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
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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.

 

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The Blog for Friday, September 19, 2008

Palin cultists to smear their naked torsos with dillo blood

    "The retirement community of more than 80,000 residents has hosted President George W. Bush, Florida Govs. Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist, presidential candidates including Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney and many others in recent years. But local Republicans say this Sunday's rally with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may be the largest ever." "'Sarah-mania' grips the Villages before rally". See also "Palin To Visit Retirement Enclave".

    Rumor has it that after praying at Palin's feet, the Palin cultists will smear their naked torsos with the blood of helpless armadillos killed roadside with automatic weapons.


    Not without a little help from DW-S

    Cook Political report has just revised its position on CD 18 (Ileana Ros-Lehtinen) from "Likely Republican to Solid Republican":

    As other races in South Florida have become more competitive, this district has garnered less attention, which is good news for incumbent Ros-Lehtinen. District insiders say she has stronger cross-partisan appeal than other nearby targets and that Democratic businesswoman Annette Taddeo has shown less tenacity than her neighboring challengers.
    "FL-18 Update".


    From the "values" crowd

    "Medicaid recipients across Florida [are] challenging the nightmare of the old and disabled: to be forced from comfort and familiarity into a nursing home. They say the state is illegally forcing them to live in nursing homes when they should be able to live where they choose. Advocates charge that nursing homes, afraid of losing money, have successfully pressured politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult. They have filed a federal lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of nearly 8,500 institutionalized Floridians." "Medicaid long-term care lawsuit erupts in Fla.".


    We don' need no stinkin' regulators here in Fla'duh

    The Miami Herald editorial board: "Despite having the highest rate of mortgage fraud in the country, Florida has done an astonishingly poor job of protecting the public against unlicensed, unscrupulous mortgage brokers -- and even from those who are outright criminals. These were the overall findings of a recent Miami Herald investigative series, which was validated this week by a state audit that found similar failures and an abysmal lack of enforcement and protection by state regulators." "State regulators failed to do their job".


    Never forget ...

    ... Charlie is and always will be a mindless RPOFer blabbing on about nonexistent "fraud" as an excuse to suppress the Dem vote: "Crist said Thursday Florida's "no match, no vote" law is the best way to head off election fraud at the polls on Nov. 4. But Marilynn Wills, head of the League of Women Voters of Florida and an influential county-voter registrar, said putting the burden on citizens to clear up any glitches in records of their names, driver's licenses or Social Security numbers threatens to disenfranchise many newly registered voters during the November elections. They called the identity match an unnecessary bureaucratic burden on the right to vote." Here's the rub: "People pretending to be someone else has never been the problem, said Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho."

    "What we've done in this country is to create the most partisan elections process we could devise," Sancho said. "The no match, no vote, rule is being implemented in states where Republicans are in charge because they know that a certain percentage of new registrants will not be able to jump through several hoops."
    "Crist supports 'no match, no vote' law to fight fraud".


    But we luv our Charlie

    "Florida's unemployment rate is at its highest level in more than 13 years, rising again in August to 6.5 percent. ... its highest level since January, 1995. ... also above the national rate of 6.1 percent, and 2.3 points higher than it was a year ago." "Florida unemployment keeps rising".


    "Strengths and weaknesses"

    "John McCain and Barack Obama each have strengths and weaknesses in the competition for Florida's 27 electoral votes. Here's a rundown from Aubrey Jewett, associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida." "Pluses and challenges for McCain and Obama". See also "Florida is a battleground in presidential race".

    More: "Obama to unveil proposals in Florida", "Obama forum scheduled in Daytona", "Obama to hold rally at University of Miami today" and "Obama, Palin to visit Central Florida".


    Idiots

    The The Tampa Tribune editorial board inserts its collective nose into Jebbie's considerable derriere yet again, claiming the intellectual pipsqueak who previously served as Governor

    has every right to be proud of his legacy
    Now this bimbo - whose expertise was and remains nothing more than "trading on the famous family name" to gain "entry to exclusive business ventures courtesy of wealthy Republicans" - wants to issue "grades" to Florida's legislators:
    Bush gave passing grades to the state Republican majority and Ds and Fs went to Democrats. He based his grades on how lawmakers voted on legislation dealing with school grades, private-school vouchers, merit pay for teachers and pet projects
    . However, even Jebbie's sycophants on the Trib editorial board see that "Jeb Bush's Legislative Report Card Doesn't Make The Grade". See generally "Make the Money and Run" ("Bush's political connections have intersected nicely with his business ventures.")


