August 24, 2016

Bernie Sanders a no-show for Tim Canova

Source: The Miami Herald

Bernie Sanders, the politician who elevated first-time candidate Tim Canova to national attention and a rich campaign warchest, doesn’t appear to be coming to South Florida to help out his protégé in his battle against U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

At a press conference Wednesday -- a week before the Aug. 30 primary -- at his Hollywood campaign office, Canova pushed back against reporters’ questions about why Sanders hasn’t appeared in the Broward/Miami-Dade district.

“You tell me why he isn’t coming,” said Canova defensively. “I don’t have an answer to that. I am very proud to have his support. Quite frankly we don’t need him here to win this election. Our field operation is growing by the day. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the one who needs to run out and get folks to come in from out of town to help protect her -- to shield her from the voters. I am out there talking to voters every day.”

Wasserman Schultz has recruited many of the party’s top names to campaign for her in the district, including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, civil rights icon and Georgia Rep. John Lewis and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot at a congressional event in Arizona in 2011. President Barack Obama also praised Wasserman Schultz when he was in South Florida. Obama had tapped her as his Democratic National Committee chair -- a role she stepped down from in July following the WikiLeaks publication of thousands of DNC emails.

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/08/bernie-sanders-a-no-show-for-tim-canova.html

August 15, 2016

After Debbie Wasserman Schultz attacks Tim Canova over Middle East statement he changes website

Source: The Miami Herald

During the CBS4 debate Sunday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz accused her rival Tim Canova of wanting to force Israel to disarm -- a charge with implications at the ballot box in the heavily Jewish South Florida district.

Canova's website had stated: "The U.S. must do everything in its power to reverse the militarization of the region, including full diplomatic efforts to negotiate a general disarmament for the entire region that includes nuclear, missile, and conventional arms reductions. We should recognize that peace and security for Israel, the U.S., and the rest of the world is no longer possible without general disarmament and fundamental political and social reforms throughout the Middle East. We must work to bring about such reform as much as possible through non-violent peaceful means using the full range of U.S. economic and diplomatic power."

Canova shot back that he didn't mean to suggest that Israel should disarm -- he meant Saudia Arabia and Iran. But he had made similar statements in the past about generally disarming the Middle East.

After the debate, Canova said that the wording on his website was an "oversight" and that it would be changed. The new portion is in italics:

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/08/tim-canova-tweaks-website-statement-on-iran-.html

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So, Canova used radical-fringe anti-Israel rhetoric on his website to raise tons of money but now has to change his tune because he just figured out there are a lot of Jewish voters in his district.