Florida Politics

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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
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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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.

Older posts [back to 2002]

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The Blog for Tuesday, December 25, 2007

"Only five"

Only five laws take effect on New Year's

Max Lesnik

"He fled Cuba in 1961, but still calls Fidel Castro his friend. He can't stand communism, but bitterly opposes the U.S. embargo. He lives in Miami, but travels regularly to Havana, even appearing on state-run television. Max Lesnik always has an opinion, and often makes someone mad - no matter which side of the Florida Straits he's on." "No longer an exile, Castro's friend is at home in Cuba and Fla.".

Christmas gift

"Birds are expected to flock to Rodman Reservoir in northern Florida as officials lower the water level to help improve the ecosystem's health." "Reservoir drawdown to lure birds".

Game on

"Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have practically become Florida residents, while Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton won't set foot here unless they can collect some checks and not be seen in public."

And Sen. Bill Nelson sued his own national party chairman, while Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer is talking about watching his party's national convention at a Holiday Inn piano bar.

All because Florida decided to move its presidential primary to Jan. 29. The infighting led Florida newspaper and broadcast editors to vote the primary battle the state's No. 5 story for 2007.

Florida's early primary draws candidates and political fights

Charlie's ~~angels~~ patrons

This might inform one's thinking about the prop tax amendment:

Christmas came early for Gov. Charlie Crist.

The governor's Yes on 1 property-tax group supporting the proposed amendment raised more than $1 million from utilities, developers, friends and business groups last week, boosting the total he has raised to promote the tax-cutting amendment to more than $2.5 million. ...

Among the biggest givers to Crist's cause: Florida Power & Light doubled down on the amendment, giving another $250,000 to the group, which plans to run ads next month; the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which has talked up the ballot measure but had not thrown any coins into the fight, gave $100,000 last week; Ashbritt Inc., a Pompano Beach environmental-engineering and waste-disposal firm, gave $125,000; and TECO Energy coughed up $50,000.

Crist's Yes on 1 proponents are $1M wealthier

"Behind the scenes"

"Because of the primary dust-up, the candidates stump behind the scenes." "Democratic candidates stump in Florida on sly".

Wexler

"Rep. Robert Wexler is taking on the Bush administration -- in cyberspace.

The Boca Raton Democrat has launched a website -- wexlerwantshearings.com -- and is gathering signatures calling for impeachment hearings against Vice President Dick Cheney." "Rep. Wexler calls for Cheney's impeachment".

Did the Miami Herald really need to add this snarky sub-headline: "Echoes of Dennis Kucinich?"

Logrolling

"Powerful" people telling each other how "powerful" they are: "Scott Maxwell: The 25 most powerful people in Central Florida".

"'The cupboard is not just bare,' ... 'The cupboard is gone'"

"Faced with a $2.4 billion shortage from sales tax and corporate tax revenue, House and Senate money managers have warned Florida lawmakers that funding for election-year goodies will be in critically short supply during the coming legislative session." "Despite projected shortfall, lawmaker vows to fight for funding".