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]

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 Monday, August 18, 2008

McCain to launch attack on Tropical Storm Fay ...

    ... and also commits to staying 100 years. "McCain gets briefing on Tropical Storm Fay".

    I feel safer.


    "The old-fashioned is still very much new-fashion"

    You can twitter the night away, but face-to-face is what works:

    "The old-fashioned is still very much new-fashion, it's still very much what works," said Kristen Psaki, the Obama campaign's new media director for Florida. That's why supporters' MyBO pages contain "activity indexes" that track the numbers of events attended, doors knocked on, calls made and money raised, among other things.
    "Campaigns connect online and in person".


    Early voting suspended

    "Crist also signed an executive order [Sunday] allowing local supervisors of elections to suspend early voting in areas affected by the storm. Early voting sites in Monroe will be closed Monday and Tuesday, Secretary of State Kurt Browning said, Miami-Dade County elections officials will decide this evening if they will close early voting sites. Collier County early voting sites will close early tomorrow but will be open in the morning." "Crist: Storm-affected areas can suspend early voting".


    Florida's "undecideds"

    "After one of the longest and most unpredictable presidential campaigns, about eight in 10 voters have made up their minds between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain."

    This is about as "unscientific" as you can get:

    Last week, the St. Petersburg Times convened a group of nine undecided Tampa Bay voters for a free-wheeling discussion on the presidential election. Dutiful, well-informed and paying close attention to the campaigns, most of the voters in the focus group saw little to be excited about in either major candidate.
    "The undecideds".


    Maybe it was because he was on an European vacation?

    The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "the question isn't whether Mr. Crist is on the right track with a plan to fast-track already-approved state-funded construction projects. The question is, why wasn't he more aggressive sooner?" "Better late than ...".


    Plus, I think Darwin was a Commie who wanted to raise taxes

    It is always a joy to see RPOFers grovel for their base, particularly in this

    rancorous Republican primary in Palm Beach County in which the victor will try to oust Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Democrat who narrowly won the Republican-leaning district after Rep. Mark Foley stepped down in disgrace. Mahoney's seat is a major target for Republicans, who are otherwise on the defensive in several Florida districts.

    Gov. Charlie Crist stepped into the race Friday in an effort to tamp down some of the rancor, endorsing Tom Rooney, an attorney whose family owns the Palm Beach Kennel Club and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
    And this is a regular laff riot:
    ''When Charlie speaks, the people of Florida listen,'' said Joe Negron, who narrowly lost to Mahoney in 2006.

    Rooney is running against state Rep. Gayle Harrell and businessman Hal Valeche, who has attacked Rooney's ties to the dog track and ripped into both rivals with a TV ad claiming that they ''don't share our conservative values'' on abortion.

    Valeche and Harrell each attacked Crist's endorsement Friday, suggesting that gambling interests had played a role and portraying themselves as the true conservatives in the race.
    Enjoy: "U.S. House seats are a battlefield in Florida primaries".


    Luv 4 sale

    "State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a special target of Democrats because she's the only Broward-based Republican in the state Legislature, is already running television advertising. ... Money isn't a big issue for the incumbent. As of Aug. 1, finance reports show she's taken in $307,706 during the campaign. Bogdanoff has spent $125,244 of that." "On TV early, Bogdanoff says it isn't a sign she's in trouble in election".


    U.S. House update

    House race update from Lesley Clark

    - "Democrats have aggressively put three Republican seats in Miami into play for the first time in years, but none of the races involve primaries. The party is targeting at least six seats in Florida. Republicans are hoping to take Mahoney's seat away from the majority party, and retain the seat now held by retiring Republican Rep. Dave Weldon."

    - "In Orlando, five Democrats are running in the primary for the chance to challenge Republican Rep. Ric Keller, a top Democratic target. They include businessman Charlie Stuart, who lost to Keller in the general election in 2006, attorney Mike Smith and Alan Grayson, who lost to Stuart in the Democratic primary in 2006."

    - "On the Space Coast, Republicans and Democrats are in primaries to succeed outgoing Republican Rep. Dave Weldon, whose retirement created the only open seat in the state. Republican state Sen. Bill Posey, who has two opponents in the primary, has been considered the favorite to win the Republican-leaning seat, but Democrats are enthusiastic about the candidacy of Paul Rancatore, an Air Force Reserve officer. He faces physician Stephen Blythe in the primary."

    - "On the west coast, three Democrats, including Bill Dicks, the former mayor of Plant City, employment attorney Bill Mitchell and activist Anita dePalma, are vying to take on freshman Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis, now in the seat that his father, Michael, had held since 1982."

