Politics

Back in the game: Grayson discusses his run, GOP politics and Chris Christie

Steven Nelson Associate Editor
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Former Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson is running for Congress again. In an interview with The Daily Caller on Tuesday, Grayson, who is known for his rhetorical flair, discussed the forthcoming campaign, a range of policy positions and his evaluation of the Republican primary field.

Republican presidential candidates “seem to be in some kind of contest among themselves for the biggest, most callous tool,” Grayson said. “They all seem to be running for college class president at some fundamentalist Christian school that nobody has ever heard of, not for President of the United States.”

The Republican candidates have made no effort to understand or address health care reform or unemployment, he said. “The only candidate that I’m really worried about is Governor Christie, because he’s too big to fail,” Grayson said. He declined to clarify the joke. Christie has repeatedly said he will not run for president in 2012.

Grayson told TheDC that he will run in the district that represents downtown Orlando after re-districting is complete.

The former congressman said that his 2012 campaign is off to a strong start. “We’ve had contributions from over 1,000 people since I announced yesterday afternoon,” he said, noting that he had raised over $100,000 this year “without asking for a penny.” Grayson said that he had not yet tallied the funds raised since his announcement Monday.

On the debt limit debate, Grayson said that “under no circumstance would I ever vote to cut Social Security, and under no circumstance would I cut Medicare benefits.” He said that he hopes that congressional Democrats oppose any debt limit deal that would make cuts to those programs.

“Social Security and Medicare are the only parts of the government that actually pay for themselves,” Grayson said. “They have had literally trillions in surpluses over the last 70 years.” (After lost election, Alan Grayson ‘going to Disney World’ when he gets home in January)

Grayson said that, contrary to general perception, he was not “very critical” of former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. “When he mocked progressives and liberals for having a conscious I thought he was very out of line,” Grayson said.

The former congressman said that he doesn’t know if President Obama is violating the War Powers Act by involving the American military in Libya. Though Grayson said he was aware of the criticism, he said he would have to study the issue further before opining. He also said that he supports same-sex marriage, but that Obama’s position is “for him to decide.”