If a voter wants experience in the race for top attorney in Florida, both the Republican and Democratic choice fits the bill.
But if a voter wants common sense, only one candidate for Florida attorney general should collect votes: Dan Gelber.
In an election to unseat Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum who (again) lost his bid to seek higher office when the charmingly fraudulent Rick Scott essentially paid him to quiet down, Dan Gelber presents an experienced, fresh view on Florida law and order. Pam Bondi, Gelber’s opponent, presents more or less the status quo of her predecessor.
And the status quo in Florida isn’t pretty.
McCollum initiated a frivolous state challenge to the historic health care bill, which as any lawmaker should know, trumps state law.
Bondi wants to continue this challenge of “Obamacare,” citing its according-to-her unconstitutional elements while ignoring the Supremacy Clause that trumps state law.
McCollum also hired a secretly gay expert witness, George Rekers, to testify in support of Florida’s one-of-a-kind gay adoption ban. Even after a court ruled the ban that barred openly gay parents from adopting one of the 20,000 children awaiting homes in Florida unconstitutional, McCollum still wasn’t sure if he would appeal or not.
Meaning, he wasn’t sure if his personal beliefs of him disliking gays a whole heck of a lot would interfere with his impartiality of the law.
Eventually, on the last day possible, McCollum decided not to challenge the court’s ruling.
Bondi has consistently declined to answer if she favors or opposes the ban on gay adoptions, but a Florida Times-Union article this month says Bondi would have also appealed.
Conversely, Gelber opposes challenging the health care bill and rightfully refuses to challenge the court’s ruling on gay adoption.
Gelber pledges to protect Florida’s pension fund and directly take on Wall Street to protect the citizens of Florida from any wrongdoing.
Gelber has a strong plan to protect our state’s children from online predators, including educating teachers on proper safeguarding methods and creating a new law that makes it illegal for registered sex offenders to use social networking websites.
Bondi, on the other hand, has no information on her campaign website on how she will protect Florida’s children.
Bondi’s commitment to lessening the effects of the BP oil spill also leaves a bit to be desired. A portion of her official statement reads, “I am certain that the great people of our state will continue to be innovative and resourceful in responding to this disaster,” continuing to say she’ll advocate for them in a vaguely worded “any way possible.”
This leaves us wondering if she plans on leaving the mess to be handled solely by these great people. Gelber, on the other hand, said he will work vigorously to ensure Florida is a party to all possible claims arising from the spill.
While both candidates for Florida’s attorney general have great amounts of experience, only one candidate can truly and effective represent the common sense Floridians need now.
For Florida attorney general, the Alligator endorses Dan Gelber.
