Crist's office sent a letter thanking John Ubele for providing the governor with a copy of the film "Jud Suss." The film is recognized as one of history's most incendiary."*

No doubt we'll be hearing an apology about this too ...

"Will Charlie Crist digorge his McKalip contributions?"

"Untold stories" of Rosewood

"A South Florida historian hopes to rediscover remains of a black-settled town razed in the throes of racial violence in the 1920s -- and tell its story in more detail than ever before." "Historian Marvin Dunn digs for untold stories of black Rosewood settlement, and its massacre".

RPOFer show trials

"Republicans make up nearly two-thirds of both the state House and Senate. They hold two of Florida's three Cabinet posts and have had a decade-long lock on the Governor's Mansion. Yet one former state GOP chairman warns that infighting has weakened his party so badly that it is verging on becoming irrelevant. Other party leaders say current Chairman Jim Greer and, by default, Gov. Charlie Crist are out of sync with what grass-roots Republicans want." "Post: Party squabbling saps GOP strength, some say".

More: "Tony DiMatteo, Chairman of the state GOP's Grievance Committee and apparently not a big fan of brevity, released the following statement about the party's Grievance Committee hearing held today in Orlando:" "About the RPOF's grievance hearing".

"Crist has a lot of wealthy friends"

"And many of them, from plaintiff lawyers and corporate executives to New York socialites and Tallahassee lobbyists, have cut checks to his U.S. Senate bid for the full $4,800 they're allowed to give to a federal candidate, according to Crist's fundraising report.

More than one-fourth — 580 — of the 2,100 contributors who helped Crist raise a whopping $4.3 million have now maxed out for both the 2010 primary and general elections, meaning they can't be asked to give again.

And the vast majority of Crist's donors gave checks larger than $1,000 — many giving the full $2,400 allowed for the primary election — meaning the governor won't have as many names to turn to in his fundraising Rolodex during the next 16 months.

But Crist advisers say the campaign hasn't tapped out its home state.

"There's still plenty of money left in Florida," said Crist adviser and lobbyist Brian Ballard, who along with his wife, Kathryn, gave the maximum $9,600. But he put a big dent in Florida.

Rubio draws a crowd

"Rubio came to Pasco County to speak about faith and family values Thursday night, but his audience had plenty of other issues on their minds as well. They wanted to hear the U.S. Senate candidate's views on President Barack Obama's health plan. They wanted to learn his philosophy about the role of government."

More than 200 people turned out Thursday night to hear Rubio's remarks at the Word of Life Conference Center.

The organization that hosted Rubio, the Faith and Values Republican Club of Pasco County, is a new group that held its inaugural meeting May 28. The president is John Tracy, who is music pastor at Hillsdale Baptist Church in Tampa. ...

Three groups of people - Christians, gun owners and veterans [?] - should always support the Republican Party, Tracy said.

"A sad commentary on Crist's political leadership"

Maurice Ferre, former Miami mayor, Miami-Dade County commissioner and state legislator had this to say about Charlie in a The Miami Herald opinion pages:

- America is poised to confirm our first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor. Yet, with this historic nomination pending, Gov. Charlie Crist, who deigns to be our U.S. senator, delayed until the last minute to tell Florida voters whether he would vote for or against Sotomayor's confirmation. Floridians deserve better.

- Crist's wobbly status is easy to understand politically. He doesn't want to offend the right wing of his party before the Republican primary by supporting Sotomayor, nor did he want to offend Democrats and independents, whom he will need in the general election by strongly opposing her earlier. It took Republican candidate for the Senate and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio's opposition to Sotomayor to force Crist into a "me too'' position. This is a sad commentary on Crist's political leadership, and a preview of how he would act as a senator.

- Despite claiming to be busy working, Crist's duties as governor have not prevented him from attending nightly fundraisers, including multiple out of state fundraising events .

Even worse, The Tampa Tribune reported last month that Crist has been coordinating his official duties around his fundraising schedule, traveling to campaign events up and down the state with a security detail paid for by his constituents.

The Miami Herald recently wrote that Tallahassee is the one place you're least likely to find Gov. Crist. The only place you're less likely to find him is taking a stand on important federal issues, until he's forced into it.

Grade inflation

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: "Schools inflate their grade".

Daily Sansom

"Proclaiming he did not misuse his power, former House Speaker Ray Sansom is hoping a five-member legislative panel will put off its probe until after he faces criminal trial." "Sansom wants panel to delay probe till after criminal trial".

Kosmas sits back and enjoys RPOFer feeding frenzy

"State Rep. Sandy Adams, an Orlando Republican whose district includes part of western Volusia County, has joined the already-crowded 2010 race to try to unseat first-term U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, a New Smyrna Beach Democrat. ... Also in the race are state Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange; Karen Diebel, a Winter Park city commissioner; and Ken Miller, an anesthesiologist whose campaign is headquartered in Goldenrod. All are Republicans, as are Tom Garcia of Melbourne and Jim Heinzelman Sr. of Orlando, who also are in the race, according to the state Division of Elections." "List of challengers grows for Kosmas' congressional seat".

Atomic Tunnel

"A Port Orange tourist attraction that closed its doors more than a half century ago is finding new life on the Internet as a symbol of a lost era of roadside tourism." "Atomic Tunnel lives on!".

"No rushing changes"

"President Obama won't commit to allowing undocumented Haitians in the United States to stay, and says any changes to U.S.-Cuba policy may be a while in the making. " "Obama: No rushing changes to Cuba policy, Haiti immigration laws".

Miami-Dade development

The Miami Herald editorial board:"The governor and Cabinet have final say over whether cities' and counties' changes to their growth plans violate the law."

In these two [Miami-Dade County] cases, Mr. Crist and the Cabinet should find both amendments noncompliant. Given that two Cabinet members -- Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink -- are running for governor and Mr. Crist is running for the U.S. Senate, their decision could be fraught with politics.

It shouldn't be. Mr. McCollum, Ms. Sink and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson can rise above the urge to pander to development interests and support smart planning and the environment, specifically Everglades National Park, as well as Miami-Dade's agricultural interests.

This would also be a chance for Mr. Crist to redeem himself, somewhat, after signing into law SB 360, which would gut the state's growth management laws. Using the recession as an excuse, the Legislature approved SB 360 to ``jump-start'' growth by removing state oversight of Developments of Regional Impact and making cities and counties, rather than builders, liable for the costs of new infrastructure. Several cities are suing to get the law overturned.

Rejecting the two amendments also would vindicate Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez and the county's planning staff. The planners vigorously opposed the two amendments, using convincing numbers to show the county had plenty of in-fill development room inside the UDB. Mr. Alvarez twice vetoed the amendments, only to see the commission's pro-development bloc override him both times.

Florida style

"It has taken three years for Miami-Dade County officials to focus on shutting down the shantytown of sex offenders forced to live under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. Three years of pass-the-buck finger-pointing, two lawsuits and embarrassing national and international media attention to this state-and-local conspiracy of inaction don't add up to leadership." "Get rid of sex offender shantytown". See also "Unlike Florida, Iowa reworked sex offender law".

