If you think Minnesota politics is getting a little too down and dirty this year, you'll be relieved (or horrified) to know that it's much worse in other parts of the country. Here's a little local tropical flava from the political scandal du jour here in Miami. State's top lawmakers help Arza plot course:
In a rare and high-stakes meeting, one of Florida's most powerful legislators and a top lieutenant flew to meet Rep. Ralph Arza at his Miami Lakes home Saturday and discussed whether he should resign for using a racial slur in mean-spirited phone calls placed to a colleague.
Neither House Speaker Allan Bense nor Rep. Dudley Goodlette could be reached to say whether they joined the bipartisan chorus calling for Arza's resignation, though numerous sources say Republican leaders want him gone to avoid shaming the chamber and embarrassing the GOP.
Bense spokesman Towson Fraser said the Panama City Republican and Goodlette took the extraordinary step of meeting with Arza personally because "this is heavy stuff. You don't talk about things like this over the phone."
If Arza doesn't step down by Nov. 21 -- the first day the post-election Legislature meets and installs his friend Marco Rubio as Florida's first Cuban-American speaker -- he'll imbue the otherwise historic, flower-filled ceremony with racial animus if Democrats and black lawmakers make good on their promise to ask for a vote to remove the Republican. Democrats plan a walkout from the House chamber if Arza's not expelled.
On Monday, Goodlette, the House Rules Committee chairman from Naples, is to submit a report to Bense concerning Arza's messages last weekend, in which Arza called Miami Beach Republican Rep. Gus Barreiro a "bitch" and "my nigger." The day before, Barreiro had filed a complaint with Goodlette's committee alleging Arza had shamed the House by using repeated racial slurs to describe Miami-Dade's black schools chief, Rudy Crew.
A relative of Arza's, Paulino Barbon Jr., also left threatening and explicit messages on Barreiro's phone the same night as Arza, sources have told The Miami Herald. The lawmaker turned the matter over to police for an investigation.
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