50,000 Show Up for Obama/Hillary in Orlando

We were expecting 30,000-40,000 for the Obama/Hillary rally in downtown Orlando. The fire marshall says that at least 50,000 showed up. The police say about 40,000. Doesn't really matter. It was pretty amazing and totally unparalled in city history.

To contrast, Florida Today reports that about 2,000 showed up for John McCain's Central Florida rally in nearby Melbourne a few days ago.

It looks like we Floridians are actually showing up for Obama. Early voting started today.

Hope. We're doing everything we can down here.

There's more: "50,000 Show Up for Obama/Hillary in Orlando" >>

Tom Feeney's Mea Culpa

Tom Feeney has long been plagued by his affiliation with Jack Abramoff. Now comes word that he'll start running this ad on Tuesday in FL-24 to stave off a tremendous run by Democratic candidate Suzanne Kosmas.



There is no doubt that Feeney is vulnerable. He has been outraised by and has less cash on hand that Suzanne Kosmas. She was an incredibly favored state legislator and has been getting a ground swell of support from local Republican families. But, that's not the weird thing about this ad.

A Feeney advisor had this to say:

Even his own campaign staff admits the move is unconventional. “It’s an unorthodox approach,” said one adviser, who noted the campaign is worried over how it would be received. "This is clearly going to be the focus of the Democrat’s campaign against Tom (Feeney) and it’s something that we felt obligated to get in front of," said the staffer.

I think Feeney should be concerned because, believe it or not, Kosmas is NOT running on this issue. She's running on Feeney's votes against veteran's benefits. Here's a link to her ad. This is the other ad she has been running.

That's because the district has a huge and disproportionate amount of active and retired military in the district as likely voters. She is pounding him on this with ads running on multiple stations at various times - including the evening news shows which have great viewership.

I doubt the Abramoff scandal even caused a ripple with this voting group and now Feeney is REMINDING them of something wrong or even introducing them to it. Nothwithstanding the lies in the ad, it strikes a very good contrite cord. He's sorry after all, so what he says must be true.

I think the ad might be a bad idea. There's quite a bit of cynisism in the general public right now, especially for Republicans. A lot of people will be asking exactly WHY Feeney feels he has to apologize for something if his opponent is not mentioning it. Some people might think it must be something really bad (and it is).

Why introduce something like this when it hasn't come up, especially in a week when McCain is getting pounded by Obama for his ties to lobbyists. Especially when everyone is telling us lobbyists are the ties that squeezed the life out of Wall Street?

Suzanne Kosmas might have just gotten the gift of the election and I hope she responds with an ad that tackles the facts and shows Feeney's contritness for just more of the same, tired Republican BS.

There's more: "Tom Feeney's Mea Culpa" >>

There Will Be No Florida Revote

This came in Monday, and it seems official enough. It creates more chaos in a space where more order is desperately needed. Here's the Florida Democratic Party speaking:

The situation was already bad. This is something recent from YouTube, posted by TPMtv:



Do you want John McCain to be our next president?

If not, then we Democrats need to do everything we can to mend all this ugliness, and quickly. I plead for reconciliation, and soon.

There's more: "There Will Be No Florida Revote" >>

Florida House Race Has National Implications

It's Election Day in Central Florida - again. Today' Special Election, although for a state seat, could have implications for the Congressional race next year.

What's at stake?
We all remember state representative Bob Allen's bathroom escapades which resulted in a conviction and his resignation from the Florida House - District 32. He won TPM's Golden Duke for Best Scandal - Local Venue. Today, voters in that district which includes parts of Brevard and Orange counties will go to the polls to select the new representative.

The candidates couldn't be more different. Democrat Tony Sasso has loads of experience as a local politician and gained the endorsement of both newspapers in his district - the Orlando Sentinel and Florida Today.

SemDem at Daily Kos has an excellent rundown of the endorsements. The write-up closely mirrors the TV ad the Florida Democratic Party is running for Sasso in local cable buys.

Republican Sean Campbell is running a typical talking points commercial: Tony Sasso raised taxes five times (rebuttal on Sasso's website); Campbell is for low taxes, immigration control and small goverment. His ads are being paid for by the Florida Republican Party.

The district itself is moderately Republican with a huge military contingent and NASA. If Campbell wins, it's just more of the same. If Sasso wins, well...

