Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson served just one term in Congress, but it’s a sure thing that few will forget him. Whether it’s the time he called the American health care system a “holocaust” on the House floor or when he dubbed his opponent a member of the Taliban, the firebrand hero of the left will leave a trail of colorful memories behind.
So what’s a one-term congressman from Florida to do after losing by nearly 20 points?
“It’s quite possible that I’m going to Disney World,” Grayson told The Daily Caller in an interview Thursday. Grayson’s district covers Orlando, so he won’t need to travel far.
Over his two years in office, the New York native made headlines constantly for his antics, earning him the title of “America’s worst politician” in the pages of Newsweek from conservative writer George Will. Of his many notable moments, Grayson once asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate a Floridian for starting a website called MyCongressmanIsNuts.com; he crashed a local Republican meeting at a public restaurant and accused them of spying on Obama supporters; and he called members of the GOP “knuckle dragging Neanderthals.”
But now that it’s all coming to an end, Grayson insists that his only regret is that some of the bills he introduced, like the “War is Making You Poor Act,” didn’t make it to the president’s desk.
There has been much speculation about what Grayson, a wealthy attorney with three degrees from Harvard, will do come January. Will he become a cable news talking head like Sarah Palin? Start a fresh campaign for 2012? Continue practicing law?
For now, at least, he wants none of that.
“I’m going to be a good husband and a good father,” an uncharacteristically subdued Grayson said when asked of his plans after the lame-duck session. “I’ve spent many many many days in the past two years away from my five young children. I am the only member of Congress with five children in school. It’s a struggle.”
Grayson added that he had not received any offers from cable networks to join as a contributor and he is not yet entertaining the thought. He said he would run for office again “if that’s what the people want.”
As for his final session in the House, Grayson said he expects a nasty war with Republicans over how to extend the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
“I often assume the worst,” he said.