Gillum suspends campaign

[Newman]

Ostensibly because of a shooting in the town of which he is mayor: Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum suspends campaign after 2 dead in Tallahassee shooting

Obama was campaigning with him last night, and looked pretty fired up. As with so much this campaign season, I'm not sure what is true and what is gaslighting.

Gillum is dogged by persistent charges of corruption, has stumbled with Jewish voters after the PA shooting, giving his opponent DeSantis a major opportunity,

The Jewish vote is key in Florida, and Ron DeSantis just picked up a huge endorsement

and video has come out showing some of Gillum's staffers' unguarded verbage.

I think "suspending a campaign" for a higher cause tends not to be effective. I think John McCain's stunt, rushing to the nation's rescue, backfired hugely. Obama played it cool and surged. Trump did not cancel rallies after Pittsburgh, despite anguished pleas from Democrats that he do so. I don't think disgraced celebs like Harvey Weinstein rushing off to secluded rehab centers fool anyone either.

Mayor Gillum needed a breather, I suspect, time to answer the recent problems. He is nothing if not a very smooth talker, but lately some interviews have left him stumbling trying to evade some difficult answers. He'll be back Sunday or Monday fired up for the finish, I suspect, with new cue cards and everything. I'm NOT pulling for his recovery, of course. We'll see.

[Newman]

Gillum suspends career

Found incoherent with meth and a couple of other men.

• Andrew Gillum was found in a hotel room at Mondrian South Beach early Friday morning with two other men, Travis Dyson, 30, and Aldo Mejias, 56
• Paramedics were called to the room after Dyson, a male escort who posts homemade porn movies online, overdosed on crystal meth
• Police found three plastic baggies of crystal meth on the bed and floor
• The former mayor of Tallahassee was not arrested and was too intoxicated to answer questions, according to a police report obtained by DailyMail.com
• Gillum, who is married with three young children, denied using any drugs
• 'While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamine,' Gillum, 40, said in a statement Friday

The Daily Mail headline: This is the gay escort found overdosed on meth in a South Beach hotel room with top Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum - a married father of three who says he was just drunk at a wedding

This is one of the two escorts:
25946194-8110423-image-a-16_1584128272855.jpg

25946210-8110423-image-a-9_1584127763881.jpg

Shazzam! Business must be good.

After losing narrowly to current governor Ron DeSantis, Gillum squared up the corruption charges (Andrew Gillum settles ethics case, agrees to $5,000 fine) and set out to register a million Democrats to turn Florida blue this year.

Beyond some brief bits of publicity early on, I hadn't heard anything more about him, until this evening. It looks like had he won, had Brenda Snipes* managed an upset, it certainly would be a festive time in the governor's mansion about now.

*

On November 30, 2018, in the aftermath of the controversial 2018 Florida elections, Snipes was removed from office by Governor Rick Scott. In an official statement by Scott, he stated her suspension was due to her failure of maintaining order within her office and complaints of malfeasance.[5] Snipes held a press conference the following day, in which she stated that she rescinds her resignation and plans to fight her suspension.[6]

On January 18, 2019, Governor Ron DeSantis voided his predecessor's suspension of Snipes and accepted her initial resignation, effective January 4, 2019.

[Newman]

OK.

Andrew Gillum entering rehab, stepping back from politics following Miami hotel incident

". . . After conversation with my family and deep reflection, I have made the decision to seek help, guidance and enter a rehabilitation facility at this time. This has been a wake-up call for me. Since my race for governor ended, I fell into a depression that has led to alcohol abuse. I witnessed my father suffer from alcoholism and I know the damaging effects it can have when untreated. I also know that alcoholism is often a symptom of deeper struggles. I am committed to doing the personal work to heal fully and show up in the world as a more complete person,” Gillum, a Democrat and CNN contributor, said in a statement.

He added: "I now need to firmly focus on myself and my family. I will be stepping down from all public facing roles for the foreseeable future. I want to apologize to my family, friends and the people of Florida who have supported me and put their faith in me over the years. I ask that you respect my and my family’s privacy during this time. Thank you."

[Gingersnap]

It's always made me wonder why anybody aiming for a career in politics would take such risks by developing a substance abuse or hooker problem. You'd think that stuff would be off the table after the age of 12 or so.

[phillygirl]

It's always made me wonder why anybody aiming for a career in politics would take such risks by developing a substance abuse or hooker problem. You'd think that stuff would be off the table after the age of 12 or so.