Why It's Important Today
As I've pointed out before, Florida's state district 32 overlaps Weldon's FL-15 and Weldon has announced he will not run for re-election.

If 32 goes blue, especially in the state house, that's a pretty good sign that FL-15 should be on the target list of the Democratic Party. If it stays red with such a strong Democratic contender, Democrats should pour their support into FL-24 and FL-8 where we have a real opportunity to grab both those seats.

The results will be in tonight starting at 7:00 ET. We'll get it up as soon as we know.

These tiny races may not seem important in the national picture but they are. Remember, all politics are local.

There's more: "Florida House Race Has National Implications" >>

Jeb Endorses McCain

Way to put yourself out there Jeb.

Ten days after the Florida primary, Jeb decides that he is supporting McCain. Any big press announcement? Hell, no. Just an email after he wrote a check to the McCain campaign:

"Yes. I support him," Bush wrote in an e-mail to the Sentinel this afternoon, after blog reports that he had written a check to McCain began surfacing.

This may be a first. Jeb has been steadfastly quiet on much of brother W's policies. Now, however, he appears to be jumping on the same bandwagon that big Brother is on:

"We have had good debates, and soon we will have a nominee who will carry the conservative banner into this election and beyond," Bush said.

Bush's address highlighted his conservative credentials in similar language to that McCain used when he spoke to the same group Thursday.

I think this is code for McCain is no longer a maverick, he's a Bushite. I really hope the MSM picks this up for what it is: More of the same.

There's more: "Jeb Endorses McCain" >>

Breaking News - Florida WILL Vote on Gay Marriage Amendment

After most of us thought it dead (and good riddance), I was shocked tonight to find that a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriages had risen like a dark phoenix from the ashes where it should have been destroyed.

Just two weeks ago, Floridians felt safe that we would not be engaging in the hate-mongering toward gays that we often participate in toward hispanic minorities. We've been shocked to our senses this evening.

In Florida, I've never seen the vehemence toward gays that we daily see in more traditional geographic areas.. After all, we have Disney World, one of the nation's premier employers recognizing the rights of domestic partners. We have Gay Days.

Central Florida has always been accepting and welcoming toward same-sex relationships. That's why this ballot amendment vote really mystifies me. There is not great hate about this in South or Central Florida.

North and Panhandle Florida are so lowly populated compared to these that it blows my mind this could actually have gained enough signatures to be on the ballot in November. I'm doubtful the signatures over the last two weeks could really be valid.

The very best thing I can say about this is I don't think it will get the votes needed to make it a part of the state's constitution. In Florida, we require a super majority of 60% to amend the Constituion.

I'm hopeful that can't happen with the environment we have here. But, hey. I didn't think they'd get the signatures either.

There's more: "Breaking News - Florida WILL Vote on Gay Marriage Amendment" >>

The Endorsement War Is Finally Over

Tomorrow, Florida voters will go to the polls a final time. By the weekend, over 800,000 early votes had been cast. An additional 421,000 absentee ballots have been requested. Tuesday is shaping up to be one of the highest voter turnouts in years. I think that means that Floridians are paying attention and they are overwhelmingly hearing McCain-Obama.
[keep reading...]

I did a review of the papers that issue endorsements in such races and the high profile politicians who are endorsing. Here's how it shakes out.

McCain sweeps the newspaper endorsements with 10. He also received the University of Florida's student paper endorsement. The big plum, however, was Governor Charlie Crist's endorsement which was a surprise to even McCain. That was the final nail in Giuliani's coffin, by the way.

McCain also captured Sen. Mel Martinez's vote which is meaningless. With McCain's immigration stance, he's okay with the Republican Hispanic community but this single issue will sink him with the Republican base. That's why Romney is still so strong in the polls.

Obama captured 7 endorsements including what I thought were some unlikely ones: Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and the Pensacola News-Journal. He also captured the student newspapers for UF and the University of Central Florida. He's picked up a lot of local leader support, but not a big name. Still with the national endorsements he has, and the demographic in Central Florida, he could make the race a lot closer than anyone expects.

Clinton captured 2 Central Florida newspaper endorsements and struck out in the rest of the state. Nothing in South Florida is very bad as these are Democrats who turnout and vote - older and very much her demographic. She did manage to pick up Senator Bill Nelson which struck most of us as him jumping on the bandwagon.

John Edwards picked up one endorsement that carries some weight on the Central Florida east coast. The area, though, doesn't turn out to vote and it will lead to him being just a blip. In an aside, I live in a very red county and Edwards led every candidate - both parties - in fundraising here.

