Brown rules out Senate bid, will return to her Feifdom

Much to the relief of Democrats and appointment of Republicans in NE Florida, Rep. Corrinne "Sandbag" Brown has decided against throwing her hat into the ring this coming year for Mel Martinez's Senate seat. Many people thought that this may have been just a fundraising stunt to get big cash into her coffers, but I disagree. Corrine Brown has sat, safely ensconced in her gerrymandered paradise, since 1993. While it may seem strange that the Republican legislature would carve out such a horrid beast as the Third Congressional District, take a closer look at the horseshoe-shaped district as well as its neighbors:

Note how it snakes down through Downtown and Westside Jax, Western Palatka, Eastside Gainesville and the more rural (and heavily minority) parts of Marion and Volousia counties, finally ending in the town of Pine Hills, if you are wondering why this is the only town encompassed fully in this district, check out the demographics. However, the point of this little story is the surrounding districts (see the inset). The 4th, 7th and 6th are very safe Republican districts, filled by Ander Crenshaw, Cliff Stearns and John Mica respectively. The other two, the 8th and the 24th (Alan Grayson and Suzanne Kosmas) only recently fell to the Democrats in the 2008 Obama sweep. Both could go back on a dime, Grayson barely won and has been making a name for himself as a troublemaker in the healthcare debate, Kosmas is a dull-as-dishwater Blue Dog. What does this mean? In exchange for one syntax-mangling, wig wearing moonbat, the Republicans get anywhere between 3-5 safe seats by taking almost all of the large concentrations of African Americans out of their districts. If the R's keep the State House through 2010, I expect that the 8th and the 24th will be "adjusted" further to strengthen this advantage and remove Msrs. Crenshaw, Stearns and Mica from the onerous task of having to actually win over minorities.


Don't get me wrong, having Corrine around is a barrel of laughs, I will leave you tonight with her Top 5 "greatest hits":

1. During a debate on the House Floor for a bill that would provide for international monitoring of the 2004 elections, Brown called the 200 election a coup d'etat. She was later censured.
2. During early voting in the 2004 election, Brown, stood at the entrance to the Duval County Supervisor of Elections headquarters and began passing out a "pseudo-ballot," directing people to vote for only Democratic candidates and Florida amendments that should pass. Brown did not move the mandatory 50 feet away until that afternoon, claiming she was unaware of the rule and was only trying to educate people about early voting. 
3. In 2008, whilst the peasants in Jacksonville were trying to keep floodwaters out of their home during Tropical Storm Fay, Brown allegedly places a call to mayoral chief-of-staff Adam Hollingsworth who got a sandbag crew out to her house lickety split.
4. In 1998,  a West African businessman, Foutanga Bit Babani Sissoko, had purchased a $50,000 Lexus LS400 for Brown's daughter after Brown had lobbied Attorney General Janet Reno to release Sissoko from prison. Brown denied any wrong doing. 
5. And who could forget the moment where every heart in Gator Nation beat a little faster, or went into palpitations:

On a related note, please take a look at Mike Yost, who is tilting at this windmill in 2010.