[P]olitics happened. Floridians voted in 1998 to switch to an appointed elections chief beginning in 2003. The decision came before the 2000 presidential election, but the partisan actions of Ms. Hood's elected predecessor, Katherine Harris, confirmed the wisdom of depoliticizing an office that was supposed to conduct unbiased elections.

But the method of purging politics — gubernatorial appointment — didn't work. Perhaps it was naive to think that it could. Rather than stick up for voters by trying to count every possible legal vote, Ms. Hood supported policies that threw out votes that could have been counted, and improperly sought to bar qualified voters from casting ballots. Not coincidentally, her mistakes and narrow decisions favored Republicans over Democrats.

Most notoriously, Ms. Hood sought to impose on local elections officials a mistake-filled list of voters who, as alleged former felons, could not vote. When questions arose about the list's accuracy, Ms. Hood wasted the public's money on a lawsuit to keep it secret.

Working for an administration that considers everything it does "bold," Ms. Hood was remarkably timid about seeking legislative solutions to obvious problems, such as improving methods of early voting to reduce long lines and dealing with required "hand recounts" in a world of electronic ballots. Ms. Hood returns to Orlando, where she once served as mayor, without doing enough to restore trust in the basic right to vote.

Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a special legislative session Friday to tackle two festering concerns: implementing slots rules for casinos in Broward County and reforms to cut Medicaid costs.

Bush's call for the session the week of Dec. 5 also resolves a backroom dispute between House and Senate leaders in recent weeks over what issues merited special attention. Senate leaders wanted to revisit lobbyist ethics reforms, while House Speaker Allan Bense and his captains wanted to press for further tort-reform measures.

Senate President Tom Lee said neither chamber had reached agreement and that the governor couldn't wait any longer.

"If the Legislature were to come to some arrangement, (the call) would have to be somewhat broader than that," Lee said.

Two state lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation next year that would change how Florida courts impose the death penalty.

The legislation, being proposed by Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, and Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Pompano Beach, would require unanimous jury votes to recommend death sentences. Currently, state law requires a simple majority of a 12-member jury.

After Harris' tenure, the secretary of state became an appointed office rather than elected. It was hoped that the change would insulate the job from partisan politics. It didn't, so now Bush should rehabilitate the position by picking someone who is an elections expert rather than a politician.

That means state Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, wouldn't be a good choice. Sebesta planted the seed himself, suggesting to a St. Petersburg Times reporter that he is being recruited for the job. While he has been a loyal team player for Bush and the Republican Party, that is hardly a desirable quality for a job that requires impartiality.

All eyes will be on the next secretary of state, and it had better be someone who can withstand the scrutiny.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith took a little swipe at his party's 2002 nominee, Bill McBride, Wednesday night while talking to Tampa Bay members of Democracy for America about the need for better funding for Florida schools: "Somebody's going to ask me, so I'll go ahead and say it: "How are you going to pay for it?' By the way, I wish that's a question I wish somebody had answered better a few years ago."

Someone apparently unenthusiastic about Smith sprinkled a copy of an Oct. Gainesville Sun article about Smith picking former Lt. Governor Wayne Mixson - who has backed Jeb and George Bush - as his campaign co-chairman. They even included a copy of the Sun's Oct. 20 editorial cartoon depicting Smith as part elephant.

Florida's House Democrats are united against the offshore proposal but Republicans are split.

Gov. Jeb Bush, who earned praise last year for the way the state responded to a series of killer storms, now finds himself buffeted by state legislators who contend Florida dropped the ball when it came to being prepared for Hurricane Wilma.

On Thursday, one leading Democratic state senator called for a special committee to investigate whether Florida was ready for Wilma, including the slow pace of restoring power to weary South Floridians.

"Florida's response to Hurricane Wilma was not satisfactory," Sen. Rod Smith, an Alachua Democrat who is running for governor, said in a press release. "Our state's efforts, in too many cases, appear to have been inadequate or unacceptably late."

"We have a phenomenal response system in Florida that works and will continue to work," said Alia Faraj, who said the state has made improvements to its efforts following each of the storms that have hit Florida in the past two hurricane seasons.

The draw for Keller's Dec. 1 event at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Orlando is U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez. Keller is offering a VIP photo shoot with Martinez and the title of honorary event chairman to anybody who raises or donates $2,000.

record in managing elections remain far too partisan. As a result, the successes the respected former Orlando mayor achieved are modest compared to what she otherwise might have been able to accomplish.