The Zell Corporation wants you to know ...

... that unions are evil. The The Orlando Sentinel editorial board fully inserts its collective nose into the Chamber of Commerce's ample derriere yet again:

Desperate to keep the so-called Employee Free Choice Act alive, supporters in the U.S. Senate have cut out its heart — a provision that would let unions represent workplaces without first winning majority support from employees in secret-ballot elections.

That makes the bill better, but not good enough [for the Chamber of Commerce]. The bill would still give a government arbitrator the power to dictate wages and benefits for a business if management and labor can't agree on a contract within 90 days. And in return for reviving secret ballots, supporters insisted on speeding up the timetable for elections so much that employees might not get a full and fair presentation from both sides before voting.

There are worthier provisions in the legislation, such as stricter enforcement of laws against intimidating or firing workers for union activities. But unless supporters bend more on the objectionable parts, the Senate should kill the bill.

Sans mustache

"Kottkamp will have to win on his own, out of Crist's shadow".

"Cramming 10 pounds into a 5-pound bag"

Joel Engelhardt: "If Mary McCarty were not in prison but still making her opinions known on the Palm Beach County Commission, it's easy to guess what she would say about the latest controversy over plans for biotech in the northern part of the county: 'What do you expect? You're cramming 10 pounds into a 5-pound bag.' She wouldn't be right, but she wouldn't be entirely wrong, either." "How to fill the Scripps bag".

Lake O

"Army Corps begins dumping Lake O water as drought turns to fears of a glut".

Poor little privateers

"The state decided against privatizing its controversial aircraft services, prompting a low bidder to question an agency chief's motives." "State keeps air service despite possible savings".

"Journalist" can't get over Silas Marner

Mark Hohmeister: "Back when I was in high school, we didn't have the FCAT to torment us. But we did have 'Silas Marner.'" "Let's match education to real-life situations".

"State should limit cell-phone use in cars"?

Daytona Beach News Journal editors: "It took Florida longer than most states to make seatbelts mandatory. It shouldn't take as long to regulate use of cell phones and other electronic devices while driving now that much evidence dispels assumptions (or hopes) that electronic devices don't necessarily affect driving." "Safety on the line". The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Ban texting and driving".

Campaign manager Brian Seitchik will fall off the payroll in a week, while fundraising consultant Ann Herberger will no longer be his chief money raiser.

``Due to budgetary and monetary constraints, I am becoming a volunteer consultant,'' Herberger said. ``I will be available to Marco to provide guidance and advice on all matters of finance should he need, and I'm still 100 percent behind Marco Rubio and his candidacy.''

With Republican front-runner Charlie Crist trouncing Rubio in fundraising and Rubio trying to bat down rumors that he'll drop out to run for attorney general, the staff shake-up is likely to fuel new questions about Rubio's long-term viability.

The Miami Republican downplayed the staff changes, saying it merely reflected the campaign's need to run an unconventional, grass-roots campaign against Crist.

Florida's "After All, He Is Black" saga continues

Florida "conservatives" racists are at it again: "A prominent St. Petersburg doctor and conservative activist has drawn a flood of criticism for e-mailing an image depicting President Obama as a witch doctor with a loin cloth, exotic head dress and bones in his nose. 'ObamaCare, coming soon to a clinic near you,' reads the caption on the e-mail forwarded earlier this week by St. Petersburg neurosurgeon David McKalip.

Several popular liberal blogs, including Talking Points Memo, Huffington Post and Daily Kos, highlighted McKalip's e-mail Thursday and castigated him for racism." "Doctor criticized over Obama e-mail".

RPOFer follies

"A member of the dissident faction challenging Orange County Republican Party Chairman Lew Oliver has filed a complaint with the state attorney's office, saying the party chief may have put party funds in his own pockets and fudged contribution and expense reports. Keith Recine, a former vice-chairman of the Ax the Tax group run by activist Doug Guetzloe, also accused Oliver of failing to explain the expenditures to the party's executive committee and possibly lying about the account activity on financial reporting records." "Orange GOP infighting now includes money-laundering complaint" ("Here's the entire Recine complaint.")

Grayson

"In what is becoming a trend, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson is all over YouTube again for a clip of his tough questioning of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about a half-trillion dollars in 'liquidity swaps' made to foreign banks. Grayson harped on the fact that the decision to move the money was made without input from elected officials, even though the authority was given to the Fed more than a century ago." "Grayson puts another banker on the grill".

"First, keep state employees working"

The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board: "As the state's unemployment rate reveals, one in 10 Floridians are now out of work. And while the economy is bouncing along the bottom, occasionally showing signs of upward mobility, every business, industry, association or agency that can hang on to its employees should try."

We can't diminish the importance of one of the steadiest work forces there is, the public sector's academic, safety and law enforcement, transportation, environmental protection, health and human services teams who keep our state and community's running.

"Birther" Posey on "vulnerable"

"National Republicans today plan to add U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, to their list of vulnerable incumbents that could need fund-raising help for the 2010 cycle, said one official with the National Republican Congressional Committee. According to a report published in Roll Call today, Posey would be one of 15 new Republicans added to the list, which now includes 25 GOP members. " "GOP puts Posey on 'vulnerable' list -- but why?".

"They have lost faith"

The Palm Beach Post editors: "Few issues confronting government galvanize public opinion like corruption. That was on full display at Tuesday's Palm Beach County Commission meeting. A range of residents - from business representatives to longtime critics to those who never have addressed the commission - delivered the same forceful message: They have lost faith." "Corruption cleanup begins".

Where's Bill?

"The Democratic party sought Thursday to make the political debate over healthcare personal, inviting the sick and uninsured to share their struggles at rallies in South Florida and across the state."

The stakes are so high for President Barack Obama that the party is publicly pressuring its own members in Congress to get behind sweeping changes. Small rallies were held at the offices of Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Sen. Mel Martinez across the state. The party is also airing television ads that demand ``It's time'' in eight states with fence-sitting senators, including Florida.

In Coral Gables, about 50 people gathered on the sidewalk in front of Nelson's office holding signs and chanting when a lone television camera approached. Democratic party officials insisted the low-key events were not ``protests,'' but some participants said Nelson was tiptoeing around the healthcare debate.

RPOFer cat fight

"A multimillion-dollar land deal pitting Orange County GOP chairman Lew Oliver against then-Seminole GOP Chairman Jim Stelling and Florida Rep. Chris Dorworth has fallen apart again. This time it will cost Stelling and Dorworth $2.7 million. The three Republican power players quietly settled their dispute a year ago. They refused to disclose terms, but according to new court filings, Stelling and Dorworth didn't make good on their settlement agreement: They failed to make payments on time. So Oliver's company went back to court." "2 GOP power players must pay $2.7M for Oviedo land-deal debt".

