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The 'Debbie did it' defense

Scott Maddox, the former Florida Democratic Party chairman who wants to be governor, has come out of hiding to account for the $200,000 IRS lien he left behind at party headquarters. The financial blunders under his watch, he announced in a statement to the media, were the handiwork of controller Debbie Griffin-Bruton.

"Debbie," he wrote, "has not only been an employee, but a friend. I can only assume Debbie concealed her errors and actions from me out of embarrassment and to avoid my disappointment."

Debbie did it? This is the best defense Maddox can offer? Did he rule out temporary insanity?

Maddox is threatening to make a cartoon of his gubernatorial campaign if he doesn't do a better job of explaining how he allowed the party's financial operations to spin out of control. Not only did the state party fail to pay Social Security and federal income taxes that were withheld from employees' paychecks, but it also can't reconcile how some $900,000 in donations were spent. The Leon County party, which he also directed, was forced to pay a $10,500 fine in December for delinquent campaign reports. And, until the Tallahassee Democrat called him on Monday, Maddox had neglected to pay property taxes on a house his company, Spectrum Resources, owns.

The "Debbie did it" defense is offered, almost comically, by way of Maddox's claim to "accept responsibility." But note that his explanation acknowledges that he gave two critical jobs to a family friend, and his denial turns on his repeated assertion that he "had no knowledge at all" of the problems.

This is not a winning campaign message. People tend to like governors who are a little more on top of the way their money is spent.

[Last modified June 30, 2005, 00:58:11]