Utterly Poor Taste': Jeb Bush Blasts Alan Grayson's Interference in Republican Primary

By all appearances, Alan Grayson is desperate to get back into Congress. Having been unceremoniously tossed out of Congress in 2010 after running a campaign which many observers found to be crass and dishonest, Grayson apparently very much wants to bring his characteristic brand of bile back to the House of Representatives. In fact, so determined is he to do so that he has started actually running his own attack ads in the Republican primary for Florida's 9th District (where Grayson is running), trying to put potentially threatening candidates out of the running before they even start really trying.

In this case, Grayson is running an ad against John Quinones, a Puerto Rican Florida state legislator agreed by many to have the best chance of holding down the very blue-leaning district if he wins the Republican primary. Grayson, of course, doesn't want that to happen, since a competent opponent would make his job harder. As such, he is running ads against Quinones claiming that the latter tried to raise taxes. Grayson is even quoting former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in the ads.

Bush, however, doesn't take kindly to this appropriation of his own views. He has publicly called on Grayson to keep his hands off the Republican race, saying this according to the Huffington Post:

"I encourage Mr. Grayson to take down his ads, stay out of the Republican primary and let the voters of Central Florida to choose their nominee without his help," Bush said in a statement Friday. "There will be plenty of time for Mr. Grayson to defend his liberal tax-and-spend record in the fall."[...]

"I find it in utterly poor taste that Alan Grayson would use my statements, misquoted and out of context, for political gain," he said in his statement.

"Utterly poor taste." Sounds like Alan Grayson.

It should be noted that Grayson's tactic here could backfire. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill tried something similar against one of her primary opponents, Rep. Todd Akin, only to have Akin cruise to the nomination because he was seen as the greatest threat to McCaskill. Granted, McCaskill's ad accuses Akin of being "too conservative," whereas Grayson's accuses Quinones of being too willing to compromise conservative ideals on tax policy. However, sometimes having a Democratic nominee take aim at you is just what the doctor ordered for a struggling Republican campaign.