David Wiles 10/15/14 - 10:41 am 10The editorial let the fish wiggle off
I am not sure who agreed to this editorial, Delinda Fogel, Kathy Nelson or Jim Sutton, but in Jim's parlance, 'the big fish wriggled off and left the squirmy worm.'
First off, the on-line headline uses the word 'parity' while the print edition of the newspaper uses 'equity.' Given the following argument to endorse John Thrasher while also arguing his two position straddle and cost of a special election that will be more than restoring the library in Hastings I can understand why piddling *support* words make little difference.
One would think that the St. Augustine Record, whose previous editorial lambasting local voters for poor percentage turnout in the August primary, might find the Thrasher tactic outrageous. But it was a muddy picture because the last three months of song and dance at FSU means he hasn't actually been 'confirmed' as President and without a 'lock' on the job resigning from the Senate race would be 'shortsighted.' In blunter terms, if he had resigned before the GOP primary it would have left Derek Hankerson....and after the GOP primary it would have created a 'ghost' candidate to be decided by local republican politicians in the four counties that District 6 represents.
And now the rub starts. Although the core argument of the Record endorsement of Thrasher is that opponents have 'little likelihood of winning in this heavily Republican district---especially divvying up Democratic and Independent voting blocs" the true political problem of Thrasher declaring he will be the FSU president and not a Senate candidate is (a) Derek would win the GOP primary or (b) GOP in Putnam, Clay, St. Johns and northern Volusia would win as a 'ghost' under Thrasher's name or (c) a new, special election would allow "Doc" Renuart, or Travis Hutson or Beverly Slough to leave their elected offices and run for the Thrasher seat (creating the need for further elections or appointments in their seats). And this is what John Thrasher means when he says 'democracy isn't free' because delimiting the meaning of political elections to the internal machinations (and turmoil) of a single political party is the kind of oligarchic, monopolistic political system imagined by the Record endorsement.
If the Record had played it straight it would have said something like we cannot give an endorsement to any particular candidate because the pragmatic aspects of the political machine model that dominates Florida politics makes it impossible to distinguish Thrasher from Trued or Feldman as individuals. The carefully designed two position straddle has machine control implications for both the Florida Senate and one of the major public universities in the state.
Seeing that the Record endorsement gave absolutely no coverage or credibility to either Kathleen Trued or Greg Feldman ( 'we interviewed both candidates and they had some good ideas'....or 'thanks for your time and do not let that doorknob hit you on the way out') at least give John Thrasher his due as a major player in the Florida GOP political machine. His 'currency' isn't delimited to generic statements about power and trust.
In 2014 Florida politics the John Thrasher straddle in this particular election has several far reaching special implications for the near term future.
1) John Thrasher famously outlined Florida's public higher education system on a napkin while eating lunch with Jeb Bush in the late l990's. For a decade he has helped place politicians in various university presidency position around the state and made public higher education a politicized entity (beyond the starvation diet of the last three sessions). His tenure as FSU president will be as a 'politician who can get public money' instead of an academic with true university leadership (look at the finalists for the UF top job).
2) John Thrasher will be heading a Florida university known nationally for its Koch Brothers affiliation and continuing arguments since 2007 that the university mission has been coopted to an ideological and corporate extension. His FSU Presidency may or may not help in their touted 'Billion Dollar Campaign' (to cover rumored capital shortfalls) but it will certainly not counteract the idea that FSU is losing the autonomy and independency of a nationally recognized top public university.
3) John Thrasher was not just a Senator from a district covering parts of four counties in northern Florida but, rather, the state's GOP leader. His decision to keep his name on the ballot even after the 11-2 FSU Trustee vote speaks to his state-wide power and control. This is most important as an endorsement rationale.
4) Lastly, John Thrasher has, until most recently, been the Re-Elect Rick Scott for Governor person. Now I am sure the Record would note that--technically- he is not that now but the fact of John Thrasher and his two place straddle is still part of the political logic related to Rick Scott. If and when Charlie Crist wins the governorship it will affect how Mr. Thrasher views the relative power of Senator or university President. If Crist wins we will all reflect on the Thrasher strategy.
In summary, it may well be that the endorsers of the Record thought through and rejected each of the four points as not relevant to their public support of the Thrasher candidacy (and likely special election). But, if so, I would have either given at least lip service to some of the 'good points' that Trued or Feldman might bring to the office in comparison to Thrasher's actual record------ or I would have simply not made a personal endorsement of any candidate due to the overwhelming political machine implications blocking normal election processes.
Horace Rockwood
MORE
263
POINTS
Horace Rockwood 10/15/14 - 11:49 am 00A Worm, Indeed!
Today’s editorial endorsing John Thrasher’s re-election to the Florida Senate asks “Did Thrasher force the special election unnecessarily?” The editorial ends with “[We] believe that play of events was largely outside Thrasher’s control.”
I contend that Thrasher certainly did “force the special election unnecessarily,” and that he was in total control of the entire process.
The endorsement didn’t mention a single qualification that Thrasher possesses for the FSU presidency (incidentally, FSU faculty and students strongly oppose Thrasher’s selection as president). The most important qualification for any academic president has to be considerable experience in academia and academic governing policies and practices. Thrasher has zero experience (Why was he even considered?). Furthermore, at 70, he’s too old to begin learning about a totally new culture completely different from politics.
As I mentioned in a comment on a Sunday opinion, the citizens [of St Johns and the other counties in the district] should DEMAND that Mr. Thrasher pay the costs he selfishly inflicts on others.
No comments:
Post a Comment