Surprise! Mario Diaz-Balart involved in shameless politics
FLORIDA POLITICS STILL ALL ABOUT LINES AND WORDS
Florida Times-Union — January 13, 2009
Mark Woods column
Mark my words …
To say that a map of Florida’s congressional districts looks like a jigsaw puzzle isn’t fair to jigsaw puzzles everywhere. At least they usually fit together logically.
Our wacky, geography-defying, incumbent-supporting map has been repeatedly rigged, depending on the party in power, to benefit Democrats or Republicans. So I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that as we gear up for another redrawing of the map, a Democrat from North Florida and a Republican from South Florida would come together and tell a state legislative panel not to mess with the boundaries.
Who says Democrats and Republicans can’t work together, especially if they find common ground in something vitally important – like staying in office?
When Corrine Brown and Mario Diaz-Balart left the nation’s capital and came to the state capital, both insisted it isn’t about them. It’s about their constituents and ensuring minority representation.
“A lot of people would like us to have nice, square, cute districts,” Brown said Monday. “Well, let me tell you a secret: Florida is not a nice, square, cute state.”
That’s what she says now. But just for fun, let’s go back 10 years. That’s when Diaz-Balart was tapped to head the state House committee responsible for drawing new districts. And after his committee created two new U.S. House seats, those elections were won by – shockingly! – himself and the state rep who put him on the committee, Tom Feeney.
“It was the worst kind of politics,” Brown said then. “Their No. 1 goal was to ensure that Feeney and Mario can win the election. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
Yes, once upon a time, she looked at Diaz-Balart’s map and called it “ludicrous.” But that was then. This is now. And as the battle over a new map is fought, we undoubtedly will be reminded not only that politics create strange bedfellows, but that some things – shameless politics, for instance – have no boundaries.
