by Javier Manjarres

Our friends at the POLITICO have announced that Florida Agriculture Commissioner and former Congressman Adam Putnam has endorsed Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, considered to be  the frontrunner in the contentious 2012 Republican U.S. Senate race primary.

Putnam is seen by many an ‘one of our own’ politician that has made the state Republican Party happy by towing the GOP line throughout his tenure in the U.S. Congress, and is considered to be a future Governor of Florida. Putnam won his 2010 Commissioner of Agriculture statewide race by overwhelming support, and helped solidify other seats on the Governor’s cabinet, including the CFO, Attorney General, and the Governorship itself.

 

While this endorsement is a big feather in Haridopolos’ hat, the endorsement maybe seen by Conservative activists as big red flag, as opposed to a big white feather, because of Putnam’s past support of comprehensive immigration reform, TARP, high speed rail and President Obama’s ‘Cash for Clunkers” program.

An important point to note is that while Commissioner Putnam praised Republican Legislatures in the controversial Florida immigration reform debate, and  is on record opposing an Arizona Immigration law for Florida-also has hedged on E-Verify- Florida Senate President Haridopolos came out and voted for the E-Verify measure that eventually failed to pass the Florida Senate.

“I think that Sen. (Anitere) Flores and Sen. Alexander did an extraordinary job of shepherding an explosively emotional, passionate, complicated issue and ultimately it did not make it across the finish line. The conversation continues, it’s not going way. And hopefully this summer will give everyone an opportunity to address the issue without the distractions of the other thousands of things going on in the session.”-Commissioner Adam Putnam