Yearly Archives: 2014
Orlando Area Congressional Districts: What Next for Dan Webster and Alan Grayson?
Late this afternoon, Judge Terry Lewis issued a harsh rejection of Congressional maps that were drawn by the Republican Legislature and declared that districts 5 and 10 were unconstitutional. Effectively, this will redraw the entire Central and North Central Florida congressional map from the Tampa Bay area to Orlando all the way up to Jacksonville […]
Thursday Bookshelf: Robert Wexler’s Fire-Breathing Liberal
Robert Wexler who was my Congressman for almost 13 years joined the ranks of politician authors in 2008. Like most political memoirs the book is largely self-serving and self-promoting. Nonetheless, Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress has some interesting nuggets which certainly make it worth reading. Having […]
The Changing Democratic Base from 1994 to 2012
Continuing our recent look at small counties, rural voters and the Democratic vote, I thought it might be instructive to look at a comparison between two Democratic victories. The Democrats last won a Governor’s race in 1994 which was before the current era of Democratic dominance of Presidential elections in the state began (The Democrats […]
Wednesday Open Thread: LG Choices
This week on the open thread we’d love to hear readers suggestions for who should be Charlie Crist’s running mate for Lieutenant Governor. Under the current state law, Governor Crist can wait until just after the primary to make his choice. The old state law which was changed in the mid 1990s dictated that all […]
Ten Dollar Tuesday – Andy Kelly for Volusia County Council
In the 1990s, the Republican party aggressively started in taking over all levels of government elections, from mosquito control all the way up and this has paid off for them in a large way. As we have mentioned numerous times in this blog, the Democrats have to start building from the ground up if they […]
On President Obama and foreign policy: The failure of constant war making
I have seen the allegation bandied about the internet that somehow our website is hawkish and that some of our writers (myself included) are neoconservatives. Interestingly at least speaking for myself I take a far more restrained view of the use of the US military than the current Administration has. President Obama has overextended the […]
Does a Montana Governor Stand Between Hillary and the White House?
Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer may very well be a candidate for President in 2016. His first step will be winning the Democratic nomination. Does he have chance? With name identification below ten percent outside of Montana he will have to considerably raise his profile on the national level. The fact that he provides such […]
Charlie Crist releases TV spot and strikes a positive note
Governor Crist’s first television ad which begins to air in certain Florida media markets today is sunny side up look at Florida. I love that Governor Crist begins the ad with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the signature symbol of this state and takes a positive tone throughout the 30 second spot. Unlike his opponent who […]
Monday Musings: Obama’s Poll Numbers, Democrats and field, Medicaid Expansion, Is Phony Nationalism Good, and Medicare
A recent Q-poll ranked Barack Obama and George W. Bush as the worst Presidents since WW II. This is further proof of the polarization of this country and the short memories many have. Bill Clinton was impeached yet comes in near the bottom of this survey. Richard Nixon resigned from office in disgrace yet is […]
Looking at the Democrats decline in rural vote share – Comparing 1996 to 2008
Continuing with a theme we’ve developed over the past few weeks regarding the loss of rural voters by Florida Democrats, I thought today would be a good day to compare the 1996 Presidential Race where Bill Clinton as an incumbent won the state overwhelmingly (keep in mind Clinton lost Florida in 1992 by under two […]
The Florida Squeeze 