It’s time to put dispel a rumor circulating throughout Tallahassee and other political hotbeds.
No, I did not pay Matt Moon or anyone else at the Republican Party of Florida to write this memo “warning” the national media about my blog. As much as it would appear that I did, in fact, pay the RPOF to alert every national political reporter to my website, I did not pay anyone to do so. Nor did I promise anyone favorable coverage on my blog if they would make sure, on the eve of Charlie Crist’s “major announcement” on Monday, to draw attention to my blog, my Twitter account or any other social media outlet.
In case you missed it, and I’ll use the Florida Times-Union’s Matt Dixon’s words here so as to remain objective:
The Republican Party of Florida sent a memo to national reporters Friday with one message: take Schorsch’s St. Petersburg-based blog with a grain of salt. The state GOP explains that Schorsch will work for Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist’s gubernatorial campaign.
“First, Schorsch, a longtime political operative, is unapologetically loyal to Charlie Crist and will be heavily involved in his upcoming campaign,” reads the memo.
The memo also “notes that Schorsch’s wife, Michelle, is a former Crist aide and likely to also work on the campaign.”
Again, I did not pay anyone to write such a memo.
Seriously though, what Moon clearly does not understand, but I PROMISE you he will by other sensible Republicans, going after consultants, operatives and staff, has been mostly off-limits.
As uber-operatives Kirk Pepper, a Republican, and Steve Schale, a Democrat, noted this week on Twitter, that is not how we do things ’round here. Go after the principals. Zing Charlie Crist and Rick Scott all you want. But attacking staff is a faux pas.
But since the RPOF and the Scott campaign are now stocked with leftovers from the practice squad from Mitt Romney’s campaign, this lesson may not be clear to some of those working for the Florida GOP.
Something tells me they will learn about this lesson soon enough.
