Who Will Be "Jeb's Lotion Boy"?

Daniel Ruth: "'Vote For ... - A true conservative in the Jeb Bush bootlicker tradition.'" "The Battle To Be Jeb's Lotion Boy".




Impress Everyone

Go ahead and "Impress Everyone" with your political acumen at Fla Politics.




Primary Day

"'Huge amount at stake' today". See also "Today's the day", "No shortage of volunteers to man the polls", "Candidates' fates in the hands of voters", "Get ready, get set -- vote!", "Ready or not, it's time to vote" and "Be ready to vote".

- "Democrats unite at picnic, Republicans make final appeals before election day". See also "Gubernatorial candidates make last-minute appearances before polls open today" and "Labor Day finds candidates laboring hard to woo voters",

- "Jet-lagged Crist, Gallagher ready to come in for landings". See also "Hialeah crowd comes out for Tom", "Gung-ho for Gallagher in Hialeah", "Campaign Encounters Delays" ("A private jet ferrying Charlie Crist around Florida was forced Monday to return to Orlando Executive Airport after encountering engine trouble"), "Nutty Buddies", "Crist misses game but his team wins", "Engine loss forces Crist plane to land", "Gallagher bookends the state for conservatives", "Where's Tom?" ("'Where's Tom?' Crist said, looking around, during his brief speech. He quickly added. 'Not my opponent, I mean. I become less concerned about him every day'"), "Crist, Anticipating Victory" and "Crist feeling like a winner already".

- "Primary eve attacks by Davis, Smith overshadow party unity". See also "Davis, Smith push for votes in race that's too close to call", "An Angry Exchange in Miami", "Hecklers at picnic", "Dems Burn Up S. Florida Phones" ("Pity South Florida Democrats whose telephones are ringing off the hook this weekend with automated calls on behalf of Rod Smith and Jim Davis in the primary for governor.").

- "Disaster may not be too strong a word for Rep. Katherine Harris' Senate campaign."

Her makeup and formfitting clothes are mocked on national TV. Her flirty interview style embarrasses her campaign handlers. Staffers keep quitting in despair.

She's been linked to a shady defense contractor, caught in fibs and scolded for telling voters that non-Christian politicians "legislate sin."

Yet, on the strength of her name recognition, Harris is expected to win Florida's GOP Senate nomination on Tuesday, to the chagrin of many Republicans.

"Harris looks like primary winner". See also "Harris, Monroe campaign in Little Havana", "WON’T SUPPORT HARRIS" ("Peter Monroe said he will not support Katherine Harris if she is the Republican nominee for the U.S.Senate.") and "VERSAILLES: CAMPAIGN GROUND ZERO".




Check Out "Shadow Vote"

Shadow Vote is "an Internet-based exit poll system for Florida elections. It is similar to old fashioned exit polls but with an audit trail, as any participant can check their account anytime, unlike an anonymous exit poll. With a large enough data set the exit poll can predict or verify the results of an election." "Shadow Vote".




Hispanic Vote

"Hispanics, a multi-cultural group representing Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans and Central and South Americans immigrants, comprise 14 percent of the state's registered voters, according to a 2003 study from the Pew Hispanic Center" "Candidates find reaching out to Hispanic voters no easy task".




Impotent

The Buzz:

the limits of Mr. Rove’s influence were made clear this year when he was unable to persuade the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Allan G. Bense, to run in the Republican primary for Senate against Representative Katherine Harris, whom the party judged to be a weak candidate. Mr. Rove invited Mr. Bense for a sit-down at his vacation home in Rosemary Beach, Fla., as part of a long but failed effort to get him to challenge Ms. Harris for the nomination, said Towson Fraser, a spokesman for Mr. Bense.

"Rove and Bense".




Optimistic

"Running late and looking at some nasty weather in Miami this afternoon, Rod Smith decided to scrap plans to campaign outside the Miami-Florida State football game. So what's he going to do instead? 'I'm going to a [campaign] meeting to discuss Wednesday,' Smith said. He added with a laugh, 'I'm really optimistic.'" "Planning for the Best". See also "Sharpton Weighs In".




Collierblog

"Collierblog.com was started by Naples resident Bill Dooley. He calls the forum, which asks viewers to "blog or die," a combination of column and radio call-in show." "Web site lets candidates communicate with voters".




Alachua

"Primary will narrow field".




Harris

"Harris' Spanish radio ad". See also "Final push in Miami".




Sharpton Enters Fray

"Radio personality Al Sharpton, a former Democratic presidential candidate, has placed Pitts-Lee robo calls rapping Jim Davis for his vote to deny the two men compensation after they spent 12 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit." "Dueling black leaders in gov. race".




Perhaps There Should Be

"There's no vacation in politics".




Paternity Claim

"Charlie Crist confronted an 18-year-old claim that he fathered a child with a St. Petersburg woman, calling it 'absolutely false' on Sunday as a secret campaign was launched near the end of the Republican primary for governor to leak the paternity dispute to the press." "Crist confronts paternity claim".




Clubs

"Grass-roots work helps GOP, Democrats field more candidates." "Volunteers become political in clubs".