Another RPOFer lightweight enters the Kosmas fray

"State Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, sent out a press release late last night declaring what she's pretty much already declared: she's running for the 24th District Congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach. She's joining a crowded field that already seems to have a frontrunner in Winter Park Commissioner Karen Diebel, who reported last month she'd raised about $77,000 and loaned herself an additional $25,000. State Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, is also running." "Sandy Adams: I'm running for Congress".

Not a deep bench

Scott Maxwell: "Let's recap some of the news that state Rep. Chris Dorworth has made since taking office."

•He's trying to fight off foreclosure on his 8,000-square-foot, $1.2 million home.

•He racked up some of the highest residential water bills in all of Seminole County — sometimes more than 100,000 gallons a month.

•And in Thursday's paper came word that he was on the losing end of a $2.7 million court judgment that he seems currently unable to pay.

Ladies and gentlemen: I introduce you to the man who wants to be your speaker of the House.

No, I'm not kidding....

what may be most frightening is that Dorworth's GOP peers seem to think it's a boffo idea to hand him the speaker's chair. He is already considered the front-runner, if not heir apparent, in the intraparty battle for the 2014 speakership. (Yes, that's a long way off. But remember that 2010 Speaker Dean Cannon locked up his support in 2005. That's what these guys do — start dreaming of the speaker's office before they're even unpacked.)

And it's not as if Dorworth's any kind of legislative dynamo either. Would you like to guess how many of the seven bills he sponsored became law last session?

Zero.

Brilliant

"Tougher sentencing laws and restrictions on parole in Florida and other states have resulted in a record number of criminals serving life sentences, according to a new national study." "Report points to growing number of inmates in for life".

Somethings gotta give

"Bear killed by cars on Interstate 4".

Gerrymandering

"Florida's legislative black caucus could be heading toward a feud over a ballot initiative aimed at stopping lawmakers from gerrymandering their political districts." "Siplin, Black Caucus at odds on redistricting strategy". Related: "Money pouring in to finance redistricting reform".

Scrambling for more federal handouts

"Politicians from Nevada and Florida expressed outrage today at a report that some federal agencies have put the two tourist hotspots in the states on a "blacklist" when deciding where to hold conferences or meetings. A Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday cited e-mails from the FBI and Department of Agriculture encouraging conference locations that aren't resort destinations and don't appear to be 'lavish.'" "Nevada, Florida officials protest travel 'blacklist'". See also The Orlando Sentinel editorial board: "Don't blacklist Orlando for business travel".

Fish kill

"The chief of biological resources at Everglades National Park said the thousands of fish floating dead in Florida Bay this week may have died from the heat. " "Heat may have killed fish in Florida Bay".

Water war

The Miami Herald editorial board: " An important court ruling on water resources may end a nearly 20-year fight between Florida, Georgia and Alabama. The gist of the decision, by U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson, favors Florida's claim to the water and also offers words of wisdom to government decision-makers throughout the rapidly growing Southeastern United States." "Poor urban planning to blame for water dispute".

This is not a joke

"City commissioners in the central Florida city of Kissimmee are considering changing their logo to incorporate the motto 'In God We Trust.' Commissioner Art Otero proposed the addition. He said he suggested the change because he disagrees with the direction the country is going under President Obama. ... The logo changes could be approved by the commission next month." "Fla. city may add 'In God We Trust' to logo".

The best they can do?

The only thing the RPOFer neglected to say was "After All, He Is Black" in their latest attacks on Obama: "Florida Republicans: Obama failing economics, barely passing math, probably cheating in gym".

RPOFer "political circus"

"The political conflict that could remove Brevard Republican Chairman Jason Steele has involved a who's who of local conservatives, including a state representative, a county commissioner, a talk radio host and a 'tea party' organizer."

Friday's closed-door grievance hearing at the Gaylord Palms resort south of Orlando pits defendant Steele -- whose job requires holding together a coalition of old-guard conservatives and edgy libertarians -- against a 19-year-old Rollins College student and former party secretary from Titusville who calls himself a stickler for party structure and rules.

The complainant, Travis Clinger, will prosecute Steele at the party tribunal for allegedly
violating his loyalty oath to the Republican Party of Florida.

A political circus? Yes.

Even so, the Republican Party's dominance of most local, state and federal elected offices in Brevard County make the internal struggle worth watching.

"Republicans, beware"

"For the first time since the GOP won control of state government in the mid 1990s, the Democratic Party and its leading candidate for governor together raised more money than their Republican counterparts at the start of a gubernatorial election season."

Since April 1, Alex Sink, the state's Democratic chief financial officer, raised almost $1.3 million, to Attorney General Bill McCollum's $1.04 million. The Democratic Party raised nearly $2 million, while the Republican Party of Florida raised almost $1.2 million.

What's the rush?

"Rep. Allen Boyd doesn't understand the rush to overhaul the nation's health care system." "Boyd, Blue Dogs in the middle of health-care debate".

Perhaps this will help Mr. Boyd understand: "Crisis: Nearly Five Million Adults Have Lost Insurance Since Sept. '08".

More: "A consumer group [Families USA] that favors the House version of health reform says it would expand coverage to 1.8 million Floridians in its first year, 2013, and would cover nearly 3 million Floridians by the year 2019." "Report: Bill would cover 3M in FL". See also ""Coverage for America: We All Stand to Gain".

Two way street

"Less than three weeks after President Obama complained about liberal activists attacking Democrats over health care reform, his own grass-roots campaign is preparing to put the heat on U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson today. Organizing for America, which continues to operate an Obama campaign Web site and use his campaign logo, will hold afternoon rallies in front of six of Nelson's eight Florida offices, including his West Palm Beach location on Australian Avenue." "Obama-linked activist group to target Nelson, Martinez in health care rallies".

"Brogan had a hand in the Bush administration's disastrous overhaul of higher education"

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Frank Brogan should make a crackerjack chancellor of the State University System. He's personable, persuasive, imaginative and politically astute."

Yet for all his experience and appeal, Brogan's selection by the Florida Board of Governors also raises concerns, particularly for those who want to see the state strategically marshal its limited higher-education resources. ...

Brogan had a hand in the Bush administration's disastrous overhaul of higher education.

The Board of Regents that coordinated university policies was eliminated. Governor-appointed boards of trustees were given jurisdiction over the policy of each university.

The change inflated the governor's patronage power, allowed lawmakers to add new programs at their favorite schools and gave Florida a national reputation for a politicized and chaotic university system.

Fortunately, voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment that restored an oversight board to the university system, but the damage done to Florida's academic standing endures.

Meek

"Aiming to stop debate over abortion from derailing healthcare reform, Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami is urging Congress to neither require nor ban insurers from providing coverage for abortions. Though proposed legislation does not mention abortion, some Republicans argue that the proposed overhaul of the healthcare system could open the door to federal funding of the procedure. Democrats counter that abortion opponents are trying to cook up controversy in an effort to topple the broader reform effort." "Kendrick Meek maintains status quo on abortions".

Redistricting fight

"Money is pouring into an effort to address one of the thorniest issues in modern politics: how to curb politicians' power to gerrymander their own political districts."

