Florida Democrats launch new website to attack Buchanan’s health care record
Florida’s Democratic Party launched a new website Wednesday dedicated to highlighting what it called U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s “broken promises.”
The Republican congressman’s votes against expanding health care to cover patients with pre-existing conditions are the current focus of the campaign. A video advertisement on the page criticizes Buchanan’s prior commitment to “work through” those issues at a town hall meeting in 2009.
“Vern Buchanan has a clear record of saying one thing here in Florida in election years and doing the opposite in Washington when he thinks voters aren’t looking. Voters should know the truth about what he really stands for and the Broken Promises Buchanan website will help make sure that they do,” said Juan Peñalosa, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party.
The video uses footage from a 2009 town hall, when Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, told a Bradenton woman that the government’s health care program should provide “what’s available and affordable for you, regardless of pre-existing conditions.”
“We’ve got to work through that,” Buchanan said. “That’s an American right in my mind.”
According to the Democrats, Buchanan has voted to repeal protections for those with pre-existing conditions three different times. In response to the new attack ad, Max Goodman, Buchanan’s campaign manager, called the website a “pathetic” attempt by state Rep. Margaret Good, who will face Buchanan in the general election in November.
“At an unprecedented time of crisis in our nation’s history is this really the best Margaret Good can do? Trite, stale, pathetic,” Goodman said in a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald.
In 2017, Buchanan voted for the Republican-backed American Health Care Act, which preserved coverage for pre-existing conditions, as required by the Affordable Care Act.
The website and ads were paid for by the Florida Democratic Party, and according to a federally required disclaimer, were not approved by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
In a release, the Florida Democratic Party says more video advertisements will be released in the coming months.
Buchanan is running against Good, D-Sarasota, to represent Florida’s 16th Congressional District, which includes Manatee County, parts of Sarasota County and parts of Hillsborough County.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Florida Democrats launch new website to attack Buchanan’s health care record."
