Yearly Archives: 2014
Thursday Bookshelf: Legacy of Leadership: Florida Governors and Their Inaugural Speeches
Patricia Lasche Clements who is one of the foremost female historians in the state and was long an active figure in Tallahassee wrote a book in 2005 tying together all the inagural speeches of Governors from William Moseley to Jeb Bush. By perusing the pages of this book you get the sense of how […]
The Florida Current: happy trails?
LobbyTools news imprint The Florida Current began reducing its capacity yesterday, letting go of reporters Bruce Ritchie and Gray Rohrer and announcing the “evolution” of their news operation to focus more on short “policy notes” largely comprised of information found in other publications. Sarah Iarussi, president and co-owner of the Tallahassee-based firm, told SaintPetersBlog yesterday that this […]
Wednesday open thread
Per usual, let’s talk about it. All comments on any subject welcome provided they are not libelous.
NSF: FL Supreme Court overrules lower court, makes admissable RPOF redistricting documents
The Florida Supreme Court today offered us a stark reminder of what’s at stake in the 2014 Governor’s race when they again did the right thing and allowed the League of Women voters and other plaintiffs in the ongoing reapportionment case to review and enter into evidence (and hopefully someday the public record) operative-drawn maps, emails and […]
The demise of the Val Demings Campaign yields important lessons for Democrats
Val Demings’ withdrawal from the Orange County Mayoral Race was a shock to most observers of Florida politics. It seems all so surreal because after years of misfiring Democrats had actually landed a highly-touted recruit for a big race in the state of Florida. Local Democrats had recruited a superstar, someone capable of commanding tremendous […]
AIF Legislative Ratings released
Associated Industries of Florida, whose agenda varies somewhat from the Florida Chamber have released the organization’s 2014 Legislative Ratings. They can be found here.
What if Crist had stayed put in 2010?
The venerable and incomparable Steve Bousquet asked the question in the St Pete Times the other day what would have happened in Florida had Crist run for reelection in 2010? My view is that Crist may have as Bousquet stated stayed a moderate Republican, at least nominally. But it is also entirely possible with the Tea Party […]
Monday Musings – Val Demings, Russian-Chinese Gas Deal, US- China Relations, European Elections, Snowden, Sachs-Bogdanoff rematch?
Val Demings dropped out of the Orange County Mayor’s Race giving little advance notice to activists and Democratic Party leaders on Tuesday. The withdrawal sent shock-waves through the political community in Florida, particularly among Democrats. Demings campaign had shifted in tactics substantially since her entry into the race leading to great frustration among local Democrats […]
Everyday sacrifice more than a holiday – A call for bipartisanship in veterans and foreign affairs
By Tara Laxer and Kartik Krishnaiyer This being Memorial Day weekend we can think of no better time to make a call for a return to bipartisanship in both veterans affairs and foreign policy. The goal should be to protect United States interests abroad rather than partisan electoral interests at home. Each year we thank […]
Jeb Bush Foundation Report Card Released
Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future has released its annual report card for members of the Legislature. As we have editorialized strongly time and again against school “choice” schemes, this rating is an important barometer from where we sit. While the Democrats in the House did quite well from our vantage point, the Senate was […]
The Florida Squeeze 