Author Archives: Kartik Krishnaiyer
Is Michelle Rhee’s “Students First” preparing for another faux campaign next week?
With the final week of session almost upon us and the fate of the dangerous school “choice” proposals still undecided, Michelle Rhee’s Step up for Students has engaged once again in the voucher battle here in Florida. Last year, Rhee’s organization rated Florida second on its report card of states based on voucher legislation and […]
Video: Step up for Students on school “choice” and courting Democrats
The above video has several tidbits that will interest our readers. The most interesting may come near the 7 minute mark with this quote: “We also discovered that a lot of these schools in these low income areas were affiliated with churches that were run by ministers who were absolutely king-makers in Democratic politics in […]
Flashback Friday: The Legislature in 1996
Yesterday, while doing some spring cleaning (ie. throwing things out) I stumbled upon the 1996 edition of the always handy “Know Your Legislators” legislative directory put out each year by Associated Industries of Florida. This happens to be the very last session the Democrats had a majority in the House. The spread in the Senate […]
1935 Labor Day Hurricane now classified as strongest ever to hit the US
The National Hurricane Center has reclassified the 1935 Keys Labor Day Storm, one of the greatest tragedies in Florida’s History as the strongest storm to ever hit the US mainland. One of the great tragedies of the Labor Day storm was the death of hundreds of World War I veterans who were building the Overseas […]
Inside the numbers in Jolly vs Sink – Was the targeting flawed?
We have heard various theories as to why Democrat Alex Sink was defeated by Republican David Jolly in a high-profile nationally watched Congressional special election last month. We’ve written extensively about the failures of the Sink campaign, who blew double-digit lead to lose on Election Day. The role of the Florida Democratic Party and Democratic Congressional […]
Hillsborough Democrats pass debate resolution
Tonight at the monthly meeting of the Hillsborough Democratic Party, the local party in the state’s fourth largest county passed a resolution urging the Florida Democratic Party to push for a debate to be held between Democratic Gubernatorial candidates after the conclusion of candidate qualifying. Several other local DECs are considering similarly worded measures. Whether […]
Wall Street Journal – GOP Beats Democrats to Spanish-Language Airwaves
Former Miami Herald writer Beth Reinhard who is now based in Washington has an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal regarding the aggressive courting of Hispanic voters via TV ads by Republican Gubernatorial candidates across the country. Including in this Governor Rick Scott who began similar ads last cycle in October. Full article here.
Florida House Democrats – What is the plan for 2014?
TFS Deputy Editor Ryan Ray contributed to this story The word coming from many in the Florida Democratic Party is that 2014 will be at best a “hold” cycle when it comes to State House seats. While the dynamics of this particular election year are currently not favorable to the Democratic cause, the party is […]
Should Russia be considered a state sponsor of terrorism?
This week I have been reading heavily about the Ukraine crisis from multiple news sources. Particularly useful have been the Economist and Bloomberg Businessweek who have both had excellent coverage. But one particular article stood out by Rutgers University Professor Alexander J. Motyl. Motyl argues that the involvement of Russia directly and indirectly in Eastern […]
Remembering the “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy” and its media component
Those of us who come of political age in the 1990s as Democrats had to deal with schizophrenia of the Clinton Presidency and all of the scandals associated with that era. Yesterday Politco revealed the emergence of the infamous “conspiracy commerce” memo. This memo basically outlined the links between elements of the media and various […]
The Florida Squeeze 