Ron Paul captured the UCF student newspaper endorsement which was quite a surprise. UCF is known for being quite conservative relative to other state colleges.

Giuliani managed to pick up only the endorsement of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. Like Senator Nelson, he's also run for just about every office in the state (mostly against Nelson). His opinion holds some sway with the Republican base - I think probably more than Crist's. This might be an advantage with Florida's closed primary, but NOTHING can save Giuliani, especially now that Charlie is off-ship.

Romney and Huckabee scored goose eggs in endorsements from any meaningful source. Tom Feeney is Romney's main guy but that's not a good thing with his troubles. Adam Putnam - the 3rd ranking Republican in Congress - was a Thompson man and it's not likely that he'll make another endorsement since he hasn't done it by now.

Overall, I think the Republican race will be closer than we think and Romney may pull it out despite the media lovefest with McCain. Clinton wins going away but Obama may be a little closer that we thought if young voters show up.

There's more: "The Endorsement War Is Finally Over" >>

Backpeddling in Florida

I have to admit that I really don't like Florida Senator Bill Nelson. He has run for almost every statewide office in Florida; he flew on the space shuttle to keep funding for this program alive even after safety managers thought it should die; and, recently, he voted to secure telecom retroactive immunity. To me, he is a despised Democrat; yet, he is a Democrat.

Apparently, on Tuesday - hey, way to put yourself out there - Nelson will endorse Hillary Clinton. Nothing new with her huge lead in the polls. I think this is a typical "Nelson" move.

On Friday, Mel Martinez announced for McCain, clearly waiting until the last moment for his candidate. It's sad that I see Nelson's endorsement as no different. Say what you will, waiting until a few weekend days before an election - when all the polling data is in - is spineless.

That said, I expect no less from RNC Mel and NASA Bill.

Please, if nothing else comes of this election cycle, please, please, please - save Florida from these worthless politicians in the Senate and send us someone closer to Bob Graham.

There's more: "Backpeddling in Florida" >>

At the end of the day

All three Democratic presidential candidates -- Hillary, Edwards, and Obama -- support the death penalty "...as have virtually all leading Democrats running for office in the past 20 years.... Why so much longstanding support for capital punishment? It is the easiest way to combat the quadrennial charge that Democrats are 'soft on crime.' "

The NYT editorial board endorsed Hillary as their Democratic "primary choice." Is this a good thing when the Times publishes loony columnists Bill Kristol, David Brooks, and MoDo? They also endorsed McCain as their Repub "primary choice." Well, at least the NYT has Paul Krugman on board. Still...

Michigan and Florida delegates -- When the DNC objected to states moving their primary dates up, they decided to strip the states of their delegates. Edwards and Obama removed their names from the ballot in Michigan but Hillary and Kucinich did not. "Today, Hillary announced that she will demand the DNC seat Michigan's and Florida's delegates. Delegates that only she - in violation of DNC rules - competed for." Yellow Dog provided details. Via Deb-TUD, Josh Marshall had something to say about it, too.

Yesterday, Joe Conason indicated he's gotten some heat for not bashing Hillary enough. His response: "There's no taking sides" and concluded, "I perceive strengths and weaknesses in both of the leading Democrats. They're politicians and human beings, not angels or devils. I can certainly imagine voting for either of them in the general election." His favorite pick for president didn't run. Hmmm, I would guess that's Al Gore!

Mitt and McCain vie for who's the biggest tax cut whore of all! But, wait a minute... Rudy wants the coveted title.

FactCheck.org identified Repub falsehoods in last night's GOP debate in Boca Raton, FL. Mitt "misrepresented" Hillary's health care plan, plus note the Huckster's "FairTax fairy tale," "Giuliani's fables," and "McCain's tax evasion." Some are old lies, and some are new. Unsurprising, isn't it?

Atrios pointed out the Draft Bloomberg effort has recorded "a whopping 3136 signatures." At the time of this posting, the amount has catapulted to 3,375! Wheee-oooo. Are you feeling the "Mikementum"? His favorable rating is "Teh Suck".

The latest Florida poll, a national Gallup primary poll, and Mark Blumenthal discussed variations in SC polling.

Cernig at Newshogger posted an in-depth discourse on a "nuke policy blog tank." An excellent synopsis and worth the time to click the link (h/t to blogging goddess, Avedon).

