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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
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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.

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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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The Blog for Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Mel's No Moderate

    Our Mel, the Cellophane Man,
    has yet to explain how a self-proclaimed centrist senator is best served by a staff of 30-somethings with connections to some of Washington's most conservative groups. ...

    Martinez seems unwilling to admit the obvious about the top staff he has chosen. Darling, for example, was a former lobbyist for the Alexander Strategy Group, a firm with direct ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Martinez's chief of staff came from an Alabama senator, his legislative director worked for the Heritage Foundation, and his state director was a former protege of White House operative Karl Rove. These are not people a senator "reaching for the middle" and "looking to serve Floridians" would normally hire.
    "Mel's mistake". Psst. Here's a hint: Martinez is not a "centrist"; he only plays one in the minds of the Orlando Sentinel editorial board.

    Martinez earned this reputation as a "centrist" in large part by having contributed to a few Dems (he was a trial lawyer, after all) and running his only successful campaign (for Orange County Chair) against an extreme right winger, thus permitting the media to portray him as a middle-of-the-roader.

    I think Mel's stint as Ken Connor's (the former head of the Family Research Council) lieutenant governor running mate in 1994, when Connor sought the Republican nomination for governor, is a bit more indicative of Martinez' politics.

    Mel also appears to be having a problem with the heat in the kitchen when reporters in Washington (it ain't like Orlando, Mel) have the temerity to actually ask him a pointed question:
    Martinez showed a flash of anger on Friday when, after a speech about National Hispanic Heritage Month, reporters again asked about the Schiavo memo.
    More.

7:53 AM

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