FairDistrictsFlorida.org wants to place two constitutional amendments on the 2010 ballot that would ban legislators from drawing sprawling, jagged congressional and legislative districts that resemble abstract art and divide communities in order to help or hurt incumbents or political parties.

The group has amassed about one-third of the 676,811 valid voter signatures needed by Feb. 1 to make next year's general election ballot.

According to the most recent campaign reports, it has raised a whopping $1.5 million in the last six months from traditional Democratic allies like the Florida Education Association, service unions and trial lawyers.

Both are in charge of the Legislature's preparation for the next round of re-districting after the 2010 Census and have a vested interest in maintaining the GOP's hold over seats in Tallahassee.

In 1992, African-American Democrats joined with minority-party Republicans to support concentrating black voters into fewer congressional and legislative districts. That resulted in the election of Florida's first black congressional members since Reconstruction.

But this lowered the number of reliably Democratic black voters in surrounding districts -- a prospect called "bleaching" -- and enabled Republicans subsequently to win control of the state's congressional delegation and the Legislature.

This year, many black legislators are backing the redistricting amendment, ignoring GOP warnings that compact districts could reduce the numbers of minorities in the Legislature.

Oh ... the horror

"Hear that? It's the jingle of 70 cents per hour being added to minimum-wage earners' pockets as an increase in the federal minimum wage — from $6.55 to $7.25 — goes into effect today."

The geniuses on the The Tallahassee Democrat editorial board argue that the increase in minimum wages is something

neither Florida nor our nation's government can afford.

"Secret deportation" case to go to jury

"All sides agree on one thing in the strange case of a South Florida hospital that secretly repatriated a seriously brain injured patient back to Guatemala."

During the early hours of a steamy July 2003 morning, Martin Memorial Medical Center chartered a private plane and sent 37-year-old Luis Jimenez back to the Central American country without telling his relatives in the U.S. or Guatemala - even as his legal guardian frantically sought to stop the move.

There, things get murky. The man's guardian, also his cousin, is suing the hospital for essentially deporting Jimenez, who was an illegal immigrant. The hospital, which spent more than $1.5 million on his care over three years, says Jimenez wanted to go home.

Underlying the dispute is the broader question of what's a hospital to do with a patient who requires long-term care, is unable to pay and doesn't qualify for federal or state aid because of his immigration status. Health care and immigration experts across the country are watching the case, which could go to a jury Thursday, and which could set precedent in Florida and possibly beyond. Lawyers for Jimenez said this appears to be the first time a lawsuit has been filed in such a case.

a country that relies on cheap, immigrant labor for everything from agriculture, to clothing to construction, should factor in the cost of catastrophic injuries to those providing these essential services - whether it means requiring employers to offer coverage even for day laborers or ensuring public and nonprofit hospitals can care for them.

FCAT follies

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "A flawed formula for success".

"Florida saw this once before in a Senate race"

Bill Cotterell on Florida's serial bar flunker and proud graduate of Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama arguing that Sotomayor is unfit to serve on the United States Supreme Court:

it was interesting this week that Gov. Charlie Crist announced his opposition to Sotomayor. This is a free throw for Crist, to score a point with the most conservative wing of his party in the race to succeed Martinez. Looking at it purely politically — but who'd suspect Crist of doing that? — it's not hard to see that Crist figures most Hispanic Republicans will back Marco Rubio in the GOP primary. He can win the nomination without them, but the odds get a little closer if he alienates many of the non-Hispanic Republicans who dislike Sotomayor.

Florida saw this once before in a Senate race, both sides playing politics.

In 1969 and 1970, President Nixon set out to name a Southerner to the Supreme Court.

The Senate rejected his first choice, Judge Clement F. Haynsworth of South Carolina, so Nixon nominated Tallahasseean G. Harrold Carswell, a federal circuit judge. Maybe Nixon and his campaign manager/attorney general, John Mitchell, were betting that the Senate wouldn't have the nerve to reject two nominees, particularly two Southerners, back to back. They were wrong.

But Nixon "won" in the short term. He went on television and announced that Democrats would never confirm a Southerner, and the GOP targeted some well-entrenched Southern Democrats in 1970. One casualty was Sen. Albert Gore of Tennessee, father of the former vice president, and another was Ralph Yarborough of Texas.

Back in Florida, then-Gov. Claude Kirk persuaded Carswell to run for the Senate against the anointed GOP nominee, former U.S. Rep. Bill Cramer of St. Petersburg. It was a little like Rubio challenging the party-establishment choice, Crist, today. There was also a tempting irony in the prospect of Carswell sitting in the Senate among men who'd spurned him — but not tempting enough, as Cramer won the primary. Having beaten up on Carswell in the primary, though, Cramer could hardly turn around and tap conservative sympathy for the judge in the general election, won in a walk by Lawton Chiles.

There's no need to rehash the bitterness of the Carswell confirmation hearings, except for one similarity. ...

"Matt Gaetz [the son of state Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville] has announced his candidacy for the District 4 seat in the Florida State House of Representatives. Gaetz, 27, a resident of Fort Walton Beach, is the third Republican candidate to announce his interest in succeeding state Rep. Ray Sansom, whose term in the House would expire next year. Kabe Woods and Bill Garvie, both also of Fort Walton Beach, have also pre-filed to run." "Matt Gaetz to seek Sansom's seat".

HD 1

"The race to replace state Rep. Greg Evers in the District 1 race has attracted three men new to politics in a field almost certain to grow. Doug Broxson, Matt Dobson and Ferdinand Salomon — all Republicans — have filed to run in the primary to be held next August, ahead of the general election in November 2010. The majority-Republican district includes parts of Santa Rosa, Escambia and Okaloosa counties." "Three jump into race for Evers' seat".

What's Chain Gang Charlie to do?

"A pair of adoptive parents are urging Gov. Charlie Crist and lawmakers to stop the 'chemical restraint' of children in state care. " "Crist urged to stop 'chemical restraint' of foster kids". See also "Adoption rate celebration gives way to drug concerns".

Crist, whose embrace of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan cost him support among some conservative Republicans, echoed their objections to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in a statement Tuesday.

Crist had brushed off questions about Sotomayor's nomination for weeks, drawing criticism from his opponents in the U.S. Senate race. Sen. Mel Martinez, the Republican whose retirement in 2010 opened the door for Crist, said last week that he supports Sotomayor.

Without warning, Crist took a stand on her nomination on a day when he had no public appearances scheduled. ``I have strong concerns that Judge Sotomayor would not strictly and objectively construe the Constitution and lacks respect for the fundamental right to keep and bear arms,'' Crist said.

The best they can do?

"After the Barack Obama-John McCain presidential campaign, in which Obama excited droves of younger voters, Republican Party leaders figure they need to do offer something to attract 18- to 35-year-olds. So who is the Florida Republican Party turning to? Carrie Prejean, the California model and fired Miss California USA who generated a massive amount of publicity with her opposition to same-sex marriage during the 2009 Miss USA pageant."