Toe-tappin' Larry Craig sex sting -- "No one on the tight-lipped Senate committee will say how far along any investigation is or whether they expect it to yield any findings." CREW hasn't heard anything. Craig's lawyer remains silent. Is anything being investigated? "No one with the committee has asked to speak with anyone connected with Craig's arrest or asked for more information about it, said Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport." McClatchy

Tortured silence -- Today during a press conference, AG Mike Mukasey wouldn't say if waterboarding is torture. "In a letter to Mr. Mukasey this week, all 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee pressed him again for an answer to the question of whether waterboarding is torture and suggested it would be a focus of an oversight hearing next week at which the attorney general is scheduled to testify." Tomorrow's NYT

Bloody Iraq -- Today Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said "that Iraqi reinforcements have begun moving toward the northern city of Mosul for a 'decisive' battle with the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda." Also in Mosul, "A provincial police chief was killed by a suicide bomber" on Thursday. "Duraid Kashmoula, the governor of Nineveh province, said the number of people killed in Wednesday's attack had increased from 15 to 38.... The revised death toll made Wednesday's bombing the deadliest in Iraq since mid-December. Kashmoula said 134 people had been wounded."

Pakistan -- SecDef Gates said the U.S. will send "troops to conduct joint combat operations with Pakistan's military against al-Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas."

Check out Corpus Juris' funny video post below. Hilarious! Our hyperbolic media stars... erupt!

[That's all...no more after the jump.]

There's more: "At the end of the day" >>

In Other Florida News

In fact, some of this has to do with the Presidential Primaries but it's not the single focus because a LOT of stuff has happened in Florida without listening to the Republicans wacky campaigning.

Rep. Dave Weldon (R-15) is retiring. I guess it's true there aren't a lot of Republicans left. (Did it have anything to do with the arrest of his daughter for a bar fight?) He snuck in last cycle against a weak opponent. If we can get one half as good as Suzanne Kosmas, who is running against Tom Feeney, we might make a race of it.

Here's an interesting tidbit. Weldon's House District 15 overlaps Florida House District 32. In case you don't remember, that's the district of Bob Allen of park bathroom fame who offered to give an undercover officer oral sex for $20 bucks. (That still confuses me.) He would have been positioned very strongly for a Congressional run but blew it (yes, pun intended). He must be crying his eyes out right now.

Florida Senator Mel Martinez endorsed John McCain today. That's especially bad news for the Rudy camp. I guess they couldn't get the sympathy they apparently have from Governor Charlie Crist. Speculation was that Crist would endorse Rudy for his support of a National Catastrophe Fund, but he hasn't. Even more, he's been appearing with McCain all over. Rumor has it that Crist would endorse McCain but he didn't want to embarrass Rudy.

Senator Bill Nelson voted in favor of retroactive immunity for telecoms. He's trying to add an amendment that would let a FISA court decide the issue. What? In my opinion, he's the worst Democratic politician in our State. This just seals it for me.

And, please don't get me started on the Florida/Michigan delegate thing. My vote should count - period. A week ago, everyone wanted my vote to count. Now, because Hillary's championing for her benefit, my hero wants to just say No.

There's more: "In Other Florida News" >>

The Rudy Watch

I said I'd leave this to others as Rudy withers and dies in Florida but he called in to a local talk radio show here in Orlando (he's in Miami). It was planned time but the phone call alone shows the desperation in the campaign.

To finish out the day, have a good laugh at some of Rudy's insight and lies(paraphrased with actual words in quotations):

On revealing his client list:

The host said that he had taken some hot water over the fact that he hadn't released his client list. Rudy responded by saying that he had. He said that "over 90%" had become known, talked about and researched in the press. The host let him off with that.

Let's be clear: Rudy didn't release anything - not 90%, not 50%. Researchers, reporters, opponents may have surmised who the clients were but Rudy didn't help.

On Fred Thompson dropping out:

"I called Fred and told him he ran a good campaign."

WTF? The concession speech that wasn't. The no fire in the belly. The absent candidate. Of all the things he could have said on this subject - this wasn't graceful; it was disingenuous.

On what he has over McCain:
[keep reading... there's more]

Rudy says that McCain is strong on security. Romney is strong on the economy. Rudy says he's strong on both. He turned around New York City when it was in severe financial crisis by "cutting taxes and reducing spending." On national security - 9/11. 'Nough said.

