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 Monday, July 13, 2009

Keep hope alive

    The wingers are keeping hope alive:
    .Underfunded candidates like Rubio don't need more money now. The need an argument. A bulletproof argument from a plausible candidate is worth tens of millions of dollars in any primary, overwhelming a financial advantage of any magnitude. While frontrunners confuse high-dollar fundraising for actual grassroots support, a conclusion that headlines like The Hill's do nothing to discourage, smart underdogs would do right to focus on building an impregnable message advantage. Because that's the part that counts for 90% in any electoral victory.

    John McCain's campaign was defunct and broke at this point in the race, without money to pay a pollster. Mike Huckabee had no money. Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani spent $60 million plus to win a single delegate, attending fundraisers when he should have been in New Hampshire. A leading Republican strategist recently told me that he wonders whether money doesn't wind up making our campaigns worse while the lack of money makes them better and more focused. Look at McCain with no money, vs. McCain with money (pre-implosion and general election).

    Crist's fundraising aside, he's still a relatively popular governor with 100% name ID, and so still the "man to beat." But fundraising trophies don't make it so. Complacency is his biggest enemy.

    Crist's campaign is the antithesis of Rebuildness. Of Crist's $4.3 million how much was online? How much came from donations of $100 or less? How many people have signed up on his e-mail list since he announced? How many of his supporters would crawl on glass to see him win?

    In running a campaign, that latter kind of support is the kind I want, and I think Rubio has it.

    And not only that, but he's a particularly strong and plausible kind of grassroots candidate. He's no Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul. Had Crist not stepped in, he'd be considered a top recruit and a rising star. Rubio would easily beat Kendrick Meek in a general election.

    We have two uniquely talented people running for Senate in a seat we will probably hold in Florida. Instead of elbowing one aside, we should be grabbing the popcorn and watching this one go the distance.

    The primary will be close. Among voters who know both, Crist and Rubio are tied. Crist's money will not buy him more name ID or goodwill; only his bully pulpit as Governor can do that, and he's surrendering it. Meanwhile, Rubio's talents as a candidate, his crossover potential[?], and his appeal to grassroots conservatives mean he has nowhere to go but up. I still think Crist narrowly wins absent a massive screwup, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Recent elections have not been kind to moneyed "frontrunners."
    "Don't Bet on Crist Over Rubio" (via The Buzz).


    "Bewildering"

    The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "The search continues for what might be one of the most bewildering jobs in all of Florida government: chancellor of the State University System."

    Now one of the front-runners is Frank Brogan, one-term lieutenant governor to Jeb Bush and currently president of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton....

    Mr. Brogan, a former Martin County superintendent of schools and one-term commissioner of the Florida Department of Education, holds a master's degree in education. It is a modest credential that cannot help but put him at a disadvantage on a national stage where strong academic achievement is traditionally expected of higher-education leaders.

    His lack of a terminal academic degree won't hurt the genial Mr. Brogan a bit in the Legislature, however, and that's where the battles are currently being waged on behalf of Florida college students and our economic viability.
    "Moving up".


    "Sansom has disgraced his role as legislator"

    Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "the public documents that have already come to light establish that Sansom has disgraced his role as legislator. "

    A grand jury indictment spells out the details: Sansom was awarded a high-profile job at the state college after he secured millions of dollars in state funding in 2008 -- including $6 million for a building at Destin Airport, which e-mails indicate was to be built on land owned by North Florida businessman Jay Odom, and leased back to him for use as an airplane hangar. At various times, the building was purported to be an emergency-operations center or classrooms.

    Other e-mails uncovered in the House's own investigation suggest that Sansom and former Northwest Florida State College President Bob Richburg were eager to keep the deal from becoming public. One e-mail -- from Sansom -- details the duties and salary of the job he expected to fill at the college. Other messages suggested they use private (nonstate) e-mail addresses for further correspondence.

    Stephen Kahn, the special investigator for the House, laid out three actions -- taking the $110,000-a-year job at the college, scheming to insert the hangar facility into the state budget and working to cover his tracks -- that suggest Sansom abused his power as a legislator.
    "Ex-speaker Sansom should step down or be ejected".


    The Zell Corporation ...

    ... wants you to know: "Tough times? Florida state workers keep perks". By the way, "state workers haven't received an across-the-board pay raise in three years. And as vacant positions go unfilled, they're being asked to shoulder a bigger workload for the same pay."


    'Ya think?

    The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Stop trash talking, and start recycling".


    Mel needs to go back to slip-and-fall cases

    The genius who made his fortune on third-tier slip-and-fall cases is now lecturing us on Honduran politics. "Foundations of democracy being dismantled".


    "Quest for rapid growth proved fatal"

    "BankUnited's founder and top shareholder Alfred R. Camner parlayed a tiny thrift into Florida's largest bank. His big bet on risky mortgages and a quest for rapid growth proved fatal." "Founder's big risks behind BankUnited's troubles". More: "Alfred R. 'Fred' Camner" and "How the old BankUnited fell apart".


    Layoffs

    "Florida's new fiscal year brings 159 layoffs of state employees." "Updated: Budget director: State-worker layoffs at start of fiscal year will likely mean fewer later".


    "Up in smoke"

    "Smokers who relied on Indian reservations as a cheaper source of cigarettes saw their discount go up in smoke July 1, when the tribes started levying the state's $1.34-a-pack tax." "Florida Indian tribes levying cigarette tax".


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