Using Prejean at a big August gathering of under 35-year-old voters to discuss the future of the party isn’t a bad idea, said Anna Alexopoulos, 24, president of the Broward Young Republicans and secretary of the Florida Federation of Young Republicans.

Alexopoulos said some Young Republican members, especially in liberal Broward County, don’t agree with Prejean on gay marriage, she said she and many others admire her for standing up for what she believes despite withering criticism.

And, Alexopoulos acknowledged, celebrity sells in today’s culture – maybe more than the speech-giving politicians typical of political conferences. And, given the somewhat limited supply of conservative young celebrities, Prejean isn’t a bad choice.

"'Join the winning team!'"

"The biggest check a donor can legally write to Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign for the U.S. Senate is for $2,400."

But Jacksonville-area lobbyist Marty Fiorentino, who represents AT&T, Fidelity National Financial and CSX Transportation, has delivered $139,250 to Crist. Tallahassee lobbyist James Eaton, whose healthcare industry clients face a major overhaul out of Washington, collected $50,700 for the Republican governor.

These lobbyists and other big campaign donors get around the $2,400 limit by hitting up their clients, friends and relatives for checks -- a practice known as ``bundling.'' It has become as traditional as bumper stickers. What's new is a federal law that requires candidates to identify federal lobbyists who bundle at least $16,000 -- providing a window into Crist's record-setting campaign account.

Crist -- whose $4.3 million in donations from April to June led Senate candidates nationwide -- was in Washington Tuesday at a fundraiser hosted by federal lobbyists for the second day in a row.

"Join the winning team!'' reads the invitation to Tuesday's reception at the private Capitol Hill Club, which was co-hosted by lobbyists T.J. Petrizzo, Omar Franco and Pat Raffaniello....

Little is known about his contributors so far, since he retreated last week on a offer to provide a database of his donors to the press.

Consultants raking it in

"They are consultants, the behind-the-scenes players who mold a candidate's message, dig up dirt on opponents and perfect a politician's pitch." "Spending on political consultants in Florida skyrockets".

Grayson smiling this morning

"For months, Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty has considered running against rookie U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, but he has gotten little recent encouragement from national Republicans."

A newly released poll could explain why.

About 300 voters questioned in a mid-March survey commissioned by the National Republican Congressional Committee were as likely to disapprove of Crotty's performance as approve of it. The poll was provided to the Orlando Sentinel by a state GOP party operative on the condition of anonymity....

It's not clear what effect the poll results have had on Crotty, who's term-limited as mayor next year and had promised a decision by July 4 on whether to run against Grayson, D-Orlando. But neither he nor another potential candidate, former state Sen. Dan Webster, R- Winter Garden, have said what they intend to do.

Entrepreneurship

"FDLE: Gulfstream casino owes taxes after fraudulent play discovered".

Sans mustache

"Florida witnesses the reemergence of a political figure as Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, a former lawmaker from North Fort Myers, officially begins his campaign for attorney general." "Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp officially begins run for attorney general".

Luv 4 sale

"Rep. Rick Kriseman wants Plant City Republican Rich Glorioso removed from the panel that will look at Ray Sansom and his dealings with a Panhandle college."

"I know him to be a decent man and a quality lawmaker who has served both our state and our country with honor," Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, writes in a letter to House Speaker Larry Cretul. "My concern is the perception following reports that he received campaign contributions from Mr. Jay Odom via Rep. Ray Sansom.

While Charlie sleeps

"Florida economists said the state's economic recovery could start later and move more slowly than had been predicted previously." "Later Florida recovery seen".

"That's right, you"

Scott Maxwell:

"Development interests are gearing up for a fight, stocking their war chests with millions of dollars to do battle against the people they fear most in the world:" You.

That's right, you.

Sure, you might not feel so powerful right now. (Or look it, sitting there in that coffee-stained pajama top.) But you are the very thing that developers fear most.

Why? Because, unlike many of our campaign-cash-craving politicians, you aren't afraid to tell developers "no."

Not if a proposed development would overcrowd your child's school. Or further clog your road. Or increase your taxes to provide services to a big development in some far-flung locale.

You're capable of making that decision. And that is the philosophy at the root of Hometown Democracy — that the people can be trusted.

Florida voters will get the chance to approve Hometown Democracy in the form of a constitutional amendment next year. But this bare-knuckles campaign has already begun.

So today we are going to look at who's funding the campaigns — and one of the most bogus arguments you will hear against it.

Sorry, Georgia

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "A federal judge has correctly called the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the carpet for illegally placing Florida's coastal ecosystem and marine economy in harm's way to quench the thirst of Georgia communities that failed to plan for their future." "Water ruling protects Florida". See also The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "Flow, judge, go with Florida".

Kottkamp's in

"Kottkamp running for attorney general despite ethics complaint". See also "Kottkamp plans high-tech police approach", "Kottkamp says he wants to fight crime as attorney general", "Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp officially begins run for attorney general" and "Kottkamp running for AG".

The latest from Hillsborough County

"A Hillsborough public policy group whose Christian platform included a push for a state ban on gay marriage has embraced a new attack on an old target: the separation of church and state." "Group fights church, state separation".

"Among the hardest to count"

"When census takers visit Walter Hunter's mostly African-American community in Pompano Beach next year for the big, every-10-years count, he predicts they will encounter a lot of slammed doors."

They are likely to get a similar reception in Delmond Desira's Haitian neighborhood in Delray Beach, where many don't understand how filling out the 10-question form would improve their lives.

Hunter and Desira live in South Florida enclaves the U.S. Census Bureau ranks among the hardest to count: pockets of Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Park, Delray Beach and Belle Glade.

In those areas, with heavy concentrations of immigrants who don't speak English, poor people and rental units, almost half the residents did not return mailed surveys for the last big count, in 2000.

Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade are among the 50 counties in the nation with the most people living in hard-to-count areas, according to a report released in April by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a children's advocacy group.

Whoopee!

"Employers prepare for four-cent minimum wage raise".

Stim talk

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorial board: "Gov. Charlie Crist, who was among the centrist Republican governors supporting the stimulus, says it's working just right, so another stimulus isn't necessary."

But it's the same Crist who predicted in 2007 that Florida's economy was ready for a "sonic boom." ...

[T]here appears to be no connection between restored financial stability in the financial sector, where banks are debating how big employee bonuses should be, and employment elsewhere. Florida's June unemployment rate of 10.4 percent is the worst since 1975, though the comparison understates the severity of the crisis. In 1975, the state's population was a little more than a third of what it is today (18.3 million). Almost 1 million Floridians don't have jobs. Flagler County, where unemployment is 15.5 percent, is the worst hit in the state. Still, the stimulus package included $21 billion to extend unemployment insurance and provide health care for the unemployed, two substantial benefits masked by the size of the unemployment lines.

The stimulus package also provided $50 billion to slow foreclosures. Florida has the nation's second-worst foreclosure rate after California. Federal aid should have helped. Yet Flagler and Volusia counties recorded 2,186 default notices, scheduled auctions and repossessions in June, up 92.6 percent from June 2008, and up 41 percent over the previous month (the monthly average until June had been 1,501 foreclosures).

