Florida Politics

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FLORIDA POLITICS

Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

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Previous Articles by Derek Newton: Ten Things Fox on Line 1 Stem Cells are Intelligent Design Katrina Spin No Can't Win Perhaps the Most Important Race Senate Outlook The Nelson Thing Deep, Dark Secret Smart Boy Bringing Guns to a Knife Fight Playing to our Strength

The Blog for Saturday, November 06, 2004

Bingo

But what troubled me Wednesday was my feeling that this election was tipped because of an outpouring of support for George Bush by people who don't just favor different policies from me -- they favor a whole different kind of America from me. We don't just disagree on what America should be doing; we disagree on what America is.

2 nations under God

Morgan

Democrats' sound, fury signified little at polls

Provisional Ballots

Broward elections officials accepted more than 2,428 provisional ballots in the presidential election, the first time they were widely used in the state.

Historic vote count is over

You Don't Think . . .

Some voters say the issues of the poor and working class were overlooked

Religious leaders prepare demands
For backing Bush, the groups want action on abortion and gay marriage

Buckle Up

"I earned capital in this campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it," Bush said Thursday, reminding his questioners during a press conference that he had reiterated the priorities of his second-term agenda throughout the campaign. "I feel it is necessary to move an agenda I told the American people I would do. . . . We will reach out to all Americans who share our goals."

Clear enough. No more noise about bipartisanship. It's four more years of my way or the highway.

Pledges of unity

Battling On

The battle over turning Florida into a Las Vegas-style playground has not ended despite a clear victory for proponents of Amendment 4, which gives voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties the power to allow slot machines in dog tracks, horse tracks and jai-alai frontons.

Slot machine foes continue to fight

"Canvassing Bored"

Canvassing bored: Trivia, oddball chats sustain ballot-weary panel

From the Blogosphere

there is something fishy in Ohio and Florida. The bottom line, though, is that, barring irrefutable evidence of widespread machine errors, there is almost certainly no way in hell for Kerry to gain enough votes in either state to make a difference in the outcome.

Lost votes in Ohio and Florida

The Blog for Friday, November 05, 2004

You Could Say That

GOP tightens hold on Florida

Cotterell

Frustrated Florida Democratic Party leaders saw the election results Wednesday like one of those old good-news, bad-news jokes.

The good news, they said, is that they have nowhere to go but up. The bad news is Democrats have been saying that every two years since 1994.

Democrats contemplate losses, course for the future

But I'm a Lobbyist!

A BellSouth lobbyist accused of violating campaign finance rules by using the company's money to finance a public opinion poll for a U.S. Senate candidate didn't break any laws, his attorney said Thursday.

Eliseo R. "Tito" Riera-Gomez pleaded not guilty to 10 charges involving an alleged scheme to disguise company invoices to pay for the poll. He was arrested Wednesday.

Lobbyist's lawyer denies campaign misspending

Now He's A Nice Guy

Mel Martinez visited Miami for the first time since winning the hotly contested U.S. Senate race. He vowed to represent all Floridians, regardless of how they voted.

Martinez arrives to cheers in Miami

Which Mel Martinez?

Martinez promises to be unifier in first term in U.S. Senate

Oh Joy

Pinellas County's Leslie Waters will be the speaker pro tem in the state House of Representatives for the next two years.

The appointment by House Speaker-designate Allen Bense of Panama City, which members must confirm, will make Waters the second-ranking Republican in the House.

Leadership post goes to Rep. Waters

"Vote Glitch", How Nice

Gambling vote glitch mars tally

Slots measure scratches way to narrow approval

Broward machines count backward

Amendments

Once again voters have passed a slew of constitutional amendments, but as many activists are beginning to realize, it's long road from getting an amendment passed to finally, if ever, getting it carried out.

Several of this year's amendments are facing lawsuits that will keep their futures in doubt. Others may have no impact unless the Legislature takes up the issue or, in the case of slot machines, whether they can pass a second vote in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Amendments face obstacles

Doctors, lawyers moving to blunt amendments

Whatever

Connie Mack IV had a conservative record in the Florida Legislature. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was one of its most liberal members.

State's new U.S. House members opposites

Could it Get Any Worse?

Susan Goldstein was declared the winner of a Broward County state House seat Thursday, solidifying a three-seat pickup for Republicans in a chamber they already dominate.

Republicans pick up 3 seats in state House

The Blog for Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Kerry Ahead by 5 in Florida

Likely voters in Florida give Kerry the lead, 49 percent to Bush’s 44 percent, Nader at 1 percent.

Silly GOoPers

Republican officials said they were concerned that throngs of voters showing up Monday at the county's 14 early voting sites could vote again Election Day. The first list sent to precincts had contained the names of people who voted early through Sunday.

Judge dismisses motion in Republicans suit against Broward elections official

Republicans lose 11th-hour suit challenging Broward voter rolls

Go Get 'Em

A network of Democratic trial attorneys and law professors is threatening to sue poll watchers and poll challengers who intimidate or disenfranchise voters in Florida, Ohio and other battleground states.

Attorneys to challenge Republican poll watchers, challengers

Jeez!

13,000 Ballots Rushed From Voting Site, Must Be Recounted

The Blog for Monday, November 01, 2004

Even Gallup Gets It

In the battleground state polls, only in two places did a survey indicate a clear advantage to a candidate, given the same margin of error.

Those states were Wisconsin, where Bush led by 8 points, and Minnesota, where Kerry led by 8 points.

In the other states, Bush had leads of 2 points in Iowa and 4 points in Pennsylvania. Kerry had leads of 3 points in Florida and 4 points in Ohio.
The figures were mostly the same among registered voters, except in Pennsylvania, where Kerry had a 2-point lead....

Perhaps the most significant shift in the poll was in Florida, where the same survey indicated Bush ahead by 8 points among likely voters last week, though other state polls indicated a much tighter race.

Bush, Kerry split six key states

I Don't Think It Will Be That Close

States differ on what to do with a ballot cast early by someone who then dies before Election Day, but it could be crucial in a tight election.

Could 'ghost' votes decide race?

Chasing Votes

In the closing hours of the frenetic campaign for the White House, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry returned Sunday to make 11th-hour pleas to voters in the state that has loomed for four years as the nation's biggest electoral prize.

Bush, Kerry chase every Florida vote

Anxiety

Voter anxiety running high as bitter, hard-fought presidential race ends

"Political Ground Troops"

The battle over the hearts and minds of South Florida voters shifted gears on Sunday, as the political ground troops -- poll watchers, lawyers, civil rights leaders and get-out-the-vote volunteers -- moved into position for Election Day.

Determined Broward voters flock to early voting sites

Democracy's foot soldiers

Volunteers to monitor democracy

The Blog for Sunday, October 31, 2004

No Posts This Morning . . .

Integrity tops intellect and steadfast courage trumps falsified bravery.

Martinez is a moderate conservative.