    - "In a race drawing national attention in Orlando, Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, a key Democratic target, and his expected challenger, former Democratic state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, have both drawn primary challengers they are expected to defeat. Democrats have sought to link Feeney to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom he accompanied on a 2003 golf trip to Scotland; Feeney has said he did nothing wrong."
    Much more here.


    That's our Billy

    Billy boy really wants that knuckle-dragger vote. The Tampa Tribune editorial board:

    When the Clemency Board last year approved Gov. Charlie Crist's proposal to automatically restore the voting rights of most felons, Attorney General Bill McCollum was the lone holdout. Now in the wake of the state's mortgage-broker scandal, McCollum is again painting all ex-offenders with a broad brush.

    The attorney general says anyone convicted of a felony should be prohibited from working as a mortgage broker, no matter whether their conviction stemmed from a DUI or a custody dispute. McCollum may feel he is being tough on crime, but his hard-line stance comes off as vindictive.
    "Ban On Felons Won't Fix Mortgage Mess".


    Off topic

    Tom Blackburn takes Corsi down:

    Sen. Obama may have only until the end of the convention next week to prove that he isn't a Manchurian candidate who starts forest fires, eats children, morphs into The Joker off the campaign trail and hides a Muslim black power agenda and a keffiyeh in his jacket pocket. So many negatives, so little time.

    For saying that, I will get letters calling me a shill for Democrats. The writers will show their faith in the ideology that trumps truth, but they will not notice that they thereby make my point. Whatever. For the record, I don't do suicide pacts, which seems to be what the Democrats are working on. All I am trying to say is that clowns playing pin the tale - any silly old tale - on the donkey may be funny, but they are no help.
    Read it all: "The 'Whatever' Nation".


    Huh?

    "A Hispanic specialty plate for Florida is still in the works. That is, if you still consider it a Hispanic specialty plate even though it makes no mention of anything Hispanic except for a cryptic Web site. In an earlier incarnation the plate boasted a Spanish-style galleon and proclaimed that Hispanics discovered Florida. Other versions were emblazoned with the words 'Latin pride.' But then Danny Ramos and his group, Hispanic Achievers, reworked it to feature a large American flag with smaller Hispanic flags and the words 'Proud to be an American Citizen.'" "New Hispanic specialty plate goes low-key".


    McCain in Orlando: accuses Obama of treason before VFW crowd

    Update: McCain is out of control: "'Not content to merely predict failure in Iraq, my opponent tried to legislate failure.'" "McCain: Obama tried to legislate Iraqi failure".

    "John McCain is here to speak to the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention this morning and Barack Obama is scheduled to speak to the same group Tuesday. It's the second time this month that the presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees have appeared in Florida to speak to a national group." "McCain to address veterans in Orlando today". See also "McCain to speak in Orlando".


    No more "Mr. nice guy"

    "So much for hugging in church. A day after Barack Obama and John McCain exchanged an embrace during a faith forum at a California megachurch, Obama called the U.S. economy a disaster thanks to 'John McCain's president, George W. Bush,' and chided his Republican rival's campaign team for trying to make him look unpatriotic and weak."

    "McCain says 'Here's my plan, I'm going to drill here, drill now which is something he only came up with two months ago when he started looking at polling," Obama said of McCain's energy policy.

    The GOP hopeful has become a vocal proponent of offshore oil drilling as a way to ease U.S. dependence on foreign oil and has criticized Obama for failing to embrace it as a way to help bring down oil prices. Obama noted that McCain had long opposed lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling.
    "A day after hugging in church Obama tears into McCain's energy policy and campaign tactics".


    "The all-FCAT-all-the-time culture"

    "As students start a new school year today, they'll find the all-FCAT-all-the-time culture in Florida schools is outlawed by a new state statute."

    Principals no longer are allowed to drop science curriculum to allow juniors to brush up on FCAT skills, as some in Palm Beach County did last year. And the FCAT workbooks, omnipresent during the frenzied weeks and even months before the spring tests, should see minimal daylight this year.
    "Law brings new FCAT era: Less emphasis on preparation".


    Off topic

    "The Iraqis have the Bush administration over a barrel." Which Bush administration?


    Oh No! Another "unwanted bio-invader"

    The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "With its warm climate, Florida is an ideal breeding ground for exotic species. Lawmakers need to deal with the problem before another unwanted bio-invader becomes part of the landscape." "Florida hasn't done enough to stop exotic species".


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