Sinking fast?

Republican and Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher's campaign for Governor looks to be crashing. First he won a knucklehead for supporting an internet sales tax. Now his supporters in Broward County are upset over the local GOP endorsing Attorney Charlie Crist over Gallagher.

Supporters of Tom Gallagher's campaign for governor protested Tuesday that the Broward Republican organization's sudden late-night endorsement of Attorney General Charlie Crist violates party rules.

"This will divide the party. Every supporter of Tom Gallagher is upset by this deal by a small group of insiders," said William Scherer, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer and a key supporter of Gallagher, who is the state's chief financial officer.

Barbara Collier, chairwoman of the Gallagher campaign in Broward County, said the motion for the endorsement was sprung without warning on the monthly meeting of the Broward Republican Party by a small group of Crist supporters controlling the party agenda.

This is just whining. How many people care if GOP in any Florida county endorses one candidate? I'd say very few, most of voting public has little interest in this trivia.

The most troubling news for Gallagher comes from today's St. Petersburg Times. It seems he was trading in insurance company stocks while he was State Insurance Commissioner.

TALLAHASSEE - Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher said Tuesday that he would ask his department's top lawyer to review private stock investments that Gallagher made in recent years that included stakes in companies he had a role in regulating.

Gallagher strongly denied breaking any laws but said he would seek the legal review to determine if there is anything "I need to correct."

The St. Petersburg Times reported Tuesday that federal tax returns show that in 2002 Gallagher traded millions of dollars in insurance stocks in his last year as the state's elected insurance commissioner.

In 2004, before and after the state Cabinet voted to allow AES Corp. of Virginia to lay a natural gas pipeline under delicate coral reefs off Broward County, Gallagher traded more than $1-million in AES stock, the newspaper reported. Gallagher, who is a member of the Cabinet, owned 1,000 shares in the company the day he voted to approve the pipeline.

Bad ethics, Bad policy, and not knowing what matters. I'm thinking my prediction(See #8)for the 2006 Governor's race is looking stronger than ever.

Hat tip- Peer Review of FL who says defense wins Super Bowls not Governor's Races
Open Post- Adam's Blog, TMH's Bacon Bits, Bright & Early, Basil's Blog, Cao's Blog,