Listen, substitute a Democrat in place of Harris, if that makes you feel better. I'm not knocking Harris at all. I just know how the game is played. And if you think for one second that she wears the hat of SOS before she wears the
hat of GWB co-campaign chairperson/possible ambassador, you are in denial on how politics work in this country.
Maybe you just know how you "play the game" and project that on others.
Do you know this guy too?
Article..Florida Ballot Lawsuit Plaintiff Fined in 1988 for Fraud..
By Justin Torres
CNS Senior Staff Writer
November 10, 2000 cnsnews.com\Politics\archi...
(CNSNews.com) - Andre Fladell, the Palm Beach County, Fla., resident who is a plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking a
new presidential vote in his county because of an allegedly confusing ballot, is a long-time Democratic operative in
the area who was fined and placed on probation for Medicare fraud in 1988.
According to paperwork from the Florida Office of Professional Regulation, Fladell - a Palm Beach area
chiropractor - was fined $1000 and placed on six months licensing probation for improperly receiving Medicare
monies for X-rays and other procedures. Fladell claimed at the time he was unaware of the daily operations of his
office, according to the newspaper reports.
Also, Fladell has in the past claimed that he advised the campaign of Senator-elect Bill Nelson of Florida. Friday
morning, Scott Aaronson, a spokesperson for Nelson said he did not "know his specific role in the campaign, but I
know [Fladell is] a personal friend of the Nelson family."
Later that day, Dan McLaughlin, communications director for the Nelson campaign, strongly denied that Fladell
had any connection to Nelson beyond "being an acquaintance."
"Bill has more than 20,000 names in his rolodex from more than 30 years of public service," said McLaughlin.
"Fladell may be among those names because he is involved in Palm Beach politics."
After filing his lawsuit Wednesday, Fladell told CNSNews.com, "I leave the voting booth and I go to the beach
and I'm with my friends, they say, 'Boy, that was the toughest ballot I ever saw,' and I'm laughing because I'm
thinking they're not too bright. Turns out I wasn't too bright."
When asked how nearly 270,000 Palm Beach County voters apparently did vote for Gore rather than Buchanan or
some other candidate, Fladell speculated that it was because some "people who don't vote a lot have an
advantage. People who vote a lot have a disadvantage."
"People who have never voted will take a lot more time," to examine the ballot, Fladell continued. "People who
vote regularly just assume it's the same as it always is," he said, explaining that previous ballots listed the
Democratic candidate and corresponding punch hole second on the list of nominees.
Fladell, according to a 1999 Broward-Palm Beach New Times article, is a longtime Democratic operative in the
county who has been dubbed "the Prince of Palm Beach County" for his hardball political tactics.
Fladell has been involved in zoning and residential fights in Palm Beach County in the past, and recently lead an
effort to have the local education superintendent removed form office.
In the 1999 New Times article, Fladell claimed his connection to Nelson' campaign.
In the article, a former friend of Fladell's who was the target of an effort to deny him reelection to the Florida state
house, said that Fladell "long ago did stand up for the little guy, the homeowner, the right things."
But, said Barry Silver in the article, "He's become so involved in political intrigue that those sentiments long have
been subsumed by other feelings."
Nat Kaplan, a Democratic activist in Palm Beach County who has headed the local affiliate of the group Common
Cause, calls Fladell "a very aggressive guy who has done some good things but can be a real a**hole. Personally, I
don't like him although were both Democrats. . . . He definitely likes his name on the front page, I know that."
Fladell came to Palm Beach county in the 1970s and became "a factor in local politics almost immediately. . . . He's
very sophisticated."
Kaplan, however, says he believes that Fladell had problems with the ballot, saying he also had trouble figuring it
out.
Carolyn Zimmerman, head of the local Haitian-American Aid Council and a longtime Democratic activist, called
Fladell "obnoxious" and confirmed that he has been involved in Florida politics for many years.
"Andre should keep his nose out of it," said Zimmerman. "There's enough ordinary voters who were confused that
they don't need Andre to get involved."
TG |
