL-16 and not on other candidates that are in need of the netroots support.  I could make mention of Phyllis Busansky here but I believe she's good on her own because she's running against a Bush lapdog in FL-09.  More on the flipside