On the other hand, 26,000 teachers' jobs were saved in Florida ... as the state used $2 billion in federal aid to offset a budget gap that otherwise would have cleaved through education jobs. Florida is scheduled to receive a total of $15.3 billion in federal stimulus aid in three years. Few would argue that the money isn't needed, or that more should be turned down.

FCAT follies

"A school for children with severe medical problems might be closed by the state over its failing grades. The Miami-Dade school district is fighting to keep it open. " "Dade school for sick children may be closed over low FCAT scores".

"Don't weaken state's concealed-weapons statute"

The Miami Herald editorial board: " Forty-eight states have laws regulating carrying concealed handguns, and they vary widely. Florida's standards are higher than the federal law and tougher than in many other states. For instance, applicants are required to complete a hunting or firearms safety course. Residents, who are deemed habitual offenders of alcohol under the state's disorderly intoxication laws, are prohibited from getting a permit. Those with a physical infirmity that would make handling a gun unsafe can't get permitted, either."

"But these distinctions would be rendered moot under an amendment to the U.S. Senate defense appropriations bill. " "Reject gun law".

'Glades

"Gladys Perez, who has worked for Crist as a civil rights and environmental counsel, will join a Treasure Coast real estate agent and manager for the agricultural giant Lykes Brothers as members of a board overseeing a powerful, often controversial, agency that manages the water supply for 16 counties and directs Everglades restoration. ... The governor also named Kevin Powers, 42, a real estate agent from Indiantown, and Joe Collins, 41, of Sebring, an engineering manager with Lykes Brothers." "3 Crist appointees could shape U.S. Sugar deal".

"Flood of foreclosures"

"Central Florida's flood of foreclosures is swamping one of the area's fastest-growing minority groups." "Central Florida Hispanics bare brunt of subprime-loan fiasco". See also "Graphic: Hispanics and subprime loans".

Shhhh ... they're not tax increases

Courtesy of the we'll-never-raise-taxes (on rich people) crowd in Tally: "Residents around the state soon will see vehicle registrations rise by at least 35 percent, along with most every other fee associated with driving." "The higher cost of driving".

"Economic Homeless" in Hillsborough

"A controversial vote on whether to build a tent city for the homeless in Hillsborough County is scheduled to take place this morning. Catholic Charities wants to house up to 500 homeless adults on a vacant lot near East Hillsborough Avenue and Harney Road." "Hillsborough vote on controversial 'tent city' today" ("about 30 percent of new residents are 'economic homeless,' people who recently have lost jobs and homes and have nowhere else to go.")

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "Neglect of homeless no gain for county".

Not to mention the "massive" paycheck

"In selecting Brogan, who is the president of Florida Atlantic University, the board praised his connection with students and the local and national perspective that he possesses on higher education in Florida."

"There is massive potential here," he said. "I see it. And I've seen it for years."

Brogan will replace John Delaney, president of the University of North Florida, who has been serving as interim chancellor since Mark Rosenberg resigned in February.

His total compensation for the post has not yet been finalized. The state funds no more than $236,000 for the post, which is supplemented with private foundation money.

Goodnight moon

"Obama meets astronauts; no promise of moon or Mars".

That's the question posed by an ambitious young state senator from South Florida. An ambitious senior senator from North Florida would also like to know if, in fact, companies contracting with the state are passing "cost of living" money along to their employees, not just padding their profits.

State Sen. David Aronberg, D-Greenacres, is running for attorney general. Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, is running for Congress. Both men have tried to stick up for state employees in the Legislature, as Democrats do reflexively, if not effectively.

Lawson, who has been in the House or Senate since 1982, fought privatization efforts from the years of Bob Martinez through Jeb Bush. It wasn't just Republicans, either. Gov. Lawton Chiles did his share of "right-sizing" and reorganization, though there was never a three-year run (and counting) without a general pay raise.

When the 2009 Legislature was considering pay cuts for state workers, Lawson got to work with some Senate staff on contracts for state agencies. He said he learned it was common for negotiators to include a 3-percent "cost of living" increase in privatization deals and, after all his decades in the Legislature, this was news to him.

"It started when I was trying to determine how not to cut salaries," Lawson said. "When we looked at a lot of these private contracts, I asked why they were increasing every year, but nobody had a good answer for why we had to do this."

Aronberg, vice chairman of the Senate Governmental Operations Committee, last week asked the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection for lists of their contracts. He said "hundreds of millions of dollars" are involved in the contracts, including a "standard" pay bump for employees.

"If this is accurate, it is troubling that state agencies have routinely increased the salaries of private contractors despite the Legislature's repeated policy decision to freeze the salaries of state workers," Aronberg wrote to DEP Secretary Michael Sole. "Needless to say, as Florida's recession has deepened, rank-and-file state employees — from Highway Patrol officers to nurses in our state hospitals — have become targets for pay cuts to offset state revenue losses." ...

[S]tate employees deserve raises, too. It's always easier for legislators to stiff them — what are they going to do, take their labor to another government? — while taking care of the companies that generate campaign contributions.[*]

Besides the always iffy proposition that privatization provides service that is both better and cheaper, not just one or the other, there's also a lack of openness in privatization.

State employee salaries are public record, but we've got to pretty much take private companies at their word if they say salaries are rising 3 percent annually.

And where did they get 3 percent? State employees haven't seen a raise like that in years.

"Without disclosure of these private contractors' spending arrangements, there is no feasible way for legislators to fulfill our proper legislative oversight obligation," Aronberg wrote to Sole. "As a result, untold amounts of tax dollars that could have been used to stave off cuts to law enforcement or other critical public service personnel are being transferred from the state's coffers into the pockets of private contractors."

Jeb Bush has already blazed the trail. Florida's governor has been an aggressive privatizer, and as The Miami Herald put it after a careful study of state records,

"his bold experiment has been a success — at least for him and the Republican Party, records show. The policy has spawned a network of contractors who have given him, other Republican politicians and the Florida G.O.P. millions of dollars in campaign donations.

What's interesting about this network of contractors isn't just the way that big contributions are linked to big contracts; it's the end of the traditional practice in which businesses hedge their bets by giving to both parties. The big winners in Mr. Bush's Florida are companies that give little or nothing to Democrats. Strange, isn't it? It's as if firms seeking business with the state of Florida are subject to a loyalty test.

So am I saying that we are going back to the days of Boss Tweed and Mark Hanna? Gosh, no — those guys were pikers. One-party control of today's government offers opportunities to reward friends and punish enemies that the old machine politicians never dreamed of.

Ain't he one of those "trial lawyer" types ...

... the RPOFers hate so much?

"Ending months of speculation, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp has confirmed that he will run for state Attorney General in 2010."

While Democrats are already crowding the race – Sens. Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber are both running, and former Sen. Rod Smith is reportedly considering it – Kottkamp is the only high-profile Republican candidate so far. Several GOP House members, including Bill Galvano of Bradenton, have considered running for the Cabinet post in recent months but decided against it.