Let's take these one at a time - 9/11 first because I can't believe anyone hasn't said this. Rudy did nothing on 9/11 that could be remotely be called providing national security. He didn't deploy troops. He didn't fight an enemy. He didn't secure borders. He didn't do anything with regard to national security - period.

He has bastardized his being in New York City in a way that NO ONE has the exact same event occurring at the Pentagon. I'm sick of his using this event to establish his bonafides when he didn't do anything.

The economy. Someone should note this: However big the budget of New York City - I think it was around $50 billion when Rudy was mayor - a city government just does not compare, on any level, to running a state or the federal government. City commissions, borough chiefs, dealing with police and fire unions - these are all fine things but they are local and a lot of wheeling and dealing can be done on a local level that simply has no substitute in the national arena.

Further, let's take a look at his cutting spending. Didn't that result in a sub-standard radio system for the fire department that led to men in the World Trade Center not being notified to evacuate. As the bridge builders in Minnesota are about to find out, when cutting corners costs lives, you pay the piper. Maybe Rudy going down in flames is his payback.

On whether Ron Paul is a "nut" (yes, the host asked that):

He's got some different ideas, especially about Iraq, that "I don't agree with". "Fighting islamoterrorism is the defining issue of our day." It very important and Ron Paul doesn't realize that. We don't need Iraq to become a center for terrorists.

You know what I'm going to say here: Iraq is the best terrorist recruiting tool that we will ever know in our lifetime or our children's. No action we could take moving forward would make that untrue. It might add to it but this debacle will stand as the centerpiece for driving moderate Islamic factions to become enemies of the United States.

On winning Florida:

We got the New York Giants season comparison. They started the season "lagging" and now they are in the Super Bowl. Rudy specifically said that this was exactly what was happening in his campaign in Florida.

Clearly, Rudy needs to visit Disney. He'll be right at home in FantasyLand.

All this in less than 10 minutes! Oh joy! He said he'll be in Orlando tomorrow.

There's more: "The Rudy Watch" >>

In Other Florida News

I'll let the pundits continue the Rudy death watch in Florida as poll after poll puts Romney ahead. That's pretty stunning considering that Rudy was second only to Hillary in fundraising in Florida.

Meanwhile, we missed this. Romney's main man in the sunshine state, Tom Feeney, probably has the fight of his congressional career on this hands. His new opponent has revved up the fundraising machine and I may be living in Fantasyland come November.

For the third quarter, Feeney announced that he had raised the most money EVER in his career - $324,000. Rumor has it that he raised only half that in the last quarter.

Last week, we got the news that Suzanne Kosmas broke Feeney's own record in the last quarter by raising over $350,000. This, when she only entered the race in October.

We can hope.

As an aside, the Republican plot to disenfranchise Democratic voters by moving up the primary so Florida was stripped of its delegates by the DNC appears to have failed.

In Orange County, 45 percent of early voters so far are Democrats and 42 percent are Republican. ...

For absentee votes, 46 percent are from Democrats, 44 percent from Republicans.

Even in Florida, there are times those dirty tricks don't work.

There's more: "In Other Florida News" >>

A Question for the Anti-abortion Crowd

Nationwide, abortions are down to their lowest level since 1974. In one county here in Florida, they're down 36%. That's a big drop. I thought it might be due to the increased use of the "day after" pill, but I was wrong.

As they gathered Tuesday night to mark the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, members of Volusia County Right to Life gave all credit to God for a 36 percent decline in local abortions.

...

"God hears our prayers," Gallien said under a full moon during a prayer vigil at the Volusia County Courthouse Annex on City Island.

Here's my question: If God hears your prayers to end abortion and God stopped some abortions, then why didn't God stop all abortions?

Just asking.

There's more: "A Question for the Anti-abortion Crowd" >>

Obama Found in Florida

Photo Credit

And, boy, is Clinton pissed!

Hillary Clinton campaign advisors are accusing Barack Obama's campaign of violating a Democratic National Committee pledge not to advertise in early primary states such as Florida who moved up their primary dates without the party's permission.

Last night, I posted on the appearance of an Obama ad on CNN immediately after the debate. Discussion ensued as to how it got on the air down here. After all, the Democratic Candidates have vowed not to campaign in Florida thanks to the draconian order of Howard Dean to punish us because Republicans moved up our primary.

