Brian Reilly has talked tough during the early part of his 2010 congressional campaign, launching the slogan "Fire Debbie Wasserman Schultz." But the April 30 candidate filing deadline came and went with nary a sign of Reilly's campaign finance report. Judging by the Federal Elections Commission website, Reilly hasn't qualified to run against the West Broward congresswoman he wants to fire.
Yet it seems no one told Reilly -- certainly not Captain AMERICA, the radio-show alter ego of tea party activist Matt Bruce. Yesterday Reilly appeared on Bruce's program, which you can listen to here. Reilly appears at the 33:40 mark of the show, talking about what's wrong with Barack Obama, the Democrat Congress, and his plans for putting Floridians back to work. (Qualifying for the election would seem to be an important prerequisite for a candidate with such high-minded goals.)Reilly's website doesn't contain a phone number for his campaign. He did not immediately return an email seeking clarification about his campaign's status. Remarks from Reilly's campaign after the jump.
A campaign spokeswoman, Kimberly Moore, told Juice that Reilly opted against running in 2010, due to the abundance of other candidates. "Once we had looked at the ballot and how crowded it was, we weighed the idea of a 2012 run that could begin now," says Moore.
This afternoon, Moore says she'll be sending out a news release formally announcing Reilly's departure from the 2010 campaign along with his endorsement of another candidate. Moore wouldn't say what candidate Reilly would be backing, but it's a safe bet it's not Wasserman Schultz.
As for the radio appearance, Moore says it was recorded April 22, when Reilly was still aiming to qualify for the race. She didn't know why the show aired May 3.