Substance abuse, for those so unfortunate to have an abuse disorder, can not simply "take it off the table". It's not merely willpower that allows some of us to engage in recreational drinking (or other stuff) and come out of it fine. I watched a client of mine go to rehab after rehab, including one that was a year long. He was truly a different person when he came back. Unrecognizable, in a good way. And then he lifted the drink to his lips again and killed himself with it. Sad to watch. When I was a younger attorney, alcoholism was the saddest cause of the break up of marriages that I saw on a regular basis. Otherwise good and decent people ruined their lives and their families because of this. Now, opioids, unfortunately, have changed the landscape significantly and I have a lot more grandparent clients. Rumor has it that my grandfather nearly lost everything family wise because of "the drink". Again, he was a good and decent man, but when he got "in his cups" he was unbearable. I didn't know this side of him, as he had quit long before I existed. About 6 months before he died he drank some champagne at the 60th anniversary party we had for them. He was dying then. Some family members were freaking out. Honestly, if he drank from that day to the end of his life he deserved it. As he told my cousin "I was a lousy father and I've done everything in my life since then to make up for it as a grandfather". He succeeded and then some.

[Gingersnap]

Substance abuse, for those so unfortunate to have an abuse disorder, can not simply "take it off the table". It's not merely willpower that allows some of us to engage in recreational drinking (or other stuff) and come out of it fine. I watched a client of mine go to rehab after rehab, including one that was a year long. He was truly a different person when he came back. Unrecognizable, in a good way. And then he lifted the drink to his lips again and killed himself with it. Sad to watch. When I was a younger attorney, alcoholism was the saddest cause of the break up of marriages that I saw on a regular basis. Otherwise good and decent people ruined their lives and their families because of this. Now, opioids, unfortunately, have changed the landscape significantly and I have a lot more grandparent clients. Rumor has it that my grandfather nearly lost everything family wise because of "the drink". Again, he was a good and decent man, but when he got "in his cups" he was unbearable. I didn't know this side of him, as he had quit long before I existed. About 6 months before he died he drank some champagne at the 60th anniversary party we had for them. He was dying then. Some family members were freaking out. Honestly, if he drank from that day to the end of his life he deserved it. As he told my cousin "I was a lousy father and I've done everything in my life since then to make up for it as a grandfather". He succeeded and then some.

I agree that sort of thing is tragic and often has unpredictable causes but a lot of people I've met who have had their eye on public office have been aiming for it for many years. Not too many suddenly decide at age 40 to abruptly seek this kind of high profile, very stressful career path.

If you were the type of person who wanted this, you'd probably begin by being civic-minded early on (maybe in your teens as some I have known) and I'd think you'd stay away from obvious potential PR problems like drinking, drugs, or hired sex partners (at least in any open venue like a motel where you can't control every aspect).

[scott]

I agree that sort of thing is tragic and often has unpredictable causes but a lot of people I've met who have had their eye on public office have been aiming for it for many years. Not too many suddenly decide at age 40 to abruptly seek this kind of high profile, very stressful career path.

If you were the type of person who wanted this, you'd probably begin by being civic-minded early on (maybe in your teens as some I have known) and I'd think you'd stay away from obvious potential PR problems like drinking, drugs, or hired sex partners (at least in any open venue like a motel where you can't control every aspect).

He let his hubris guide him. He was protected before when he was useful, and he thought it made him "special." It didn't.

[Newman]

It's always made me wonder why anybody aiming for a career in politics would take such risks by developing a substance abuse or hooker problem. You'd think that stuff would be off the table after the age of 12 or so.

I've only known one fellow from childhood who planned and worked an elective career, and he very carefully did order his life with that in mind, went to the right college, became a lawyer, etc. I doubt I would ever have voted for him, frankly. But hookers and drugs were not part of his life.

Scott nailed it just above.

Substance abuse, for those so unfortunate to have an abuse disorder, can not simply "take it off the table". It's not merely willpower that allows some of us to engage in recreational drinking (or other stuff) and come out of it fine. I watched a client of mine go to rehab after rehab, including one that was a year long. He was truly a different person when he came back. Unrecognizable, in a good way. And then he lifted the drink to his lips again and killed himself with it. Sad to watch. When I was a younger attorney, alcoholism was the saddest cause of the break up of marriages that I saw on a regular basis. Otherwise good and decent people ruined their lives and their families because of this. Now, opioids, unfortunately, have changed the landscape significantly and I have a lot more grandparent clients. Rumor has it that my grandfather nearly lost everything family wise because of "the drink". Again, he was a good and decent man, but when he got "in his cups" he was unbearable. I didn't know this side of him, as he had quit long before I existed. About 6 months before he died he drank some champagne at the 60th anniversary party we had for them. He was dying then. Some family members were freaking out. Honestly, if he drank from that day to the end of his life he deserved it. As he told my cousin "I was a lousy father and I've done everything in my life since then to make up for it as a grandfather". He succeeded and then some.

Just a caution: We surely don't have the whole story from these reports. "Rumor had it" from the time he was running for governor that his corruption was a lot more pervasive that anything the media let on.

Here, we only have his word that he'd never do meth You know that, Jenny. It's just the pressures of campaigning that made him ruin his life.

It's enough that he's no longer a public figure. The Democrats can airbrush his legacy as they wish.