Pinellas County wants to make it easier for new voters to fix identification problems under Florida's much-debated "no match, no vote" law, a move the state believes would be illegal.

The result is a new controversy involving the law, which requires that a new voter's driver's license number match the one in the state database.

Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark says she'll give voters with matching problems a chance to correct them at the polls on Election Day, so they won't have to cast provisional ballots [and have to make a trip back to the SOE offices within 2 days and wait in line].

She plans to tell poll workers to phone election headquarters to try to resolve cases of mismatched numbers, which can be the result of a clerical error.

"I don't think the person should be penalized if the error is on our side of the net," Clark said.

Unlike what activists are saying, obvious errors, including nicknames or typos, will be resolved, and that applicant will be registered to vote.

Browning ... has been in Kuwait visiting with overseas military voters from Florida ... .

Chamber chumps to the rescue

Just when McCain needs some poll-PR, the hacks at the Chamber step into the breach: "Countering a series of polls earlier this week showing Barack Obama leading the presidential race in Florida, a Chamber of Commerce poll shows John McCain with a lead slightly less than the error margin. The poll showed McCain with 45 percent; Obama 42 percent". "Chamber Poll Shows McCain Up In Florida, Crist Approval Back Up".

Mail it in

"Requests for absentee ballots are soaring in Tampa Bay area counties, a bellwether region in this hard-fought swing state." "Absentee vote requests soaring". See also "Absentee Ballots Go Out As Registration Deadline Nears".

And his wife is a thespian

To paraphrase that J S Mills guy

"All Republicans are not necessarily racist a**holes, but most racist a**holes are Republicans."

A Florida middle school teacher has been suspended after students said he used a racial epithet directed at presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Seventh-grade social studies teacher Greg Howard reportedly wrote the word CHANGE as an acronym on the board and wrote an expletive with the letter 'N.'

The phrase he wrote has alternately been reported as "Can You Help A (expletive) Get Elected" and "Come Help A (expletive) Get Elected."

Speaking of black people

"Four years ago, nearly 500,000 registered black voters stayed home, a significant figure considering that President George W. Bush beat John Kerry by 381,000 votes. There were 1.2-million black voters overall in Florida." "It's all about black voters".

Dumbing things down

- Woo hoo! "Palin visiting Boca Raton during 2-day Florida jaunt".

- Wink-o-matic: "Downtown Clearwater prepares for Palin appearance".

- Adam Smith must be balanced: "Palin regains confidence in debate, while Biden commands the material".

- The Daytona Beach News-Journal editorial board: "Palin connected with a segment of the audience predisposed to suspend disbelief." "Biden-Palin in the turn".

- Yee Haw! "Hundreds grab up tickets for Palin visit".

'Glades

"The Everglades restoration project is off track. After eight years of work and $7-billion in taxpayer spending, the effort is strangled by red tape, a shift in the nation's political priorities and concern over rising costs. The project was designed as a partnership between the federal government and the state, but Congress is not providing Washington's share of the cash. Federal agencies also need to show greater urgency and ensure that the state, in looking to accommodate growth, protects the environmental quality of this national treasure." "Refocus attention on saving Everglades". See also "Accelerate pace of Everglades restoration".

Black men can't vote

"With felons who have served their time now having a much easier path back to the voting booth, the 2008 political season has led to some efforts to harness a newly accessible voting bloc." "Restoration of felons' voting rights in Florida has 'never been easier'". See also "123,000 Florida felons getting to vote again".

"Roughly 13 percent of black men nationwide have lost the right to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law, which advocates the reform of felon voting rights." "Push to register felons to vote could aid Obama".

Stoopid

The Miami Herald editorial board: "Crist's choices thus far tap into only one of the many options available to him: conservative white male. Florida is too big, too populous and too diverse a state for the chief executive to confine his choices to a single end of the social and political spectrum. Gov. Crist knows better. Florida deserves better." "Florida's top court needs more diversity".

Dear editors; Chain-gang Charlie is an empty suit, political hack. His appointments are no surprises. Your editorial is naive. Any questions?

Rescue plan

"Rep. Allen Boyd helped the House approve a $700 billion financial-rescue package Friday despite "serious misgivings" over $110 billion in tax cuts added by the Senate." "Florida Rep. Boyd votes for $700 billion economic-salvage plan". See also "Manatee reps split on revised bailout plan" and "Times: Brown-Waite votes no on tweaked bailout plan".

This just in, from the Zell Corporation!