In addition to the $180,000 salary, Navarro is also receiving $1,500-a-month for housing. Total compensation package: $208,000 a year for the respected strategist recruited by Sen. Bill Nelson.

In addition to serving as executive director of the state party, Navarro also will lead the party's coordinated campaign. The Democrats, by the way, are looking at basing their coordinated campaign in Orlando, alongside the beefed up Orange County party

Despite the indictments of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris is telling the party faithful that the situation isn't as grim for the GOP as some political pundits are making it out to be. ...

Harris said the party is re-focusing on the core beliefs of less government and less taxes.

Other's in the party are taking a different approach. Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, acknowledged at the same event Harris was at that it's been a bad stretch for Republicans.

"We have an image problem in this country," Lee said.

"Even though I am not a Virginian, I care deeply about the outcome of this election because one of the candidates for Virginia Governor has said publicly that he would follow Jeb Bush’s lead in similar cases," he said in a statement.

Leave it to Sen. Mike Fasano to find yet another way to wrap himself in the flag.

Fasano and protege Rep. John Legg, both New Port Richey Republicans, have announced plans to amend the Florida Constitution to protect children's ability to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each school day. Saying the pledge in public schools already is required by state law. That is not enough for Fasano and Legg, who want Florida voters to add the requirement to the state Constitution. They should call it the Redundant Amendment.

It is another gratuitous political stunt from Fasano, who last year successfully pushed legislation mandating American-made U.S. flags, measuring 2 by 3 feet, be displayed in each Florida public school classroom. It required public school foundations to tap their business contacts to offset the cost of the unfunded mandate.

Hood drew her own share of scrutiny, starting with a controversial but unsuccessful plan in 2003 to relocate the state library to a private university.

Her greatest criticism, however, came leading up to the 2004 election when she made decisions that Democratic activists claimed favored Republicans, starting with her position that Reform Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader belonged on the ballot.

Other voter advocates argued she made it harder for citizens to vote. In October 2004, she issued instructions to county election supervisors to invalidate hundreds of "incomplete" voter registration forms because would-be voters had not checked a box saying they were a U.S. citizen. But the would-be voters had signed an oath attesting to their citizenship.

A union-backed lawsuit opposing Hood's decision was thrown out. But a federal appeals court ruled in September the lawsuit should not have been rejected and urged the unions to refile.

Hood's decision on the voter registration came on the heels of other disclosures, including the state's second attempt to produce a comprehensive list of people who couldn't vote because they had felony convictions. Hood's version, scrapped nine days after it was made public, was discovered to have systemic problems, most notably a coding error that appeared to have prevented any felons with Hispanic surnames from being included.

Hispanics tend to vote Republican, whereas blacks, disproportionately represented in the state's prisons, tend to vote Democratic. Hood and Republican officials said the oversight was not intentional.

"She was part of a team that did not implement policies that were protective of the right to vote. They made the right to vote more perilous," said Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The sources also said Hood, a loyal Republican, has expressed interest in again seeking elected office, and they speculated that her options could include a spot as lieutenant governor on the gubernatorial tickets of either Attorney General Charlie Crist or Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher or perhaps running against incumbent Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a Democrat viewed as vulnerable.

his main qualification seems to be his appeal to a narrow band of conservative ideals. This sets the stage for a messy fight over his nomination that will further divide rather than unite the country.

It is not his conservatism that sets him apart, but rather his perceived alignment with a particular group of judicial partisans.

For starters, Judge Alito has written in support of unreasonable and unconstitutional restrictions on abortion. He does not recognize health of the mother as a reasonable exception to such restrictions. The Supreme Court has ruled otherwise, the key vote coming from the person Judge Alito would replace — Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Judge Alito has written that it is legal to make a woman obtain permission from her spouse before having an abortion. What if a battered wife was forced to have sex?

Also, Judge Alito's writings show a consistent bias against those seeking enforcement of their civil rights. He ruled, for example, that employees don't have the right to sue under the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Supreme Court reversed that decision.

Like Robert Bork, Judge Alito is credentialed but unqualified because his views are too extreme. If President Bush thought that a good court fight would divert the nation's attention [from current and future indictments] , the Senate should give him that fight.

Florida is hurtling toward a fiscal train wreck, a new study warns, but lawmakers are unlikely to pay much attention.

And that's unfortunate for taxpayers who will pay the price. Through careful analysis, "Tough Choices: Shaping Florida's Future," shows that budget shortfalls in the next few years are inevitable as the housing boom slows and state revenue stalls.

Granted, the report is scholarly, prepared for the LeRoy Collins Institute, a nonprofit research organization at Florida State University. Its authors strive mightily to be apolitical. The report does not castigate anyone or decry any policies. It is, if anything, too cautious in proposing solutions.