Apparently, it was a national ad buy and the ad is really running. I've seen it more than 10 times between CNN and MSNBC and I'm not watching all that much. I think it's the beginning of the end for the candidate blackout even though we have just a week to go.

The Clinton campaign says they "aren't ruling anything out," in terms of whether or not to abandon the pledge to compete in Florida.

This is good! Voters have been inundated with Rudy and Romney ads for weeks. If either of them wins the nomination - okay, if Romney wins - he'll have an incredible brand recognition that Edwards and Obama won't have. Only Clinton has that kind of recognition in Florida with ALL voters.

If this opens the floodgates, just maybe our Democratic candidates can make an impact that might turn Florida to a nice shade of purple on its way to a deep blue.

There's more: "Obama Found in Florida" >>

The Most Important Moment of the SC Debate

My husband - liberal Republican if there is such a thing - sat with me, intently watching the Democratic debate in South Carolina. There were many opinions and many "shushes" while we listened.

I tried to describe positions that he already knew, but we both felt the most important moment came after the final comment offered by Hillary Clinton. It wasn't what she said. It was what followed ...

A commercial for Obama for President - airing in Florida!

[keep reading if you want to find out how Obama thumbed his nose at the DNC]


It was a shocker - I almost leapt off my couch! A Democratic campaign ad airing in Florida. After all, weren't we exiled after Florida moved their primary date to Jan. 29? Didn't we have all our delegates stripped? Didn't each of the candidates still in the race agree to NOT campaign here?

No Hillary! No Edwards! No Obama aura!

Yet, here was an Obama ad - replete with his Professor from Harvard Law wondering why Obama gave up such a promising career to battle for the less fortunate among us - airing not once, but three times, in less than 2 hours on CNN after a Democratic candidate debate. Yes, that's what marketing calls "product placement."

I have opined to anyone who will listen that it is a disservice to Democratic voters that we have been deprived of the Democratic debate. This seems especially true with such a qualified group of Democrats who are running. Even if you're a Republican, you only have to be reasonably intelligent to realize that the three folks on the stage tonight far exceed any of the Republican candidates (personal swipe acknowledged).

Yet, I can't help but feel that Obama snuck one up. Believe me, based on all my conversations, we'd most expect this of Hillary. I don't mind that Obama thumbed his nose. In fact, I think all Dems are operating under a stupid and senseless ruling by the DNC. That said, do you play by the rules (such as they are) or not? Do you support the agreement you made or not?

One ad is a mistake. Three ads are not, especially not in Florida.

There's more: "The Most Important Moment of the SC Debate" >>

Florida Law Enforcement Leaders May Not Like Their Rudy

This week, I'm attending the Florida Chief of Police Association mid-winter conference in St. Augustine (as a guest). This morning, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum - Republican extraordinnaire in that he has held or run for every statewide office in Florida including Senator - was scheduled to speak.

McCollum spoke for 30 minutes, much of it dedicated to why he was supporting Rudy for President. I expected the room to go nuts, especially with this almost exclusively Republican and pro-law enforcement audience.

If the media had been in attendance, this would be national news. The room only just politely clapped at the mention of Rudy. While there was a lot of support for the Republican Party, poor Rudy didn't get much. It was almost embarrasing.

If he's failing with these people, I think his Florida firewall may go down in flames.

UPDATE: And then there's this news from Florida:

In the Quinnipiac University poll, 22 percent of likely Republican voters backed McCain, while 20 percent supported Giuliani. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney each had 19 percent.

Uh-oh.

There's more: "Florida Law Enforcement Leaders May Not Like Their Rudy" >>

McCain's Secret Weapon? It Is Too Laugh.

I had to laugh when I saw this post on John McCain's Unheralded Allies at Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, so I went to the original post which had this to say:

Team McCain already has a good chunk of "the right people" in Michigan, South Carolina, Florida, California, Ohio, Maine etc.

...

But the best news for McCain? These folks know how to use the political machinery in their state to help Senator McCain get elected.

Maybe these folks haven't forgotten McCain, but I'm sure here's one Floridian who was a "chunk of the right people" he wishes we would forget (not likely).

Now that he's been found guilty, named a Golden Duke Award winner for Best Scandal - Local Venue (no small feat this year), maybe Bob Allen can stage a comeback and bring St. John the white, male, gay, in-the-closet voter who's afraid of black men.