- "Republicans can breathe a sigh of relief: Their vice-presidential candidate is still standing. Not only that, she kept her balance and even threw some jabs. In other words, Sarah Palin cleared the bar." "Scott Maxwell: Republicans can wipe sweat from brows.

- Bill O'Reilly, or someone he pays, writes a column that appears in The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "Two controversial films spar at cinema". Embarrassing.

"It is the outcome of the vote on Election Day ..."

... that, or whomever the Supreme Court selects.

"Steve Schale, state director for the Obama Florida campaign, said the Obama campaign has registered 100,000 to 125,000 voters statewide since the effort began over the summer."

Jim Greer, the state Republican Party chairman, is skeptical that Obama's efforts will translate into a big Democratic advantage.

"It is not simply a numbers game as it relates to registrations. It is the outcome of the vote on Election Day," Greer said.

Growth industry

"2 people charged with raiding charity boxes".

Alcee at work

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, has been among the most vocal congressmen urging the granting of TPS [temporary protected status] for Haitians. He kept up the pressure this week during a congressional hearing in Washington. Eventually, $100 million in aid to Haiti was approved by the House." "The Issue: Haiti still in crisis".

Charlie "touts", Florida burns

"Gov. Crist touts free trade with Latin America".

Heaven help us

"Bay County Supervisor of Elections Mark Andersen announced Thursday that the stickers will not be distributed in future elections. The process became a liability, he said, after complaints surfaced from voters who did not want to be physically touched by election workers." "Bay boots 'I Voted' stickers after complaints".

Nuthin' better to do?

"Vote on median steps on speech".

The middle of nowhere

"Delta's capital crime: no nonstops to Tallahassee".

McCarty

We missed this column by Joel Engelhardt last week:

Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty wants the public to believe that the FBI raided her house Friday to dig up dirt on political rival Blake MacDiarmid. She told reporters that the search warrant had Mr. MacDiarmid's name on it.

But as Mr. MacDiarmid told The Post: "This is about Mary, not me. They raided her house, not mine." After her 18 years in office, the FBI likely has more to investigate than Commissioner McCarty's petty schemes against Mr. MacDiarmid.

"'Thanks for the history lesson'"

Daniel Ruth relates that this "what happens when abject hubris collides head-on with 10 tin ears." "Hart Performs Moral Courage Encore Act".

Craps at the Fountainbleu?

Mayo: "There’s been a lot of noise coming from our south lately about full-blown casinos in downtown Miami and at the revamped Fountainbleu Hotel on Miami Beach. The Miami Herald has reported that developers of the proposed Miami Worldcenter project are exploring a constitutional amendment drive to allow casinos. Good luck with that."

"In theory, the idea makes perfect sense. In reality, it’s never going to happen." "Michael Mayo: Miami casinos? Don't bet on it".

More: The Tampa Tribune editorial board:"As the economy has weakened and citizens have become weary of increased taxes, more pressure is being put on state governments to find "painless" alternatives to fund education, which accounts for the largest category of state expenditures."

The bulk of funds for education comes from local and state sources - property taxes, bonds, special tax appropriations and, since the latter part of the 20th century, gambling .

While Florida spends $22 billion, or about a third of its budget, on education, it ranks 38th among the states in per pupil expenditures and is 49th in the number of students who graduate from high school in four years.

Faced with a $3 billion loss of tax revenues, including a $100 million loss of revenue from the state lottery, state officials recently tapped the state's "rainy day" reserve fund for $672 million. Now there is growing sentiment - including a coalition called Florida's People, Florida's Promise, made up of community organizations that serve children and seniors - to legalize more gambling, including video lottery terminals.

Over the course of an hour, described by some as tense, [RPOF boss Jim] Greer offered a forceful assessment of where McCain stands in Florida and what needs to be done to win in a battleground state that could decide the election. ...

One of the concerns has been the relationship between grass roots volunteers across the state and far fewer paid campaign staffers. Complaints range from not getting yard signs quickly enough to knowing who will speak at events and overall manpower coordination. ...

The participants in the Greer meeting included McCain's top Florida staffer, Arlene DiBenigno, as well as RNC staffers by phone from Washington.

• Quinnipiac: Obama leads 51-43. [+8]

• InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position: Obama leads 49-46. [+3]

• CNN/Time magazine: Obama leads 51-47. [+4]

• Suffolk University showed Obama leading 46-42. [+4]

• Real Clear Politics average of all Florida polls: Obama up by 3 percentage points.

Even before Friday's debate, Florida voters had shifted from 50 - 43 percent for McCain in a September 11 Quinnipiac University poll to 49 - 43 percent for Obama.

