Monthly Archives: November 2013
Left vs. Right, Florida vs. India, Corruption and Political Symmetry across the globe
After having spent sometime in India this month I have some observations on the similarities between the politics of the nation and the state of Florida. India and Florida share a somewhat similar climate but culturally are worlds apart. Yet the politics of both places are becoming eerily similar. First some background on India before […]
Charlie Crist: Making the right enemy in Big Sugar
Sometimes you can judge the quality of a candidate or campaign in the enemies they attract. For me Charlie Crist’s stock went up when I read veteran reporter Gary Fineout’s piece about the amount of money Big Sugar, the enemy of much of Florida’s precious and fragile ecosystem is pumping into Rick Soctt’s 527 “reelection” […]
Zest of the Day: FL Sec’y of State issues order to restrict absentee voting
As reported in the Tampa Bay Times, Secretary of State Ken Detzner has issued a directive to Supervisors of Elections in all 67 counties instructing them to make the absentee voting process more difficult. Specifically, Detzner — a former lobbyist and Jeb Bush appointee brought on by Gov. Rick Scott last year — has directed SOEs to […]
Jeff Atwater: Less Moderate than you may think
Florida CFO Jeff Atwater has cultivated an image as a business-savvy moderate Republican.While Atwater is far from the most ideologically driven Republican, he is no moderate. Many have speculated that if Rock Scott’s poll numbers continue to lag (though much of this talk stopped last week when the Q-poll showed Scott closing the gap on […]
Marco Rubio wrong on Iran deal and Middle East regimes
President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have secured one of the great achievements of recent American Diplomacy with the Iranian nuclear deal. Florida’s press-hungry, ideologically motivated Junior Senator who is often the first Republican to make a statement on anything was quickly out of the gate Saturday night with a statement: Sen. Marco […]
The JFK Reader: Recommendations
As an amatuer political historian I own and have read lots of books about JFK over the course of the last two decades. With the recent upsurge in interest about the Kennedy Presidency and his life I’ve decided to list a five of my favorites below. I should also note Robert Caro’s most recent book […]
Rubio’s right-wing rhetoric is continued bad news for Florida
The continued desire of Florida’s first-term Junior Senator to put national interests above Florida, and specifically the national interests of the most reactionary portions of the GOP electorate leaves our state without adequate representation in the nation’s capital. Even when voting like conservative Republicans Senators Connie Mack and Mel Martinez were closely attuned to local […]
TFS Pod #7: Crist v Nelson, Q-poll, state of media and capital press corps in Florida, Trey Radel, and JFK
The latest edition of the Florida Squeeze podcast is embedded below. In this edition we discuss: The continuing talk of Senator Bill Nelson potentially running for Governor. Governor’s race tightening according to latest Q-poll. Newspapers vs Independent Media and the decline in resources for journalists at major papers to do the job they once did. […]
The Crist Files: Charlie Crist and teacher tenure
Just days before leaving the Republican Party and becoming an Independent (though still a self-proclaimed Jeb Bush conservative at the time) Governor Charlie Crist vetoed a dangerous teacher tenure bill. This one action seemed to cement the loyalty of Florida’s Teachers Unions to him, leading to a stunning split-endorsement between Crist and US Rep. Kendrick […]
Times, Herald malign Bill Nelson for practicing politics
A couple of big-deal Florida political writers seem to be typing through Democratic insider goggles lately. In the last few days Adam Smith of The Tampa Bay Times and Marc Caputo of The Miami Herald have both chastised Bill Nelson for possibly harboring the intention of running for governor. Wrote Caputo in Sunday’s Herald: After months of ebbing and […]
The Florida Squeeze 