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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.

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 Thursday, September 29, 2005

Nelson v. Harris

    Today, Bill Cotterell writes: "Harris campaign relies on time-tested strategies", reviewing Harris' tedious campaign strategy.

    Yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel published "Harris vs. Nelson: A 2006 preview". It consists of a piece by an "a vice president for an investment-management firm" (who at one point apparently served in the lofty position of "former U.S. Senate staffer"). "Focus on senator's voting record". In it we get these gems:
    - Guess who came in with a more liberal record than Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer of New York?

    - I am supporting U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris because of Nelson's voting record, and because she works tirelessly for conservative principles, unafraid to roll up her sleeves and get dirty -- even literally. Recently, I was to meet with her at the Arcadia Rodeo, and was surprised to learn that she was participating in the event, barrel racing at full gallop. What's more, she's handy with a rifle.

    - Harris will win the Senate seat, catapulting countless liberals into a slack-jawed and incredulous state of mind.

    - The vitriolic thunderclap from the left will rain down on Harris, precipitating a mighty unintended consequence: victory for the celeb.
    On the Dem side, we get a piece from a former speechwriter, campaign press secretary, and Senate press secretary for U.S. Sen. Bob Graham; he basically seeks to demonstrate that Nelson is like Graham, and thus no liberal (essentially allowing the GOoPers to frame the debate):
    As Ronald Reagan used to say, there they go again. U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris and other Republicans targeting U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in the 2006 elections are already resorting to the old, tired tactic of calling him a liberal. But in Nelson's case, the rhetoric doesn't match the reality. Harris can compare Nelson to Ted Kennedy all she wants, but the truth is that he has developed a bipartisan governing style and a moderate legislative record that more closely resembles that of Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles. ...

    Katherine Harris has every right to challenge Nelson's bid for re-election. But she doesn't have the right to insult voters by subjecting them to the same old inaccurate name-calling that seems to dominate every campaign.
    "Liberal label doesn't match reality".
    In any event, both of them are getting plenty of TV time: "Harris, Nelson Get High Profile".

5:35 AM

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