Has Steve Israel Found The Next Alex Sink?

Courtesy of Joel Cantor

Joel Cantor’s mansion, built in 2010, was rented for four days in August during the Republican National Convention for $25,000

The DCCC and EMILY's List having massively screwed up her campaign, Alex Sink will not subject herself to a rematch with now-Congressman David Jolly in November. That leaves Rev. Manuel Sykes as the official Democrat candidate. But if Steve Israel is going to lose again in Pinellas County, Manuel Sykes is not the candidate he plans to waste millions on. The DCCC has been beating the bushes looking for another deep-pocketed self-funding centrist, a… you know… a "problem solver," preferably one with no stands on any of the divisive policy issues that divide progressives and reactionaries. And they seem to have their sucker on the hook. Real estate developer Joel Cantor says he'll jump in if Israel guarantees he can have the nomination without a pesky primary from some progressive true-believer.

Cantor has been a moderately generous donor to the Democratic Establishment, $10,000 to the DNC, $7,500 to Obama's reelection, no money to actual candidates but nice chunks to the Democratic Party of Ohio, of Pennsylvania, of Virginia, of Colorado, or North Carolina, of Nevada, of Wisconsin, of Iowa, of New Hampshire and, of course, of Florida. Previously he had only contributed to the Florida Republican Party and the NRC. But the high-end high-rise developer admits he's been talking to the DCCC about running against Jolly. All Florida candidates who plan to be on the ballot need to qualify this week. It's all over on Friday.

According to one of the state’s leading Democratic fundraisers, developer and real estate investor Joel Cantor is interested in challenging Republican David Jolly this November.

...The DCCC confirmed Monday morning that Cantor is indeed looking at running.

“Congressman David Jolly has been in office just over a month and he’s already facing a backlash from Pinellas residents for breaking his hollow campaign promises,” said DCCC spokesman David Bergstein. “Joel Cantor is one of several strong potential candidates w‎ho are taking a serious look at this race.” …Cantor appears to be a reluctant candidate and only interested in running if the DCCC can assure him that the field is cleared for him to challenge Jolly. Even then, Cantor is said to be hesitant about putting his private-sector work on hold to run for public office.

Oh, and before he was a real estate developer-- he was a Wall Street bankster ... what could be a better pick as a candidate for Steve Israel? He worked for Chase and then Salomon Brothers in real estate finance and I bet the Republican opposition research team will come up with some awesome stuff that will inoculate former sleazy lobbyist David Jolly from any kind of serious concerns about reelection.