Another fine Jebacy

More embarrassing statistics:

• The uninsured: Florida has a higher uninsured rate than average and ranks high among states and the District of Columbia for the number of people who couldn’t see a doctor in the past year because of cost.

• There are 3.7 million Floridians without health insurance.

• Fifty-three percent of Floridians ages 19-64 who are living in poverty do not have health insurance, compared with 45 percent nationally.

• Percentage of Florida residents uninsured, 2007: 20.7 percent.

• Florida is third among all states and the District of Columbia for its uninsured rate.

• Employer-provided health insurance: Just fewer than half, 47.1 percent, of all Floridians get insurance through an employer. Premiums for employer-provided coverage in Florida were among the most expensive in the country in 2006. Only Maine had higher-costing premiums, per average family, for an employer-based health plan. ...

• Florida ranked 46th among all states and the District of Columbia in the percentage of residents with employer-provided insurance.

• Increasing cost: The cost of employer-provided family coverage has increased 72 percent in Florida since 2000. That’s more than 31⁄2 times the percentage growth in median earnings in Florida during the same period.

Delightful

"Despite approving severe budget cuts, Florida legislators in droves have hung on to a major perk of power: Taxpayer-funded promotional pieces, blanketing mailboxes across the state. About 50 House members and six senators spent state money to design, print and mail newsletters starring themselves, spinning the action from the spring legislative session." "Florida legislators continue to spend tax dollars on promotional mailings despite budget cuts".

Thank you, Mr. Obama

"[C]ritics warn that Florida's day of financial reckoning may be coming in the next few years when the $15 billion in federal stimulus money that the state is expected to receive evaporates while at the same time Florida's population growth remains relatively weak - not providing the economic boost that the state has historically relied upon. In its analysis, Moody's pointed out Florida's high 10.6 percent unemployment rate - which exceeds the national average - its weak housing market and the projections for 'minimal population growth' through 2010." "Fla. avoids budget crisis".

And so it begins ...

Florida's editorial boards start climbing aboard the Chamber of Commerce bandwagon - The Miami Herald editorial board: "Healthcare 'fix' hurts small business" ("House Democrats' reform places undue burden on entrepreneurs").

"Salary cuts, furloughs, fewer services ..."

The Miami Herald editorial board: " Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez says that in his decades of government service he has never had to make the tough budget choices he has faced this year. Same goes for Broward County officials and South Florida cities and school boards. These are indeed extraordinary times that call for exceptional belt-tightening." "Tough choices ahead for South Florida".

Never mind the oversight

Daytona Beach News Journal editors: "When's the last time you looked your boss in the eye and said "'You're wrong?'"

And how candid would you be after you saw a few other people tell their bosses they were wrong -- only to lose their jobs?

That's the plight most of Florida's top government watchdogs face. They're hired to keep tabs on agencies and institutions that spend hundreds of millions of dollars in state money. Yet they report to the same people they're supposed to monitor. And those people are often political appointees chosen as much for clout as for competency.

Take the case of Linda Keen, inspector general for the state Agency for Health Care Administration . . . actually, make that ex-inspector general. A few years ago, Keen circulated a draft report critical of a pilot privatization project with the state's Medicaid system. Shortly after being appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist, AHCA Secretary Holly Benson -- who listed the Medicaid-privatization project as one of her key achievements as a member of the House of Representatives -- asked Keen to resign. Keen's dismissal looked very much like payback from a disgruntled politician, and Benson has never given a good reason for dismissing Keen.

The same thing happened to Fred Schuknecht when Florida State Prison warden James Crosby became secretary of the Department of Corrections.

"Campaign frenzy"

"The Panhandle will join the campaign frenzy of an unprecedented 2010 political season with wide-open state legislative races. A state Senate seat and three House spots representing Northwest Florida are open next year because of term limits. " "Senate race wide open".

Only in Florida

"After decades apart, woman finds mom -- homeless in Orlando".

Even the Kathleen Parkers of the world see it

"Hearings confirm it: Women are subject to double standard".

"Hold on ...

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "For more than one in three voters in St. Petersburg, the Sept. 1 city election arrived last week by mail. Pinellas Elections Supervisor Deborah Clark sent nearly 58,400 ballots to voters who had requested a mail ballot or succumbed to her mail ballot push during last November's election." "Hold on to that ballot".

"He thought it was safe"

"A political candidate was attacked and seriously injured, allegedly by four teens. He had moved to Key West from New York because he thought it was safe." "Candidate didn't see brutal attack coming".

"Poor safety habits and dangerous driving"

The Tampa Tribune editors argue that "the state has the duty to adopt new traffic laws to clamp down on poor safety habits and dangerous driving. This summer we've seen two good examples of the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist doing that." "State gets in gear on safer driving".

"Between lies and timidity"

Pierre Tristam "was digging up old newspaper clips about the Moon landing the other day and there, on the back of a July 17, 1994 New York Times commemoration of the landing,"

was a special report on the "advertising blitzkrieg" over Bill Clinton's attempt to reform health care. The report quoted a television ad opposing the plan. "Announcer: A lot of politicians promise health reform. What would it mean to you and your family? What most politicians are promising would mean a big bureaucracy. Loss of jobs. Waiting lines. Limiting your right to choose doctors. Rationed medical care."

The same scripts, the same old lies, are being recycled today. Dollar for dollar, the best insurance systems are government-run -- Medicare, Medicaid, S-Chip (the children's insurance program). With some state exceptions (Florida's Medicaid system is particularly stingy) they provide more access and better care at lower costs than most private and employee-provided insurance, mine included. The models are in place to establish a fantastic universal care system.

Between lies and timidity, that's not where we're headed. As vision goes, the Democrats' version of reform is the equivalent of the International Space Station -- a low-orbit clunker imprisoned by old-world gravity and make-work objectives. Health care's moon shot still awaits.

Florida has nearly 4 million uninsured residents. And according to a new Families USA report, 3,500 more each week are losing their insurance or dropping it because premiums have doubled in the past decade.

up his year-old Cover Florida program as a national model for how Congress and the White House should act.

"I'd like to see more private-sector involvement. I think that what we've done in Florida can be a pretty good model," Crist told reporters. "The real concern here is to make sure the people have access to health care that's affordable. Through our Cover Florida program, we've shown a way to do it where you don't have to increase taxes."

Basically, Cover Florida has induced private carriers to put together no-frills packages that cost as little as $150 a month. Critics say that, for anyone with serious health issues, these bare-bones policies remain unaffordable.

In its first year, the program enrolled just over 3,200 people through the end of May — less than the number who lose coverage each week.

FlaDem fundraising "could spell trouble for Republicans"

"For the first time since the GOP won control of state government in the mid 1990s, the Democratic Party and its leading candidate for governor together raised more money than their Republican counterparts at the start of a gubernatorial election season."

Alex Sink, the state's Democratic Chief Financial Officer, raised almost $1.3 million to Attorney General Bill McCollum's $1.04 million, since April 1. The Democratic Party raised nearly $2 million, while the Republican Party of Florida raised almost $1.2 million.

