Endorsement: Vote Debbie Mucarsel-Powell for U.S. Senate
U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell makes a persuasive case that she best understands the cares and concerns of Floridians.
In fact, her Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. Rick Scott, made the case for her, she says: "He's voted no against all the bipartisan legislation that has come to the Senate floor. No on the CHIPS act. No on the Inflation Reduction Act. No on the bipartisan border security bill. No on the American Rescue Plan. No on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act." She concluded in an interview with The Palm Beach Post on Sept. 19, "We need someone that's going to improve the lives of so many Floridians here."
We agree and we urge Palm Beach County residents to vote for Mucarsel-Powell for U.S. Senate on Nov. 5. (Scott did not respond to our request or an interview or to fill out a questionnaire on the goals of his candidacy.)
Mucarsel-Powell, 53, graduated from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and earned a Master's degree from Claremont Graduate University. She served on the faculty of Florida International University in Miami from 2003-2011, was elected to Congress in 2018 and ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 2020.
She is the underdog in the race, a one-term former congresswoman up against a six-year Senate incumbent and former governor with all the resources of the richest member of the U.S. Senate, even as he pretends to be a champion of the little guy.
She also has a challenge because, despite a strong and improving economy, many continue to feel the pain of recent years' inflation. She reminds the public that the causes of that pain date back to before the current administration, to the Trump administration and policies from Scott's time as governor and senator.
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She's right. Trump's anti-scientific response to the pandemic, for example, damaged not just public health but the economy, requiring the stimulus cure that aggravated inflation.
And Scott has been behind the mendacious ex-president all the way, even traveling to Manhattan to sit behind him (amoral support?) in the criminal court case that led to the 34-felony conviction for which the GOP presidential nominee awaits sentencing. The courtroom scene harkened back to 2000 and 2002, when the healthcare company Scott had led, Columbia/HCA, was fined $1.7 billion for cheating Medicare and Medicaid, among other charges.
Floridians don't need a partisan apologist and should judge Scott by his actions and the company he keeps . They need a U.S. senator of unassailable values: one who will stand up for their freedom to make their own reproductive health decisions; one who who will strengthen the social safety net of the Affordable Care Act, Social Security and Medicare and not take aim at them, as Scott did with unsuccessful attempts to kill or sunset them.
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They also need someone who will work to keep the economic recovery intact and improve gun laws. On immigration they need someone who will work toward a bipartisan approach – in this case tempered by the compassion of a candidate who came to the United States from Ecuador as a child.
Mucarsel-Powell counts herself a strong supporter of Israel's right to defend itself, and notes that like Kamala Harris, her husband is Jewish. "I also see the suffering," she adds. "We need to find way to return the hostages and at the same time end the suffering."
In Europe, she says, it's important for the U.S. to stand with Ukraine and our NATO allies.
On the domestic front, she'd work to encourage workforce housing and higher wages, and to prevent hedge funds from speculating in housing in a way that prices local workers out of the market. She also would work toward a nationwide insurance pool that spreads risk to ease the burden of catastrophic climate events.
Mucarsel-Powell is right on the issues and articulates her positions clearly. Maybe that's why the incumbent won't consent to debate her. The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board thinks she'd make a solid addition to the Senate, one who could be counted on to work for bipartisan solutions and not play partisan games.
