Maurice Ferre for US Senate - Florida Democratic US Senate Candidate

Dear Ms. Abberger;

It is unfortunate that we met under an unfriendly environment. I appreciate your offer to meet with me to discuss ways that Leadership Florida can improve the debate rules so that future statewide campaigns will be more open to ideas and issues than this 2010 U.S. Senate election has been.

I do not subscribe to conspiracy theories. The rules of political engagement in America, however, are degenerating due to the exorbitant influence of money. In the 2010 U.S. Senate Democratic Party campaign, where the exclusion began, in the Annual Meeting in October at Disney World, Florida Chair Karen Thurman and the Florida Democratic Executive Committee, before the end of qualification in April, openly and formally declared themselves in favor of candidate Kendrick Meek. This Florida Democratic Party partiality is against our party’s neutrality regulations. On several occasions, members of the State Committee told me, confidentially, that Ms. Thurman was threatening them with retribution if they broke ranks with her. And so that undemocratic act began the political roller coaster for the 2010 election cycle in Florida.

Former President Bill Clinton and his political team, including James Carville, are of course entitled to play hardball politics. Time and again, traditional political supporters of my past apologized for “no contribution” because they were “Friends of Bill” and Bill said “No”. As you know Kendrick Meek has raised over $6.5 million with every major lobbying group, locally and in Washington, raising substantial funds for the Meek campaign.

Patrick Gaspard and other White House staff, is another matter. They have played many and varied political cards; against Meek, for Meek and recently, helping Independent candidate Charlie Crist. The White House’s worst Florida nightmare is if candidate Jeff Greene wins the Democratic Senate nomination, because he will attack Crist as mercilessly as he has attacked Meek. Crist is, of course, very vulnerable to multi million dollar personal and public policy attacks. Greene’s attacks on Crist could work to elect Republican Marco Rubio. Naturally, the President’s staff has to worry about election 2010 and especially 2012. But Gaspard and company’s, Chicago style politics in this U.S. Senate campaign will inevitably impact Obama’s Hispanic Democratic base in Florida (Obama won Florida by 236,000 votes. Sergio Bendixen and David Beattie, both Democratic pollsters, claim that between the 2004 and the 2008 election, there were 300,000+ additional Hispanic Democratic votes.)

Then, Florida newspapers published poll numbers that had Crist, Rubio, Meek and me, an impossible combination. In some early polls my name was excluded.

The June 9, Editorial Board interview at The Palm Beach Post was a clear harbinger of what was to come. Editor Randy Shultz was rude and harsh, only he had a copy of my questionnaire responses in front of him and only he asked questions; the other four journalists present looked bored and distracted. Sure enough, The Palm Beach Post did not invite me to their debate. The result of my editorial interview was an article that candidate Ferre was in favor of “Death Panels”, which of course, was not and is not true. The article was prominently displayed, my acclaratory letter was in the Opinion Page, inside. And so my campaign spiraled down.

The most amazing part of this negative political cycle of 2010 was the entrance in April of Jeff Greene; the $10 million in attack adds against Meek and the fall in less than 60 days of Kendrick Meek, from 47% in the polls, to 10% bellow Greene. Yes, Greene has 1st Amendment rights to spend as much money as he wishes from his own bank account into his Senate campaign. Meek has a right to accept as much special interest money as is offered him. But, does that signify that money can determine an election in America? More important, is that good for the moral and ethical health of our Republic? Should Leadership Florida and its partner, the Florida Press Association add to this democratic imbalance and uneven playing field with unfair or exclusionary debate rules?

The difference between Karen Thurman, Bill Clinton, James Carville, Patrick Gaspard and other political operatives, however, and Leadership Florida, and especially, the Florida Press Association is notable. I do believe you need to have a higher standard.

I attach an August 2nd letter that outlines the 2008 adopted criteria for the League of Women Voters of Florida (LWVF) debates. Please note the last bullet point (Page 2) “The League may consider other factors that, in the League’s good faith judgment, demonstrate the Candidates viability —”

Leadership Florida has a distinguished board that, should you adopt more flexible rules, could certainly deliberate, weigh “other factors” and rule fairly.

In your testimony yesterday you said “having six or so people in the 55 minutes debate —”, knowing full well that there are only four Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate this year. I would argue that instead of personal accusations and insults, I would only speak to the issues and answer the questions. This is not new for me. In twenty-five years of public service in campaigns, I have debated my opponents on substance. That’s my record. So, four candidates, or three, answering issue questions certainly serves public information and Florida voters better than the majority of the time dedicated to vicious personal attacks between two candidates, as happened in your August 10 debate. We are hearing that the traditional media and the new media have received a rash of comments from Democratic and Independent voters who have been turned off to this vital election after watching your televised debate.

The professionals, whose job it is to inform and educate the voters of Florida, did a terrible disservice last night. The American people deserve better. I look forward to our future discussion on this important subject.

With all best wishes, sincerely,

Maurice A. Ferre
U.S. Senate Candidate 2010