With time out because he's not running for re-election, the weather's nice enough that passing out flyers in park bathrooms could be a win-win.

There's more: "McCain's Secret Weapon? It Is Too Laugh." >>

Florida Again - Sadly

I think this commenter to a Miami Herald story on the Clinton upset has a valid point.

I can see it now. Dem convention in August and Obama is leading Hillary by the amount of the Florida delegates that are not to be counted. Hillary will sue to make them count and Obama will sue not to have them count. Florida will be the center of the voter problem once again.

Howard Dean's punishment of Florida for a Republican decision is sure to put us square in the middle of a controversy should the close election continue. I hope that's not the case but, with Rasmussen's general party numbers showing Republicans on an up-tick, I can't help but think Dean has made a bad decision.

If you're an Obama supporter, the decision is particularly bad. Democrats in Florida know Hillary and JohnEdwards from the 90's and 2004. But, we haven't the slightest clue about Obama. With no trips to the state, there is no way the voters will feel what Brian Williams reported:

In his beautiful, soaring concession speech, Obama mentioned the town of Lebanon for a reason. I was with him in Lebanon the day before — and what we saw there was a defining moment in the campaign. ... We turned the corner toward the event and saw hundreds of people lined up through the streets of the town just to see him, to feel his aura and to later say that they'd done it — they'd been there. There were hundreds more than the venue could hold, and they stood there anyway, and kept coming. Obama, overwhelmed by the overflow crowd, insisted on an outdoor speech before his indoor speech. This much is important, and should be said: Any journalist covering any candidate that day, in that town, would have come away as I did after seeing those people, saying something akin to the old song lyric, "Something's happening here."

The Obama Affect is not being felt here in Florida. We get tuned up on his rhetoric but, as one person at a local gathering put it: "Hey, he's a good speaker. So is Edwards. Hillary's not. But, speaking doesn't get the job done."

TV doesn't allow us Florida voters to experience the aura that the media tells us is Obama. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing for voters. I'd like to think we're deciding on something more than who can make a good speech. Unfortunately, we're left without answers due to a decision from the DNC.

Why does Howard Dean hate Florida and the democratic process?

There's more: "Florida Again - Sadly" >>

Best Bowl Photo of the Campaign Season

In this Presidential Campaign, I think Ron Paul will probably take the cake as the candidate with the most rabid supporters. But, I think this pretty much seals his originality in seeking the youth vote - a planned flyover at the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. (It's been around Orlando since this weekend.):



And, no, that's not Orlando in the photo but the story is one of the hottest in an otherwise slow news day in Central Florida.

Oh, and Happy New Year. Here's to a very BLUE 2008.

There's more: "Best Bowl Photo of the Campaign Season" >>

Florida Delegates Dealt Out

The Orlando Sentinel publishes the sad details:

The Democratic National Committee can penalize the Florida party by stripping the state of its convention delegates because it is holding an early presidential primary, a federal judge ruled today.

I know there are a lot of people in Florida that think the DNC is the evil guy in this story. Stripping Florida of its delegates for moving its primary to January 29 seems pretty harsh when you consider that the RNC only stripped Florida of half of its delegates. I'm just going to call it like it is.

The real Dr. Evil in this is the Republican Party. Make no mistake about it. This was a calculated move on the part of Republicans who control the State House and Senate to create disallusionment among Democrats in Florida. Does it seem reasonable, even plausible, that Republican party leaders in the state had some kind of deal worked out with their own party? It does to me.

The ads on this, including emails to Democratic voter lists and radio ads, have been telling the Democratic voters in Florida that Democrats don't want Florida to have a voice in the Presidential Race. The messages essentially say that Florida voters aren't important to the Democratic Party.

While this is essentially untrue - party nominations at the national conventions are coronations, not actual political processes - the message is playing well. At our county Executive Committee meetings, this has been a favored topic - the national party deserting us. At our local Democratic Club meeting, several new converts have expressed similar concerns.

For the first time in 20 election cycles, it looked like Democrats would make significant inroads in every level of the political spectrum. Only disenfranchisement with the Democratic Party could have undermined that. That was what this play was all about.

Do I feel punished? No. I am more resolved than ever to take the Republican Party to the woodshed. But, it does point out, once again, the ability of the Republican machine to manipulate the system to their best advantage, even with despicable actions like this.

In the end, it may not be much, but for now, it's causing a ripple.

There's more: "Florida Delegates Dealt Out" >>