INCREDIBLE: How GOP politics in Florida is poisoned by Big Sugar ... by gimleteye

Read this incredible news report in Politico. On an evening when the top GOP candidates sparred for the first time in public, Big Sugar's influence peddling was on full display yet none in the audience, or the candidates for the matter, dared touch the issue of subsidies and corporate welfare benefiting the billionaires who were not in attendance but watching from behind the velvet curtains of the Republican Party of Florida.

For at least eight years, Big Sugar carefully cultivated its successor to Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who proved amenable to giving the industry whatever concessions it wants. (For his work on their behalf, Big Sugar is pushing hard for Gov. Scott to defeat Democratic Senator Bill Nelson this November.) That successor: Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam. Putnam's own incredible deal with the state (his family farm was purchased at a multiple of appraised value by Florida) assured his place in the pantheon of sugar-bought politicians.

Congressman Ron DeSantis emerged unexpectedly to challenge the carefully scripted GOP program for Scott's successor. And he did so with the early endorsement of the president he is fiercely defending in Congress, Donald Trump.

At Eye On Miami, we've speculated about Trump's relationship with Big Sugar; ie. that Palm Beach royalty, led by the Florida Crystal's Fanjul family, viewed Trump for many years as a crass arriviste. He would have known. When it came time to choose its candidate to succeed Obama, Big Sugar naturally threw its weight behind Liddle Marco Rubio. So perhaps Trump's quick endorsement of DeSantis has something to do with the double edged sword.


First Florida GOP gubernatorial forum ends in scuffle with anti-DeSantis activists
By MATT DIXON 05/06/2018 08:00 AM EDT
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ORLANDO — Florida’s two Republican gubernatorial candidates, appearing at the same forum for the first time on Saturday night, largely agreed on a host of conservative issues like expanding school choice, protecting gun rights or imposing stricter abortion laws.

But the event hosted by the conservative Florida Family Policy Council and moderated by GOP pollster Frank Luntz could not mask what is turning into a nasty Republican primary between between Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Rep. Ron DeSantis.

The coarseness of the campaign was on display outside the doors of the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, where a young man in a red “Make America Great” hat handed out packets packed with opposition research on DeSantis. The packet, titled “Who is the Real Ron DeSantis?” carried the disclaimer “paid for by the National Liberty Federation.” It’s a group with ties to US Sugar that has spent roughly $1.5 million in ads so far hammering DeSantis.


POLITICO confirmed the individual handing out the anti-DeSantis literature was Tyler Whyte, who describes himself as a leader of the Florida Chapter of Proudboys, a “western chauvinist organization” that refuses to “apologize for creating the modern world.”

Whyte initially told POLITICO he had no idea the source of the anti-DeSantis literature, saying he was at the event on his own.

“I don’t know, I’m not sure where it came from,” he said about the documents link to the National Liberty Foundation. “I don’t know where that came from…I just printed them off the internet on my own.”

Tony Ledbetter, head of the Volusia County Republican Party and a DeSantis supporter, was so angered with Whyte and the other anti-DeSantis activists that he dispatched hotel security to have them booted from the hotel

“I should have known better that they’d be here,” Ledbetter told POLITICO Florida. “They are here just passing out lies.”

Whyte later said Ledbetter threatened him with physical violence. Hotel security, who escorted Whyte and the others off the hotel grounds, said there were no reports of physical violence.

Everett Wilkinson, the chairman of the National Liberty Federation, told POLITICO in an e-mail that his group would not be bullied.

“This is just another example by the DeSantis campaign attempts to silence Conservative voices,” he said. “We will not be silenced.“

The National Liberty Federation has taken an active and aggressive interest in the Republican gubernatorial primary. They recently paid nearly $1.5 million in negative political ads against DeSantis and, in turn, supporting Putnam, who is considered the GOP establishment’s pick.

The group, which has roots in the state’s early Tea Party movement, is organized as a 501(c)(4) “issue advocacy” group, which means it does not need to disclose names of donors. Wilkinson is a longtime conservative activist who has been the point person for high-profile policy fights in the past, most prominently in defending the sugar industry.

U.S. Sugar has long been at odds with DeSantis, who has voted against the company’s top-tier priorities since joining Congress in 2013. Most notably, he was one of just two Florida members of Congress to support an amendment that would have made reforms to the national sugar program, including reducing direct subsidies.

The topic of U.S. Sugar subsidies didn’t get discussed at Saturday night’s forum before hundreds of conservative activists.

Instead, John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney who leads the Florida Family Policy Council, and Luntz, the Republican pollster, sought to unify Republicans. They pleaded with Putnam and DeSantis to not go negative.

“You referenced how much the Republican vision is different from the Democrat vision, if you two, in a state that is 50-50, tear each other apart, you’ll end up electing that [Democratic] vision,” Luntz he said at the end of the Putnam interview.

In his interview with Luntz, Putnam shifted focus to opposing Democrat’s policy proposals, including taking a hit at that party’s gubernatorial field for saying during the debate last month that they start their day reading the New York Times.

“We need to remember what the other side looks like,” Putnam said. “They want a sanctuary state, want to raise taxes, and start their day with the New York Times.”

By and large, Putnam and DeSantis have avoided attacking each other directly. DeSantis has hit Putnam on immigration votes he took as a member of Congress, while Putnam has implied that DeSantis, who has been on Fox News nearly 100 times since announcing his gubernatorial bid in January, knows little about Florida-specific policies.

During the forum, the two candidates agreed on many specific policy issues. Both support expanded school choice more help for parents who want to homeschool their children. They are ardently anti-abortion. And are pro-second amendment, with each saying they would have vetoed the recent gun control bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott. But they agreed that the two-term governor has overall done a good job.

DeSantis said Scott’s performance was particularly impressive because of what he said was the Obama administrations “onerous regulations,” including Obamacare.

“They were able to create 1.4 million jobs,” he said when asked about Scott.

It’s the sort of message both candidates and organizers wanted the event to focus on, but was sidetracked by the sharp edges that will likely continue to define the fight as the primary battle develops.