A swampy argument ensnares a Florida lawmaker

Mark Friday on your calendars -- a politician freely acknowledged allowing provincial interests rather than the greater good to guide him.

The admission came from U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), and it occurred as he was trying to carry some water for presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain.

  McCain, campaigning Thursday in the Sunshine State, was asked why -- despite his professed support for using federal money to help restore the Everglades -- he last year voted against a bill that authorized such spending.

The problem, McCain said in Ft. Lauderdale, was that the bill also authorized spending for hundreds of other water-related projects. Thus, by his lights, it was one of those dreaded "pork-barrel" measures.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the bill, and, predictably, his campaign got into it with McCain. Aside from disputing the negative characterization of the other projects, Obama aides noted that Florida Republicans were among the lawmakers who backed the legislation.

That latter point brought Diaz-Balart into the back-and-forth. Part of a conference call for reporters set up by the McCain campaign, he was asked to attack Obama for backing a bill that he also voted for.

Not an enviable position.

The Times' Terry McDermott listened to the call and relates that Diaz-Balart had this to say:

"It’s important to note that out of $23 billion in the water bill -- a bill that I supported, having to hold my nose because of the issues that Sen. McCain correctly points out -- only $2 billion was for Everglades restoration.

"I voted for it because I was being parochial. I represent the entirety of the Everglades. Sen. McCain, thankfully, doesn’t play that game."

We can't help but wonder if Diaz-Balart wanted to so candidly concede that he does.

The water-projects bill, by the way, overwhelmingly cleared Congress last fall, becoming law despite President Bush's veto.

McCain, for his part, visited the Everglades on Friday. (Above is a shot of him and his entourage; he's in the front row, wearing a cap.)

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: Getty Images