Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/92622
Sarasota News Leader November 9, 2012 lieve that Representative Buchanan attempted to influence the testimony of a witness in a proceeding before the FEC" and recommend- ed that the House Committee on Ethics inves- tigate further. Buchanan also faces a civil lawsuit filed by Kazran, and he generated sharp criticism from the Fitzgerald campaign when he failed to ap- pear at a scheduled deposition in that case. Fitzgerald said Buchanan's no-show demon- strated "contempt for the legal process." Fitzgerald further criticized Buchanan for his vote in support of the U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan budget, which would have converted Medi- care into a voucher program for future ben- eficiaries, and for voting with the Republican majority 94 percent of the time. A former state representative who won a surprise victory in an unfriend- ly district in 2006, Fitz- gerald played up his reputation as a mod- erate who could work productively alongside Republicans. Also working in Fitz- gerald's favor? Redis- tricting. The Florida Legislature redrew Bu- chanan's district this spring, in effect wa- tering down its strong GOP lean. But, ultimately, all that mattered little. Bu- chanan won handily, taking 53 percent of Page 32 the vote in Sarasota County and 55 percent in the more conservative Manatee County. One factor that may have affected those Sara- sota County votes: Barack Obama. Obama nearly won Sarasota County in his 2008 Flori- da victory, but he lost the county this year by 15,481 votes — Mitt Romney nearly matched George W. Bush's 2004 margin of 16,250. The Manatee County gap also came close to 2004's numbers. In a race decided by 25,364 votes, that Obama decline clearly played a role. And so Buchanan heads back to Washington, where the most recent Congress was the least productive in decades, producing legislation at a slower rate than even the "do nothing" Congress of the 1940s. In an August Gallup poll, just 10 percent of Americans said they approved of Congress' job performance, the lowest number the firm had recorded in 38 years. But despite that widespread frus- tration, the next Con- gress' makeup will re- main largely the same: a conservative GOP majority in the House and Democratic con- trol in the Senate. Keith Fitzgerald addresses supporters at Marina Jack after the election returns have been announced on Nov. 6. Photo by Robert Hackney The situation brings to mind an old restaurant joke: The food at this place is terrible — and such small portions!