Will he or won’t he? Savvy pundits have been weighing in on the chances of high-profile, personal-injury attorney John “For the People” Morgan running for governor in 2018. The reasons for are manifest: He loves the spotlight; he’s an excellent, even charming, communicator; he thinks big; he has name recognition to die for; he knows he has a good shot; he wants to accomplish more. And did we say he loves the spotlight?
If you’re the media, you want the 61-year-old to run. He’s a natural. He’s funny. He’s engaging. He’s not scripted. He’s great copy. He’s not Charlie Crist or Alex Sink. If you’re a Democrat, you want him to even out things–and for money to not be an issue.
And yet.
Would a rich, free-lancing, tell-it-like-it-is attorney-entrepreneur want to be, well, confined to Tallahassee and its dystopian, political culture? Where Marion Hammer is an icon, and the Republican OutHouse can veto the common good? Where off-year, gubernatorial elections are a crap shoot because of turnout?
I think he would rather back a winner. But if he senses that only he fits that description, he jumps in late and loud and reminds the electorate that his blunt agenda–from a hefty raise in the minimum wage to a reformation of Florida’s drug laws–will not change. He promises to only serve one term and reminds the electorate that re-election scenarios cannot compromise him.