Looking at post-debate numbers, Florida men likely voters back McCain 50 - 45 percent, while women back Obama 57 - 37 percent. McCain leads 50 - 45 percent edge among white voters.

Independent voters back Obama 52 - 40 percent, compared to 50 - 43 percent for McCain September 11.

Among the 79 percent of Florida voters who say they watched the debate, 49 percent said Obama did better, with 34 percent saying McCain won.

By a 58 - 33 percent margin, Florida voters have a favorable opinion of Obama, compared to 52 - 39 percent for McCain.

Palin gets a negative 36 - 39 percent favorability, down from 47 - 23 percent September 11. Democratic running mate Joe Biden has a 47 - 27 percent favorability, up from 38 - 28 percent.

The economy is the most important issue in the election, 60 percent of Florida voters say, and voters post-debate trust Obama more than McCain 53 - 39 percent to handle this issue, compared to 50 - 40 percent pre-debate.

Voters trust McCain more than Obama 52 - 41 percent to handle foreign policy, compared to 51 - 42 percent pre-debate.

Post debate, voters say 53 - 20 percent that Obama's role in trying to solve the economic crisis has been helpful more than harmful, compared to 45 - 31 percent for McCain.

Florida voters oppose 42 - 36 percent the $700 billion plan to rescue the economy.

"During the past three weeks, Florida voters lost their faith in Sen. McCain. His net favorability dropped in half and Sen. Obama's almost doubled over the same period. One look at independents shows the massive change. Three weeks ago, McCain had a seven-point edge among Florida independents. Today, Obama leads among that group by 12 points," Brown said.

"'The most hostile state in the nation to new voters'"

"Florida is not a particularly friendly state to people who want to vote. Earlier this year, it was named "the most hostile state in the nation to new voters" by three voting rights advocacy groups. While new legislation and voting rules have helped to reduce some of the biggest obstacles, there remain serious concerns about the state's misplaced priorities." "Florida still erecting roadblocks to voting".

"With Monday's deadline for voter registration looming, a new law has brought cries from advocacy groups about potential disenfranchisement." "Outcry raised over voter ID law". More: "Voter registration: You have questions, we have answers" and "ID-match law stalls 5,000 voter applications".

Recognizing that it is all about voter suppression, we get this from our empty suit in Tally: "'No-match' law is fair to voters, Crist says".

This just in from the Zell Corporation!

"Scott Maxwell: Politicians in tight races unlikely to be profiles in courage".

Yee Haw!

"Ticket Demand High For Palin's Clearwater Rally, GOP Office Says". Rumor has it that the lead act is sum hawg dawgin'.*

- - - - - - - - - -
*"Hog-Dog Fighting (Hog dogging, hawg dawgin', hog baiting, hog dog "rodeos"): When a dog (usually pit bull) is pitted against a feral pig, or hog. "

Myth busters

"Before you vote, remember: Don't believe everything you hear." "Vote myths are hard to kill in this election".

Charlie continues to kiss wingnut derriere

Back at the ranch, Charlie continues to stack the Florida Supreme Court with creepy knuckle-draggers.

"Crist on Wednesday named his second selection to the Florida Supreme Court, picking Panhandle appellate Judge Ricky Polston":

A member of the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee since 2001, Polston is known for a 2004 dissenting opinion in support of former Gov. Bush's first-in-the-nation school voucher program. As a private lawyer in 1999, he defended the state's controversial "Choose Life" license plate.

Big dog

"Campaigning in Florida Wednesday, President Bill Clinton told supporters that Barack Obama has the right philosophy, better answers and betters advisers than John McCain." "Former President Clinton touts Obama in front of thousands at UCF". See also "Bill Clinton in Fort Pierce: Florida voters can 'turn out the lights' in presidential race".

"'Optimist in chief'"

"The state's top financial managers told Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet on Tuesday that Florida's diversified investment portfolio is in good shape, despite the crisis on Wall Street." State's portfolio OK, officials say". See also "'Optimist in chief' urges Floridians not to panic about market", "Survey: Consumer confidence remains low in Fla.", "New York banks invade Florida", "Credit slows to a trickle", "Credit crunch makes borrowing harder for Florida" and "Florida confidence up — before market meltdown".

Homelessness, Florida style

"Wheelchair stolen from homeless man" ("Authorities say someone beat a homeless, paraplegic man over the head with a board and stole his wheelchair and money. ... 64-year-old Richard Denise was found bleeding and begging for help near a Pompano Beach bank Tuesday night.")

