Former Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, currently running again to represent Orlando in Congress, has strong feelings about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement: He believes New York City should leave them alone.
Grayson told The Daily Caller that he opposes the likely Friday eviction of protesters from their encampment in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan.
“I don’t think they should be evicted from the park, but a movement like this is not going to be stopped because they have to go across the street or even across the city,” he declared. “If they’re evicted from the park tomorrow, then I’m sure they’ll find some place else.”
Grayson said the protests are “a genuine manifestation of how many, many people feel. And a movement like this is going to find a way to express itself regardless.”
Known for cracking jokes at the expense of Republicans — he told TheDC in July that he worried about a Chris Christie presidential candidacy because he was “too big to fail” — Grayson offered a muted analysis of Republican presidential contender Herman Cain.
“It would be great if he were the nominee because then both major parties will have nominated an African-Americans, and then every racist in the country would need to commit suicide,” he said. (RELATED: Haley Barbour: Cain would ‘sweep the South’)
According to Grayson, 11,000 individuals have donated to what he calls his “fantastic” campaign. “I can’t think of any other House race among Democrats that can say that. I know that Michele Bachmann probably got more contributions, but she’s running for a different office.”
Grayson said President Obama has been an adequate advocate for the American Jobs Act. “You find very few people who believe that we should do nothing to solve our problems except for Republicans in Congress,” he said.
“I think that the president saying ‘pass this bill’ is a categorical statement on his part about exactly what should be done,” Grayson said. “He’s showing his usual flexibility, he’s offered to have the bill come up in pieces,” Grayson said, before adding that the bill “in all likelihood may just prevent things from getting worse.”
A well-circulated advertisement from the 2010 election nicknamed Grayson’s opponent “Taliban Dan,” attracting national attention. But he won’t say what surprises may lay in store for 2012.
“We have not put together any ads yet for goodness sake; it’s October 2011,” Grayson said.