PUTNAM CONTINUES TO GET ATTENTION FROM THE FIFTH ESTATE
Since Congressman Adam Putnam (R - Bartow) was elected Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee a couple of weeks ago, he's been getting lots of column inches in various newspapers as a means of defining who the fellow described in anger by a collegue as "The red-headed nimrod" is.
Today, it's the Tampa Tribune's turn. It seems he communicates with former Florida House collegue and current State Senator Paula Dockery (R - Lakeland).
"Any interest in Speaker?" Dockery e-mailed, soon after Texas Rep. Tom DeLay stepped down. He had been indicted. Ethics charges had, in a sudden domino effect, opened up leadership positions, including the one Putnam won in February.
"I don't think I'm quite ready," Putnam e-mailed back.
"You'll be there someday," she replied. "Just remember me."
And another interesting point, which should be of no surprise to anyone who has watched Putnam's career in DC:
Although they [Putnam and Dockery] agree on many things, they tend to part ways on one major subject: whether to go along to get along.
On this, Opie lectures Aunt Bee. Dockery...acknowledges her tendency to buck her party's most powerful. Just because Republican leaders want her to vote a certain way doesn't mean she will - especially, she contends, if it means flipping on a campaign promise.
"Adam says to me, 'Think of the long term. If you really push issues B, C and D now, will this hurt your efforts not to get issue A done later?' Adam's always been more of a team player. And it's served him well."
The congressman rarely bucks party or president. He snubbed Bush once, on a free-trade vote. But a fifth-generation scion of a citrus and cattle business could hardly ignore the impact on growers at home. He still has agriculture in his veins - and campaign accounts.
3 Comments:
Not to be too nit-picky, but the press is the fourth estate. These days, blogs are sometimes referred to as a "fifth estate".
Then again, it's not like we're living in France. ;)
Thanks for the correction. That's what happens early in the morning.
Here was my letter to the editor in response to the Trib's piece on Rep. Putnam.
I appreciated Keith Epstein’s article on Representative Adam Putnam. After all, who doesn’t love a “hometown boy makes good” story? Unfortunately, I believe the Tribune does its readers a disservice by not looking at the bigger picture of Putnam’s election as Chair of the House Republican Policy Committee.
As was noted in the article, Adam Putnam is a team player. Now mind you, the article doesn’t mention anything he has actually done for the people of Florida’s 12th District. It does, however, state over and over that Putnam can be counted on to toe the party line. This leads me to wonder who – the Republican leadership or Putnam’s constituents – are being better served by his devout loyalty to Republican dogma.
Putnam, after all, took $15,000.00 from Tom DeLay’s ARMPAC, the Jack Abramoff-funded money-laundering scheme for which Mr. DeLay has been indicted. Putnam also voted with DeLay 97% of the time. And did I read right? Did your article actually state that only once in the past five years has Putnam cast a vote contrary to White House wishes? Consistently voting with the executive branch doesn’t speak well of a legislator’s ability to effectively represent his home district, and certainly does not show any form of comprehension of the legislature’s constitutional obligation to serve as a check and balance on executive power. It is rubberstamp politics, and that speaks volumes about why Putnam was chosen for his current position.
It seems to me that Mr. Epstein’s article did nothing more than celebrate a party hack. Adam Putnam’s congressional service has not shown any form of voice for the 12th district. Instead, he has been nothing more than an echo of the failed, immoral politics which led his party’s leadership to leave their posts in the first place. His constituents deserve better.
Douglas D. Tudor
Riverview, FL 33569
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