Florida, already years behind in building the roads and other infrastructure required by growth, will experience a budget crisis at the same time it will face other major expenses, including the class-size amendment and rising Medicaid obligations. The medical program already consumes about a quarter of the state budget at $15 billion and is projected to grow 14 percent this year.

Florida, once renowned for its low costs and easy living, is rapidly becoming a high-cost, low-amenity state.

The sole purpose of legislation adopted by the House Resources Committee this week is to make it easier to drill wherever the petroleum industry wants. ...

So it is discouraging that Gov. Jeb Bush and several Florida representatives, including Pinellas Rep. Mike Bilirakis, are going along with this ploy. Bush has been solid on keeping the rigs away from Florida's coast and his submission on this issue is cause for dismay.

a close look shows that safeguard to be illusionary. It could only be enacted if supported by the governor and the Legislature, so you can imagine how much money the petroleum industry will pour into political races.

More significantly, after 2012, coastal states that wanted to extend the moratorium would have to file three separate petitions with the federal government every five years. And the secretary of the Department of the Interior still would have the final say on those protections.

All this is obviously designed to allow the oil industry to work its way ever closer to Florida's beaches, which could mean the ruin of our $50 billion a year tourist industry.

Gov. Jeb Bush often boasts that if Florida were a Fortune 500 company, its financial numbers would be rock-solid impressive. ...

Even under closer scrutiny by Washington's Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Sunshine State looks like a Wall Street giant. Only this time, its numbers look more like Enron or WorldCom.

The nonpartisan center recently tarred Florida and 10 other states "at risk" of budgetary collapse because of serious structural problems with its tax system.

Florida's dubious rating is being splashed nationwide in this month's issue of State Legislatures, the magazine of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Few members of Congress have districts better drawn to suit them than Feeney. (Feeney, after all, helped draw it back when he was speaker of the Florida House.)

So, he's popular with his constituents. And conventional wisdom suggests this vocal and unabashed conservative has a lock on his heavily Republican seat focused on Seminole and Volusia counties.

That said, Winter Park veterinarian Andy Michaud is determined to give Feeney a run for his money -- and has plopped about $110,000 of his own money into the campaign. "We want to make sure that people know I'm serious about this," Michaud said recently. "People are ready for a change."

Feeney, however, has a well-stocked war chest -- more than $500,000, with much of that coming from special interests far away from Central Florida. (Of the first 20 donations listed on his most recent report, for example, only two even came from Florida -- and one of those was the PAC for Bacardi rum.)

And the money is still pouring in. Just last week, Feeney hosted a fundraiser in his proud-to-be-shabby apartment that had D.C. buzzing. Staffers say the event -- which offered $500 donors all the Oreos, squirt cheese, Budweiser and Diet Coke they could handle -- took in an additional $20,000.

Gov. Jeb Bush predicts withdrawal pains when he steps down from "the most amazing job in the world." He's sick of FEMA bashing. He's annoyed with his father's national security adviser criticizing his brother's foreign policy. He's worried that citizens and some Republican leaders don't adequately appreciate his education reforms.

And in a wide-ranging TV interview, Bush also clearly left the door open to be tapped as someone's vice president.

The state agency also has done "a dismal job" since taking over another federal permitting program that regulates discharges of industrial, sewer and other pollution, said Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida.

"It would be adding insult to injury to Florida taxpayers to tell them they are losing yet another important Clean Water Act protection," she said.

A report by regulators issued in July said Florida Power & Light was not doing enough to inspect utility poles, possibly allowing unstable and rotting poles to slip through the cracks.

Many of the utility's 1 million wood poles snapped during Wilma's high winds. More than a third of the its customers, about 1.7 million, were still without power Friday, four days after the storm hit.

On reports that Karl Rove remained under investigation, Gov. Bush said he saw no reason Rove should step aside. "If he's indicted he probably should, but not if he's under investigation."

"The guy's had two years,'' Bush said of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. "It seems like he'd be able to figure out if there was wrongdoing or not."

charges that [Bill] McBride received an illegal campaign contribution from a political committee set up by the [Teachers'] union.

More than three years after the Republican Party of Florida accused Bill McBride and the state's teachers union of flouting election laws, the case against the Tampa attorney and the union has been quietly settled.

Under the terms of the settlement, obtained Friday by The Herald, the case is dismissed with no admission of wrongdoing. In exchange for dismissal, both sides agree that they will not sue each other for attorney fees or damages.