Al Cárdenas, isn’t just another GOPer. He was the Chair of the Florida GOP, President of the American Conservative Union, Chair of CPAC and an ever-present media figure during the Bush years. But like many Bush Republicans, this new DeSantis-styled MAGA party has left him politically homeless to an extent. Still, his endorsement of Democrat Annette Taddeo in Florida’s biggest Congressional race was a stunner.

“It’s the first time in four decades where I’m actually endorsing a Democrat for Congress in South Florida. And I’m doing it for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that I have not, in these forty years of involvement in politics in America, seen my country face such dire straits as it’s facing now,” said Al Cárdenas.

“So, I have decided that loyalty to my country and loyalty to what’s right is really more important than the loyalty I’ve had to my party for forty years. And, when it’s important and necessary, I’ll deviate from that loyalty to do what’s right for America. And in this particular race in South Florida, it’s important to elect Annette Taddeo. I’ve known her in many of her roles, and I know how she thinks. I know that she puts her country and her state above herself.

“And to me, that’s now a precondition to supporting anyone running for office. ‘Is your country more important than your particular political career?’ And I know for Annette, it is. And so, I’m here to support her, and I’m proud to support her.”

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Facing likely defeat after coming in second place in the August primary, John Dailey is throwing a Hail Mary in his campaign to avoid being the first one-term “Leadership Mayor” of Tallahassee.

Appearing with longtime critic Commissioner Bill Proctor on Thursday morning, Dailey abruptly proposed millions in new spending for sewer connections for an unincorporated area of Tallahassee’s urban core. Dailey’s allies at the City were including Reese Goad were on hand for the political stunt, as was County Administrator Vince Long.

John Dailey’s four-term career is a major cause of the urban sprawl and developer-oriented approach to growth that has starved the Southside and weakened logical planning efforts for decades in the Capital City.

Dailey has voted in lock-step with an unpopular and scandal-plagued Blueprint regime where sales tax dollars for “infrastructure” are squandered on environmentally destructive roads to nowhere — to say nothing of the $27 million Doak stadium giveaway for which Dailey was the main cheerleader.

A big red flag concerning Dailey, he has always been among developers’ biggest beneficiaries as we have discussed in recent weeks which has driven his transaction approach to government, besides his troubling conflicts related to his connections to Florida Power & Light.

Dailey says he will elaborate on his 11th-hour proposal at the next City Commission meeting, following his opponent Commissioner Kristin Dozier’s final County meeting.

As national homebuilder D. R. Horton hosts local Chamber of Conference meetings, there’s no doubt that Dailey’s re-election would mean more shoddy overdevelopment of the kind that has threatened Florida’s natural resources and drained local tax coffers.

Dailey has hemorrhaged support in the Northeast and across Tallahassee compared to 2018, and is clearly desperate to make a move on the Southside where a weak performance would spell doom for the embattled mayor.

With Dailey saying he wants a “full City Charter revision commission” to overhaul the city government following this year’s elections, Dailey’s “October surprise” to hoodwink voters should be met with an enthusiastic vote for Dozier on November 8.

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Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) as UF President? While some liberals may think Sasse is okay because he’s got a great personality, was generally hostile to President Trump and is pro-Ukraine (unlike much of the GOP), his views on domestic policy are the sort hard-edged 90’s era think tank gobbledygook we always got from elected Republicans back then.

How will he be as a University President at an institution of UF’s stature? Who knows! One thing is for sure, he will entertain us all with his wit.