FL-08

Susquehanna (R) Poll: Alan Grayson Trails By Seven Points

Eric Kleefeld | October 26, 2010, 3:55PM

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

A new Susquehanna (R) poll, commissioned by the conservative Florida news site Sunshine State News, has first-term Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson trailing his Republican opponent, former state Sen. Dan Webster.

The numbers: Webster 48%, Grayson 41%, Tea Party candidate Peg Dunmire 4%, and independent George Metcalfe 1%. The survey of likely voters has a ±3.46% margin of error. In the previous poll from a month ago, Webster had 43%, Grayson 36%, Dunmire 6%, and Metcalfe 3%.

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FL-08

NRCC's Anti-Grayson Ad Stars Creepy Clown (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | October 18, 2010, 3:18PM

NRCC ad attacking Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

The National Republican Congressional Committee has a new attack ad against Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), the fiery liberal who is being challenged by top-tier GOP recruit Dan Webster. And while this ad seeks to obviously turn voters against Grayson, it might especially alarm a particular sub-group of the electorate: People with clown-phobias.

The ad goes after Grayson's rabble-rousing image by having a person dressed up in clown makeup and a business suit, possibly meant to be a stand-in for Grayson. (From a distance, you can't tell if the clown actor is a man or a woman -- but the whole scene sure is creepy.) The ad also goes after the recent news over Grayson's "Taliban Dan" ad, which led to attacks that Grayson was selectively quoting Webster out of context.

"You've seen the headlines. Freshman Congressman Alan Grayson is a national embarrassment," the announcer says, as the clown comes into view. "But it's not just Grayson's behavior that's out of line -- it's his votes. Grayson backed a government takeover of health care. Grayson wanted a more radical takeover than the plan Congress passed. Grayson pushed a national energy tax that would cripple Florida's economy. We can't let Alan Grayson embarrass Florida anymore."

An interesting part of the ad, of course, is that the news quote about Grayson's anti-Webster spot being "one of the worst ads I've ever seen, one of the most dishonest," was cited to Sean Hannity -- who as we all know, is a paragon of honesty and virtue when it comes to using quotes from those he opposes.

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Alan Grayson

New Grayson Ad Hits Opponent On Women's Issues, Eschews Taliban Comparison (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2010, 4:49PM

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Here's that new ad Alan Grayson was talking about on CNN last night.

As promised, the spot steers clear of comparing his Republican opponent Daniel Webster to the Taliban, but it does focus on the same issues his previous "Taliban Dan" segment addressed.

The ad notes the following Webster positions:

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Alan Grayson

Grayson Acknowledges 'Taliban Dan' Moniker May Have Gone Too Far (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2010, 12:24PM

On CNN last night, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) acknowledged that his use of the nickname "Taliban Dan" to describe his Republican opponent Daniel Webster may have gone too far. But he defended the thrust of the ad, which depicts Webster as a Christian extremist.

"I know you disagree with your opponent, and -- and certainly you disagree with his views," said host Anderson Cooper. "But calling him Taliban Dan, I mean, it's equivalent to somebody -- calling somebody a Nazi or, you know, a Maoist. I mean, why go down that road?"

"Well, in a way, you're right," Grayson admitted. "We let that ad run and die a natural death. Now we're running an entirely different ad on the same point, because people need to know Dan Webster's record."

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Institute for Basic Life Principles

Inside The Institute For Basic Life Principles -- The Organization That Inspired 'Taliban Dan' Ad

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2010, 8:40AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

"Wives, submit yourself to your own husband."

Those words, spoken by Tea Party backed Republican Daniel Webster, were spliced into a September campaign ad called "Taliban Dan," produced by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who is in danger of losing his conservative-leaning Congressional seat.

The problem for Grayson was that those words were taken out of context. Speaking before a gathering of a fundamentalist group called the Institute for Basic Life Principles, Webster said "[First] write a journal, second, find a verse. I have a verse for my wife. I have verses for my wife. Don't pick the ones that say she should submit to me. That's in the Bible. But pick the ones that you're supposed to do. So instead "love your wife, even as Christ loved the church he gave himself for" as opposed to 'wives, submit yourself to your own husband.' She can pray that if she wants to."

Webster's been with IBLP in its various forms for decades. After he released the full footage of his remarks, many critics indicted Grayson for dissembling. It appeared, after all, as if Webster had repudiated female submissiveness to husbands. So Grayson took his lumps. And the underlying claims in the ad -- including that Webster opposes all abortion, even in cases of rape -- went largely unaddressed.

However, the distorted remarks notwithstanding, a former member of IBLP told TPMDC last week that Grayson has every right to compare the organization's mores -- and Daniel Webster's as well -- to those of the Taliban.

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FL-08

Alan Grayson To TPM: That Poll Is Bogus, I'm Totally Winning

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 1, 2010, 10:41AM

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Progressive firebrand Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) told me last night that rumors of his political demise have been greatly exaggerated.

"We're winning," Grayson told me during a long phone call.

For the past week, bad news has been mounting for Grayson, first in the form of a lawsuit that re-raised rumors that he's behind a mysterious "Tea Party" in Florida -- which real movement tea partiers say is a hoax designed to split the GOP vote. Second -- and potentially worse for the first-term Grayson -- was the release of a public poll earlier this week that showed Grayson trailing Republican nominee Daniel Webster by seven points.

Grayson categorically dismissed the poll, which was published in the right-leaning Sunshine State News and was conducted by a firm owned by Republican pollster Susquehanna.

"This is a consistently biased pollster that comes up with polling that is not believable," he said. Grayson pointed to the internal poll he released last month showing him ahead of Republican nominee Webster by 13 points.

"I don't know how anybody could possibly believe we've dropped 20 points," he said.

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