'Glades

mhThe Miami Herald editorial board: "The latest progress report from the National Research Council on the state of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan doesn't feature a lot of progress, sorry to say. Since Congress and Florida formally agreed to share the costs of the restoration plan in 2000, not a single project at the heart of the CERP plan has been completed." "Glades restoration plan must not fail".

Obama supporters get early start

"Truck carrying 2,000 cases of wine stolen".

"The McCain camp is nervous"

"For Republican John McCain, Florida was never a toss-up state: It is a must-win state."

But an intense ground effort here by Democrat Barack Obama and the political fallout from the nation's financial crisis are producing a much closer race in Florida than was expected even a few weeks ago, the kind of race McCain had hoped to avoid.

"The McCain camp is nervous," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "They know it's a battle. This is no sure thing."

Lake O

"Three construction teams will beef up repair work at Lake Okeechobee's aging dike in South Florida." "Repair work continues on Lake Okeechobee dike".

The gay thing

"A North Miami foster father, seeking to provide a permanent home to two small children, is testing the state's law forbidding gay people from adopting. ... a month after a Key West judge declared Florida's gay adoption law unconstitutional in a separate but narrow case, Gill and a team of lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union will present a new challenge to Florida's 31-year-old law that forbids gay people from adopting." "Florida's gay adoption ban faces court challenge".

Bad count

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: "We have become so distrustful of the elections apparatus that the only way vote totals can seem right is if they have been dishonestly manipulated. Getting it 'right' thus becomes evidence that they've done something wrong." See what he means here: "Papering over ballot confusion".

Say again?

"Florida House lawyers dismissed a complaint filed against Republican Senate candidate Belinda Ortiz by a Rollins College student, saying there was no evidence she had improperly lobbied lawmakers."

The complaint was filed Monday by John Watson, a student who has been active with the Young Democrats club at Rollins.

In an e-mail to the Sentinel, Watson said he was a registered Republican and had filed the complaint because "I believe in good government."

Fraud

"The U.S. attorney's office in Miami highlighted the soaring number of prosecutions of Medicare fraud offenders over the past three years." "Crackdown on 'massive' Medicare fraud in S. Fla".

The law also rises

"Sun rises on 30 new laws".

Sheldon

"George Sheldon, the acting head of the Florida Department of Children & Families, was given full power over the agency Tuesday when Gov. Charlie Crist tapped him to replace longtime friend Bob Butterworth." "Acting DCF chief officially takes over".

War hero in town

"At the Pensacola post of the American Legion on Tuesday, retired U.S. Army general and one-time presidential candidate Wesley Clark spoke in support of Sen. Barack Obama, and criticized the Bush administration." "Clark stumps for Obama".

"Familiarity breeds contempt"

"Two years ago, the 13th Congressional District campaign between Vern Buchanan and Christine Jennings was a political slugfest that stretched into extra rounds. This year's rematch - with the added wrinkle of two independent candidates - has the makings of becoming a knock-down, drag-out political brawl. So far, the 2008 race between Buchanan and Jennings has been marked by multiple lawsuits, accusations of consumer and tax fraud, charges of campaign-finance violations, cries of slander and allegations of political smear tactics." "District 13 rematch even more heated".

However, "Democrats' chances of winning the district could be undone by the renegade candidacy of one of their own."

Jan Schneider, the district's Democratic nominee in 2002 and 2004, has rejected her party's pleas to stay out of the race and is instead running as an independent.

One poll shows Schneider winning 9 percent of the vote, siphoning support mostly from Democrat Christine Jennings.

David Wasserman, a nonpartisan analyst with The Cook Political Report, cites Schneider's candidacy as the reason he predicts Buchanan will likely win re-election.

"Jewish vote worries"

"It's not a Florida-specific poll, but it points to a problem for Obama in Florida:"

A new national poll of 914 Jewish voters commissioned by the American Jewish Congress shows Obama receiving 57 percent support and John McCain 30 percent (54 percent disapproved of the Palin pick, and 73 percent approved of Joe Biden as a running mate). Remember that in 2004 Bush received 24 percent of the Jewish vote nationally and 20 percent in Florida, according to exit polls.

Mind you, only about 5 percent of the Florida electorate is Jewish. But that's still about 400,000 voters, and serious slippage in the Democratic base makes it all that much harder for Obama to make up that 380,000-vote margin by which Republicans won Florida four years ago.

Perhaps it's a health insurance thing?

"Officials seeing fewer Cubans trying to reach US".