"Lawson is undeterred"

"Trailing badly in the money race, veteran state Sen. Al Lawson continued to predict victory in his bid to unseat Congressman Allen Boyd, a fellow Democrat."

According to the latest campaign-finance reports, Lawson faces an uphill battle against the Blue Dog conservative farmer from Monticello who has represented the sprawling Second Congressional District since 1997.

Lawson, an insurance executive from Tallahassee who is winding down a 27-year career in the state Legislature, raised $55,285 for the quarter that ended June 30. After spending $17,651, Lawson was left with $37,634 in the bank.

Boyd raised $570,193 and spent $139,465 during the same quarter. But he entered the race with a $1.3 million war chest from his last campaign and had nearly $1.6 million cash on hand at the end of the quarter.

"Summer school for state legislators"

"Despite severe travel restrictions they imposed on state agencies, 27 House members and 15 Florida senators are attending national conventions in Atlanta or Philadelphia this month. And a lone legislator has been authorized for another four-day convention next month in Winston-Salem, N.C." "House, Senate restrict junkets".

Death politics

"Florida governor reschedules man's execution date".

Scott Maxwell ...

... sounds like he's posting on a blog this morning:

Study after study shows that Florida spends far less on children than most other states. We rank near the bottom when it comes to spending for public education and child welfare in general. That's why we have lower graduation rates, more uninsured children, less healthy students and foster kids that end up living in deplorable conditions.

So layoffs are out, then?

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "Putting a cap on Department of Children and Families caseloads would help Florida foster children at risk".

Nuthin' sadder than a desperate RPOFer

"In Kosmas, GOP sees slipup, blasts it".

Busy bees

Without a substantive idea in what seems like decades, Orlando-area RPOFer "lawmakers are getting deeper into the air attack against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink'suse of state planes. ... State Rep. Mike Horner, R- Kissimmee, then sent a public-records request to CFO Sink's office asking for copies of the investigative files generated from her internal inquiry. Horner and a handful of other House Republicans including Rep. Chris Dorworth, R- Lake Mary, had asked for an outside investigation." "Plane flap not over".

"Defining moment" for "scandal-tainted Palm Beach County"

The Palm Beach Post editorial board: "The term 'defining moment' can be overused, but this truly is such a moment for the scandal-tainted Palm Beach County Commission and the government it oversees. The county's future depends on real reform. Any commissioner who doesn't want to create an independent and free-wheeling inspector general's office to make a clean break from how things have been done isn't fit to remain on the commission, and should resign." "Support reform, or get out".

Cash cows

"U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, a freshman Tequesta Republican whom Democrats hope to unseat in 2010, increased his campaign war chest to about $250,000 during the second quarter of the year, according to campaign finance reports released last week. GOP watchers are hoping Rooney raises more than the $1.6 million he collected for his 2008 campaign. But Democrats said it would not be enough to scare them away." Unfortunately, the

Democrats have not yet fielded a candidate ....

Across the aisle from Rooney, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, raised $371,211 from April 1 to June 30, the period covered by the most recent campaign finance reports.

This was the most money from any member of the Palm Beach County or Treasure Coast delegations and brought his cash on hand to $1.9 million.

Klein's likely Republican opponent, Allen West, raised $218,243 during the same time. West had $135,687 on hand after the first six months of the year. ...

West received checks of $2,300 - the maximum individuals are allowed to contribute - from New York billionaire John Catsimatidis and his wife, Margo, and Tennessee businessman Randall Doerter.

The country clubbers are all abuzz...

The folks down at the country club, err at the Chamber of Commerce, err on the The Tampa Tribune editorial board are worried that Obama might "ram this shadowy proposal through, promising to extend health care coverage to all Americans and at a lesser cost to them. Does he want the impossible?" "Don't let reform lead us to ruin".

Meanwhile, across The Bay

A lengthy article Susan Taylor Martin, Saint Petersburg Times Senior Correspondent: "Canadians pay higher sales taxes — 13 percent in Ontario compared to 7 percent in Tampa — but all 33 million are entitled to hospital and physician services at government expense." "O Canada, where health care is free" (however, "one irrefutable truth about the Canadian system is that people often have to wait weeks, even months, for non-emergency care.")

"Kill the snakes"!

Mark Lane:

In a political season dominated by complex debates over macroeconomic theory, restructuring of health care and the science and economics of global warming, it's good to hear a phrase with the clarity of "kill the snakes."

Both Crist and Nelson have keenly developed ears for issues that are visceral, easy to grasp and offer opportunities for quick response. Even if the quick response is mostly symbolic. It's no surprise that they discovered the Snake Invasion Issue almost simultaneously.

This could be big. And nobody would want to be seen as soft on invading snakes when the negative political ad season begins.

"So, what's in the new name?"

The Palm Beach Post editors: "Unlike State Farm, Allstate hasn't announced that the company is leaving the Florida property insurance market. Allstate is just leaving its name. So, what's in the new name? Not a whole lot." "EDITORIAL: New Allstate? Not really".

Aronberg

"Orlando state Rep. Scott Randolph is endorsing Sen. Dave Aronberg in his Democratic primary with fellow state Sen. Dan Gelber for attorney general." "AG race".

The RPOFer who Charlie picked ...

... to replace elected Democrat Phyllis Busansky: "Elections leader promises fairness".

Free choice and all that

In a bit of a surprise, The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board endorses the latest version of the Employee Free Choice Act. In doing so, the editors parrot the Chamber of Commerce falsehood that union recognition via a "card check"

was undemocratic, because it eliminated the privacy of a secret ballot that protects employees from being badgered or bullied by co-workers and union organizers into signing union cards.

Even today, workers who are members of unions generally enjoy better pay and benefits than others. But the U.S. labor movement has been withering for decades, with unionization rates down to 7.6 percent of workers in the private sector. There are a host of reasons, but an important one is that employees are too often fired, intimidated and retaliated against for union activity, and employers face few penalties. With solid Democratic majorities in Congress and a labor-friendly president, significant labor reform should be passed this year.

The Employee Free Choice Act is the bill the labor movement has set its sights on. It is a comprehensive updating of labor law that would give employees wishing to exercise their right to organize significant new legal protection. There is much in the bill to commend, including sharply increased penalties for firing employees who engage in union activities. Another key provision would make arbitration mandatory for the first contract after collective bargaining has failed to reach an agreement. ...

Shortening the time for an election would prevent employers from spending weeks inundating workers with antiunion messages and threats.

This seems like a reasonable middle ground. As amended, the Employee Free Choice Act will give workers a fairer opportunity to organize and bargain collectively.

King

"State Sen. Jim King has suffered a setback in his two-month fight against pancreatic cancer, receiving a diagnosis that cancer has spread to other organs. King, a Jacksonville Republican and former Senate president whose district includes parts of Volusia and Flagler counties, received the diagnosis during the past week." "State Sen. King's cancer spreads to other organs".