Since Mike Haridopolos is the only significant name so far to announce a challenge against Sen. Bill Nelson, media and bloggers inevitably treat him with a level of seriousness. It is unwarranted. Here is why, via the St. Pete Times:
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For the first time anyone can remember, a Florida Senate president was admonished by his own Senate in the first week of session for breaking ethics rules — specifically failing to fully and accurately detail his finances as required by the state Constitution.
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Folks. The Republican-doninated state Senate would not do this if they felt this guy had a shot in the dark at joining the ranks of the U.S. Senate. Heck, they let David Rivera lie on his financials for years and never bothered with this sort of censure. Sure, John Thrasher went to lengths to avoid naming Haridopolos, calling the Senate president only the "senator from the 26th," but this sort of black eye derails a lot of efforts to boost positive name recognition for Mikey, and it does it at the start of the session, when Haridopolos is prohibited from much real campaigning for a couple months.
There are many other reasons why Haridopolos is not a great bet to beat Nelson. His Merritt Island district is so close to Nelson's Melborne base. The name recognition of state legislators is poor statewide, even for leadership. He has a super-long and hard-to-spell last name. And so far, he hasn't been very good at holding his own caucus together during some high-profile kerfuffles with the governor.
Give this guy a couple months of session screw-ups and we will forget he ever was in the game at all.
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