Touchscreen-mania

The "touchscreens are kewl" crowd on the The Palm Beach Post editorial Board whines: "Early results are in. The paper trail demanded by so many Democrats and given to them by Gov. Crist and U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, has performed as expected: badly." "State's new paper trail leads to new problems".

Daniel Ruth

... writes that "there was no shortage of miffed readers who wanted to respond to a column last week on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's parallel universe campaign, following the Alaska governor's appearance at The Villages." "Isn't This 'First-Person' Account Of Republican Principles Just Precious?".

The Zell Corporation wants you to know ...

that "Obama had an exotic upbringing". That being the case, how do you respond to the following inquiry by one of our genius talking heads: "did it surprise you that he was so un-ethnic tonight?".

"Insurance-bashing"

Aaron Deslatte: "Florida politicos are dusting off their insurance-bashing TV commercials this campaign season, demonstrating yet again that villains and cash cows can be one and the same." "Aaron Deslatte: Does bashing insurers still work with voters? Ad makers hope so".

Times whines

Steve Bousquet:

David Plouffe, Obama's national campaign manager, took a little shot at us Saturday over a St. Petersburg Times story a couple weeks ago suggesting Florida could be slipping away from Obama. The latest polls show a neck-and-neck race.

City of Industry

"One of America's largest time-share companies is getting ready to lay off hundreds of workers and halt much of its sales. Orlando-based Westgate Resorts is facing a sudden financing squeeze because of the nation's severe economic downturn." "Layoffs coming for Florida timeshare company".

"Right-wing gasbags"

Carl Hiaasen:

the same right-wing gasbags who've trashed Hillary Clinton for 16 years have morphed into sensitive souls when it comes to their own hockey-mom candidate. Each unsettling news revelation about Palin is automatically decried as a sexist smear.

If Palin were a male candidate, Democrat or Republican, she'd be taking heat for ducking reporters when the election is only five weeks away. Yet, except for a few grumps, the media have reluctantly accepted the Sarah snub as the new order of things.

Obvious

It is so obvious, even The Tampa Tribune editorial board sees it: "Kick Jim Crow Out Of Constitution And Don't Put Marriage In".

Bill Cotterell

"Unless you're a devotee of public broadcasting or the home-shopping stations, it will be hard to watch 10 minutes of TV in October without hearing from House and Senate hopefuls. Some will even be ringing your doorbell, glad-handing you at football games or waving signs on street corners."

From the farmlands of the Panhandle to the condo canyons of Miami Beach, it's the most expensive legislative campaign in Florida history — and neither party expects much to change when it's over. Republican majorities of 77-43 in the House and 26-14 in the Senate might change by a seat or two, up or down, but not even the most optimistic Democrat has any illusions about taking over either chamber of the Capitol's fourth floor.

All depends on what you mean by "close match"

The headline is this "UF poll: Debate is a close match", but the story says this:

“Clearly they thought Obama had won the debate by a pretty big margin — about 14 of them believed that McCain had won. It fell pretty closely along party lines. The interesting thing was there were a few independents, and they seemed to go for Obama,” Kaid said."

HD 107

"The highly contested State House District 107 race pits Democratic incumbent Luis Garcia Jr. against Republican challenger and lobbyist Jorge Luis López."

"an influential county lobbyist and crony of former County Mayor Alex Penelas. With a month left, the two candidates are becoming more aggressive, with Garcia labeling López as kowtowing to special interests and pointing out he doesn't even live in the district he plans to represent. López says Garcia is disingenuous about his lobbyist connections and may be outright lying to voters." "State House District 107 election is heating up".

No change in Tally

"For all the talk of change in this year's presidential election, don't expect much of it in Florida's Legislature. A review of the 140 legislative seats up for re-election this November shows that about 120 have either been decided or have an overwhelming tilt for one candidate. Such outcomes are the norm in Florida. In 2006, only 19 of 140 House and Senate elections were closely contested." "Upheaval unlikely in state capital".

Like we said, no change in Tally

"New Fla. laws create 'In God We Trust' tags".

"Letters from Florida"

"Letters from Florida: Please, candidates, search for economic solution".

Florida Water Congress

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "It's encouraging that delegates to the Florida Water Congress voted down a proposal to establish a state water czar, a position that could have forced regions to ship their water to another part of the state. But don't be surprised if this polluted idea resurfaces. Developers trot it out every few years, hoping to elude growth restraints by robbing rural counties of their resources." "Defeat Not Likely To Put Stake In Scheme For State Water Czar".

Must be balanced ...

Randy Schultz: "Bipartisan blame for financial crisis".