Many Floridians - and the rest of the nation - first got to know Congressman Alan Grayson with statement鈥檚 like this:
鈥淩emember the Republican plan: don鈥檛 get sick, and if you do get sick die quickly,鈥� he said in a about health care that went viral on YouTube.
The Orlando Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate is often described as a 鈥渓iberal firebrand鈥� for his passionate and sometimes combative encounters in the media and on Capitol Hill. And his outspoken nature hasn鈥檛 been derailed by a series of accusations 鈥� including the most recent ones involving his ex-wife.
The most serious one was the subject of a Congressional ethics probe into whether Grayson used his name and position to gain investors for his private hedge fund: a congressional no-no. He defended himself on MSNBC back in May when asked about it.
鈥淚s this not from your hedge fund because your face is on it, your name is on it. So those are not yours?鈥� asked the reporter.
Grayson replied: 鈥淵eah, so what?鈥�
Grayson blames one of his Democratic primary rivals, fellow Congressman Patrick Murphy, for the ethics probe. He bristles when asked why Democratic leaders, including President Obama, chose not to endorse him. However, he also dismisses the importance of that backing.
鈥淭he support that matters when you鈥檙e running in a Democratic election is you have support of the voters, and I鈥檝e got it,鈥� he said.
Actually, Grayson trailed Murphy in polls between March and late June, said freelance journalist Mark Pinsky, who has been reporting on Grayson for the past six years.
鈥淢y sense is that he鈥檚 well known in Central Florida, I don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 that well known in the panhandle, I don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 that well known in South Florida,鈥� he said.
Central Florida voters got to know Grayson when they first sent him to Congress in 2008. He lost the seat two years later, and returned in 2012. By then he had established himself as a tough talking liberal media darling.
That persona, Pinksy says, is for Grayson supporters outside of Florida, many who have donated more than $400,000 to his campaign.
鈥淭hat is large numbers of people, in the hundreds of thousands across the country who see him as their representative, their congressman,鈥� Pinsky said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 where a good deal of his money comes from. I think he speaks to his national base when he speaks on television.鈥�
But on the campaign trail, Grayson tones it down at places like the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, where the towering Grayson bends down to chat with a young boy. And as he meets parishioners, he never mentions he鈥檚 running for the Senate. Nor does he say anything during a stop at a low-income housing complex.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hot Mr. Congressman, we can鈥檛 even breathe in here,鈥� longtime resident Mona Lisa Arnold says as she invites Grayson into her tiny apartment to tells stories of gunfire outside her window.
Grayson asks is she sees people getting arrested. 鈥淣o, not really,鈥� she says.
鈥淒o they come when there鈥檚 a gun shot?鈥� Grayson asks.
鈥淵eah, I guess if somebody call them,鈥� she replies.
This toned-down persona in Jacksonville doesn鈥檛 reflect Grayson鈥檚 headline-grabbing personal life.
Back in May, he married a woman running for his Congressional seat. And last year, his 25-year marriage came to a messy end when it was annulled after Grayson learned that his ex-wife was married to another man when they wed.
Now, the first wife, Lolita Grayson, has come forward with allegations that he abused her.
Grayson鈥檚 lawyer insists that the claims are false, saying she鈥檚 trying to derail his senate campaign. Since the announcement, two of the nation鈥檚 largest progressive groups have pulled their support of Grayson. Several staff members also have left the campaign.
Freelance journalist Pinsky thinks if hurting Grayson鈥檚 chances in the primary was the purpose, Grayson鈥檚 ex-wife may have succeeded.
鈥淲hether the charges have a basis in fact or not, the fact that they were reported to the police, the fact that there are four of them in two state, I think the damage is done and the damage is probably fatal,鈥� he said.
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