GOP Won't Speak His Name

Stories like this just make me chuckle. It seems even Republicans have embraced the Voldemort comparison, and dare not speak the name of a Governor Rick Scott, even as the campaign in primary season.

Who can blame them? Every poll is the political world shows this man is less popular in Florida than a kid cutting across a lawn. He is less popular than Charlie Crist, the nearly anonymous Nan Rich and the  arguably despicable LeBron James, according to the last PPP poll. He is less popular than gay marriage, which sadly is still a losing issue in Florida. Heck, Dwight Howard is almost competitive with this guy.

It really is no wonder that a law enforcement officer, even one appointed by this governor like Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco, would run from Scott's mention like a outed Death Eater in the Hogwarts faculty lounge.

But I would suggest today that the Harry Potter books have provided us not just with a similarly frocked villain with which to mock Scott. The protagonist of this series has in fact offered up a strategy for rolling back Scott's destructive agenda and plans for world domination. Readers of the books may recall that even years after Voldemort's initial plans to control the Wizarding World went awry, neither the dark wizard's supporters or opponents could comfortably utter his name.

The Death Eaters would refer to Voldemort as the "Dark Lord." Those fearful of the wizard called him "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." It was inferred that when Voldemort was at the height of his power, he demanded this type of identification as a form of deference. Of course, anyone who has followed politics awhile would find it quite plausible that Scott today may be telling Republican lawmakers not to speak his own unpopular name so that they could get into positions of power, then reveal their fielty to their Dark Lord and push his wicked agenda into the realm of real-world law.

But when Potter learned that many in the Wizarding World still feared Voldemort so much that they refused to utter his name because of a literal taboo, the young wizard scoffed. The way to defeat Voldemort was not to quake at his name, nor was it to deny his existence altogether. No, the way to defeat evil was to stare in the face and shout it down! The Order of the Phoenix eventually is unified in its willingness to speak Voldemort's name out loud, and that courage leads to Voldemort's ultimate and permanent downfall.

The lesson for Democrats, long trapped in an Azkabhan-like political exile within Florida's halls of power, is to speak Scott's name when Republicans will not. The lawmaker to afraid to be publicly associated with this terrible leader of their party should not be allowed back in the halls of power just so he can enact his Dark Lord's will in secret. Republicans won't own their association with Scott. We must make them. We must not allow these people to occupy seats of prestige, the way the fictional wizards of London allowed the Lucius Malfoys of the world to cling to their reputation by publicly denying Voldemort while they secretly awaited his return.

Rick Scott is not up for election this year, but his Death Eaters most certainly are, and that means his agenda and vision for Florida is on the ballot even if the paper does not bear his name. Speak his name. Remind people that a vote for a Republican lawmaker is a vote for the continuation of Rick Scott's reign of destruction. Turn their cowardice into a chance for victory this year.