What an asshole:
Florida senator Marco Rubio has said women infected with the Zika virus should not be allowed to have abortions, even if their babies have microcephaly, the severe developmental disorder than can result from infection with the disease.
“If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life,”the Republican told Politico. Rubio, who has championed Zika funding bills in the Senate, also blamed Democrats for the failure to pass such federal aid.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures, Florida is the state second-worst affected by Zika, after New York, but is the only state to have infections caused by local mosquitoes. Most Zika cases in the US have been found in people who travelled to affected countries and territories.
On Sunday, the Florida governor, Rick Scott, told NBC that despite his state having identified 16 cases of mosquito-borne Zika infections, “what we’re doing is working.”
Scott also called for increased federal aid, in addition to the several million Barack Obama has released in existing grants. On Friday, the federal Food and Drug Administration cleared a private company to release genetically altered mosquitoes which could help the fight against Zika on an island in the Florida Keys. The project will be subject to a local referendum in November.
Here’s a little more info:
Abortion and Zika became politically intertwined in June when Congress failed to pass a Zika-relief bill, in part due to a dispute over Planned Parenthood. Zika has started to spread quickly through Florida, which now has 422 cases -- more than any other state in the nation -- and it has alarmed families and health experts because the virus has been linked to severe microcephaly in infants born to some infected pregnant women.
“We’ve never before had a mosquito-borne disease that can cause a birth defect,” the Centers for Disease Control’s director, Tom Friedan, said Thursday in Doral after touring Wynwood. “That’s why we take it so seriously. The key is to protect pregnant women.”
Without prompting, Rubio acknowledged the challenges of the birth defects that result from Zika.
"Obviously, microcephaly is a terrible prenatal condition that kids are born with. And when they are, it’s a lifetime of difficulties," he said. "So I get it. I’m not pretending to you that that’s an easy question you asked me. But I’m prolife. And I’m strongly prolife. I believe all human life should be protected by our law, irrespective of the circumstances or condition of that life."
Rubio has taken a leadership role in trying to prevent the spread of Zika. He became the first Republican to co-sponsor President Obama’s $1.9 billion Zika-fighting legislation, which was watered down by House Republicans after it passed the Senate. The legislation ultimately failed. Rubio points out that he voted for every Zika bill he could.
The campaign of one of his Democratic Senate opponents, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, pointed to that vote and said in a press release Saturday that “Rubio exploited the Zika crisis to attack women’s health funding and Planned Parenthood.”
The Republican, who said he decided to run for re-election because of the murder of 53 at the Pulse nightclub, justifies his decision to speak in front of a group that supports the anti-marriage equality county clerk from Kentucky, Kim Davis.
‘Because I believe that a strong America is not possible without strong families and strong values, for years now I have participated in events hosted by faith leaders to speak about the cultural and social issues before America, including the importance of parents and families, religious liberties and combating poverty,’ the senator said in a statement, according to Think Progress.
‘I have always supported a traditional definition of marriage,’ the statement continued. ‘But I recognize that a significant number of Americans hold a different view. Because marriage is regulated by the individual states, they have the right to petition their state legislature to change the law. And those of us who support traditional marriage also have a right to oppose those efforts.’
Rubio is just trying to make sure the conservatives and the Trump voters are there for him in the GOP primary at the end of the month against Carlos “Mini-Trump” Beruff (R. FL) who is still spending big on his ad air time:
According to an independent media buy tracker who works for a nationally-recognized firm, Beruff is still on the air. According to our source, who asked to remain on background because they did not want to get involved in Republican party politics, Beruff’s campaign is, at the very least, still up on cable.
Here is his current buy, which began Saturday:
Total $153K – Cable Only
Miami, ~15 GRPs, $10K
Tampa, ~85 GRPs, $34K
West Palm Beach, ~155 GRPs, $27K
Orlando, ~75 GRPs, $35K
Jacksonville, ~60 GRPs, $12K
Fort Myers, ~120 GRPs, $19K
Mobile, ~100 GRPs, $11K
Dothan-Panama City, ~40 GRPs, $2K
Tallahassee, ~60 GRPs, $4K
We shall see who ends up the victor on the GOP side. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D. FL) has been getting some big help on the campaign trail:
Vice President Joe Biden stopped at a Tallahassee restaurant Friday following a fundraiser for U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy, making the case that unseating Republican Marco Rubio is critical to Democrats regaining control of the chamber.
Murphy, a Jupiter Democrat, has been the favorite of the Obama administration and most of the Democratic establishment in his Aug. 30 primary fight with U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando and three other Democratic contenders.
Biden’s focus Friday was already on November.
“It’s really important that we win back the United States Senate, no matter what the outcome of the presidential, and I think we’re going to do well in the presidential,” Biden said. “But there’s so much at stake in the Senate.”
And it's looking more and more likely Murphy will be the Democratic nominee:
Patrick Murphy has a substantial lead over Alan Grayson in the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Florida, a new poll released on Wednesday shows.
The St. Pete Polls survey of 1,807 Democrats statewide shows Murphy with 45 percent, Grayson at 20 percent, and Pam Keith at 7 percent.
The survey also shows that 14 percent prefer another candidate, and another 14 percent are undecided.
The poll is the first to be released since the Grayson campaign was rocked by a POLITICO report about domestic-abuse claims by his ex-wife, which resulted in the exit of his political director and three field staffers. Two liberal groups, Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, also withdrew their endorsements of the Orlando-area Congressman.
Murphy's been hitting Rubio hard on this:
In a voice barely above a whisper, an emotional mother of a Pulse victim called for tighter gun laws at an appearance with U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy in Orlando.
Christine Leinonen, mother of Pulse nightclub shooting victim Christopher "Drew" Leinonen, gave a tear-filled speech before the Democratic National Convention last month about "common sense" gun measures.
On Thursday, Leinonen joined U.S. Rep. Murphy, D-Jupiter, on the steps of Orlando City Hall to call for increased background checks and banning guns for people who have been on a terrorist watch list.
Leinonen also criticized Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio for coming to Orlando in the days following Pulse and then "voting against every single common sense gun law."
Murphy, running for U.S. Senate on the Democratic side, said the 33,000 people killed by guns every year and more than 100,000 people shot "should not be the new normal. No single piece of legislation can completely eradicate gun violence. At the same time, doing nothing is inexcusable."
Murphy also called Rubio "beholden to the gun lobby."
And this:
Pledging "I'll never stop working for you" in his second TV ad for his U.S. Senate campaign, Democrat Patrick Murphy takes a jab at Republican incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio's poor attendance record.
The 30-second spot, called "Work," is part of a nearly $1.7 million ad buy the Murphy campaign reserved in advance of the upcoming Aug. 30 primary. The ad will air in Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville.
"Marco Rubio stopped showing up for work, let us down. I’m Patrick Murphy and enough is enough," the two-term Jupiter congressman says in the ad, before once again touting the endorsement of President Barack Obama (who appeared in Murphy's first TV ad last month).
This is still a very winnable race and we have a great shot here. Click here to donate and get involved with Murphy’s campaign.