    "Stunning double flip-flop"

    "In a stunning double flip-flop, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that it made a mistake a year ago by requiring voter approval for billions of dollars worth of roads, buildings and other local redevelopment projects. Last September's 7-0 ruling reversed a precedent the high court had set 27 years earlier and threatened redevelopment bond issues across Florida." "High court reverses redevelopment rule". See also "Florida Supreme Court reverses itself on bond issue".


    Brilliant mistake

    "With more than 92,000 inmates, Florida has the nation's third-largest prison system. Seven years ago, then-Gov. Jeb Bush shifted the food service operations to private companies in hopes of saving money." "Oldsmar company opts out of prison food service".


    Thank 'ye Sarah

    "Five weeks ago, the St. Petersburg Times convened a group of Tampa Bay voters who were undecided about the presidential election. Their strong distrust of Barack Obama suggested it was a group ripe for John McCain to win over. Not anymore." "Palin pushes undecideds to left".


    Brain trust

    "Rival political managers James Carville and Karl Rove agreed Wednesday that the Wall Street shocks of recent days were 'a game-changer' in the presidential race, but disagreed over which party will benefit from the economic fallout." "Carville, Rove in Fla. for health-care discussion".


    Foley gets a pass

    "Florida law enforcement officials announced today they will not file charges against former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, nearly two years after investigating reports that the disgraced Palm Beach County politician exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with male congressional pages." Here's the trick:

    Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner blamed Foley's refusal to hand over his government computers and data files to investigators for the failure to press charges.
    Here's how it works:
    Last year, the general counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives refused to release Foley's government-issued computers without Foley's permission.

    Foley's lawyer, David Roth, refused.

    "Roth advised that it was not in Foley's best interest to comply" with the request, the report reads.
    "Florida officials cite lack of evidence in declining to charge Foley in cybersex case". More: "Fla. authorities say they can't prove Foley case".

    Who owns them computers anyway?


    Gouging away

    "Price-gouging complaints continued Wednesday as gas prices moderated and supply issues persisted in Florida." "Gas prices level out; supply 'stretched thin'". "Fla. officials get 2,800 gas gouging complaints".


    Blah, blah, blah ...

    "Crist and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Republican and a Democrat, said Thursday the only cure for what ails America's medical marketplace is bipartisan cooperation and compromise. " "Cooperation needed to fix health care".


    "'Scorn and ridicule'"

    "Democratic congressional candidate John Dicks didn't have much fun during his recent primary campaign against Republican incumbent Rep. Gus Bilirakis. And as a result, Dicks has filed a lawsuit accusing the primary's eventual winner, Bill Mitchell, of running a libelous campaign that exposed the former Plant City mayor to 'scorn and ridicule.'" "It Wasn't Pretty, But Negative Ad Sure Worked".


    The Soyuz thing

    The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Rep. Weldon is hurting the space program by fighting the use of Russian spacecraft".


    Flippers

    "Land speculators buy property they know the government is eyeing. They go through the obligatory phase of threatening to develop it, often with full cooperation of planning departments and city officials. Then the owners flip it for a huge profit."

    "In a rare moment of fiscal restraint, the Florida Cabinet rejected the latest attempt this week. Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Gov. Charlie Crist said no to a Longwood attorney looking to sell 385 acres next to the proposed Wekiva Parkway."

    The $37.5 million price tag is ridiculous.

    Owner Jim Palmer, a Crist fundraiser and member of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, began buying the property in 2006, paying $23 million for it, according to public records. His spokesman says Palmer actually has $32 million invested in the property when you throw in holding costs and other expenses.

    I don't care what he has in it. That's his problem. The only way this land is worth $37.5 million is if there is a Saudi-sized oil field under it.
    "In this economy, state shouldn't play 'flip this land' to preserve green space".


    Error

    Joel Engelhardt: "It would be nice, now that the state has forced every county to use fool-proof, count-every-vote paper ballots, if every vote actually counted. But with apologies to humans everywhere, nice is impossible. Blame human error." "Paper ballots, human hands".


    "Food to Haiti"

    "Miami city commissioner to deliver food to Haiti".


    Whatever

    "Attorney General Bill McCollum wants a federal agency to step in and halt Las Vegas-style gambling at Seminole Indian casinos in Florida." "McCollum asks feds to halt some Seminole gaming". See also "McCollum seeks halt to Seminole gambling".


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