Florida Crossroads

"Almost three years before the [presidential] election, three potential presidential candidates make South Florida appearances." "A crossroads for contenders".




The Heat Is On Pruitt

"Sen. Ken Pruitt defended his dealings with the Florida Home Builders Association and political consultant Randy Nielsen after being peppered at a luncheon Friday with questions about a series of Palm Beach Post articles." "Pruitt defends ties to home builders association, consultant". See also the St Pete Times', "Pruitt defends associating with big donors".

The earlier Palm Beach Post pieces: "How Ken Pruitt used bus tour, committees to rise in Senate" and "Class-size flip-flop of Pruitt tied to interests". See also "Shame on Ken Pruitt".




A Pie Thing

"Legislators who want to make the key lime the official state pie are hoping their pitch doesn't start a political pie fight -- again." "Florida legislators discuss about pies".




"Harris admits link to corrupt donor"

The Tampa Trib has this headline: "Harris Got Illegal Donations". The St. Pete Times puts it this way: "Harris unknowingly got illegal donations".

The stories are about the same thing, with the Times AP story lede as follows:

A defense contractor admitted Friday he paid a California congressman more than $1-million in bribes and also acknowledged making illegal campaign contributions to two other members of Congress, one being Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Sarasota.

The Trib starts it this way:

A defense contractor who pleaded guilty Friday to bribing a California congressman told federal authorities he also funneled illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris of Longboat Key, who's running for the U.S. Senate.

"funnelling", that's a bad thing. Being the funnelee, that's bad too.

But the hardest hitting headline is this one, from the Tallahassee Democrat: "Harris admits link to corrupt donor".

In any event "Harris says she tried to return money":

"This case demonstrates the perils of a process in which candidates are sometimes asked to determine the intent of a contributor," Harris said in a statement released by her congressional office.

Harris' campaign attempted to return the campaign contributions to MZM employees but never received a response, the release said.

However, the fact remains that "Harris was forced again today to distance herself from a bribery scandal that already cost one former congressman his job."




A Small But Exclusive Club

"African-Americans for Gallagher".




Nelson Agin' Harris

"Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson still remains far ahead of likely Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, according to a poll released Friday. Nelson was favored by 53 percent of respondents, compared to 31 for Harris, according to a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University." "Incumbent Sen. Nelson still has big lead over Harris, poll shows". See also "New Polling".




Wingnits In A Quandry

"Hillary Clinton criticizes port deal during Miami Beach visit".




Bousquet

"Teachers struggle to do more with less".




"Clash of Rights"

"Two of Florida's most powerful lobbies — the National Rifle Association and the business community — will face off this spring in a duel that will force the GOP-controlled legislature to choose between two key Republican principles: the right to bear arms and private property rights." "Gun proposal to trigger clash over rights". See also "NRA, business groups fight over allowing guns in parking lots".




FCAT Follies

"Voters disapprove of teacher pay to be based on test results".




"There's A Catch"

To her credit,

Secretary of State Sue Cobb, a Bush family ally, broke with the governor last week to suggest support for a paper trail to back up touch-screen voting. Of course, there's a catch. But it's not of her making.

The state's new elections chief identified the correct entity to overcome the catch — the Legislature. It's the right idea, but it's two years too late.

The circular catch is this: Legislators can't be bothered to establish rules for printers because the state still hasn't certified printers for use in Florida. But manufacturers are in no hurry to certify printers, because printers are not required by the Legislature and can't be used without enabling legislation.

"Circling the paper trail".