Category Pam Bondi
Winning the Florida Attorney General’s seat may be more important than Governor in the Trump era
Recently much of the attention of Florida Democrats has been rightfully focused on replacing Governor Rick Scott next year with a Democrat. However, like the run-up to 2014, little if any time has been spent in discussing the statewide cabinet races, a place where Democrats must take advantage of shifting attitudes and demographics in the […]
How Trump got Establishment Democrats to help him steal the election
Democrats made some horrible miscalculations during this election cycle, but some of us are currently showing an alarming tendency to blame the only people who aren’t culpable — the voters. I understand the emotional satisfaction of lashing out at those perceived to have let us down, but it’s a counterproductive exercise to aim anger at […]
Money and the Attorney General’s race – Part II
Part I can be found here. One of the major talking points around the state during this race, particularly among Democratic activists was about the “burn rate” of spending in the Sheldon Campaign. George Sheldon’s expenses mostly revolved around travel; every little expense counted in the campaign, from food to gas to airline tickets was […]
Money and the Attorney General’s Race – Part I
NOTE: Kartik Krishnaiyer served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for George Sheldon’s Campaign and he did not contribute to this story. The race for Florida Attorney General was supposed to be an interesting race. Back in August, it genuinely looked as if this may be a very exciting issues-based race to watch, with Pam Bondi […]
Zest of the Day: George Sheldon runs for AG
My old friend and political mentor George Sheldon has announced his candidacy for Attorney General. Sheldon’s resume is one-of-a-kind making him a potential dream candidate for Florida Democrats. Story from the Tampa Bay Times.
Murphy Defeats Gunter 51-49: What Does it Mean?
The final results are in: Democrat Amanda Murphy has beaten Republican Bill Gunter to replace the inimitable Mike Fasano by a margin of 322 votes despite Gunter’s massive support from the Tallahassee establishment and hard-right financiers the state over. But is this a one-off thrill for Florida Dems owing to exceptional circumstances — the government […]
Ideology and Partisanship define Bondi’s thinking
This week Attorney General Pam Bondi furthered her right-wing credentials by becoming one of the few Attorney’s General in either political party who failed to back comprehensive immigration reform. Bondi has previously supported Arizona’s hardline and controversial racial profiling enabling immigration law. The Attorney General is continuing a long standing pattern of partisan and ideological […]
The Rightward Drift of the Florida’s Supreme Court
Immediately after the Republicans took complete control of state Government in January 1999, Republicans began talking often and openly about changing Florida’s court system and the way judges are selected. With the Republicans looking to impose a strict ideological framework on state government, the courts stood in the way of the radical rewrite of governance […]
Red Claude Pepper & Gorgeous George Smathers: a Parable
Once upon a time in Florida, a wealthy well-connected conservative with little grasp of the issues but outsize support from real estate and commercial interests toppled, for the first time in state history, a sitting U.S. Senator — effective legislator, friend of labor and confidante to FDR Claude Pepper — by using a sly combination […]
How Will Rick Scott’s Lurch To The Middle Impact the GOP Sense of Entitlement & Unity?
This week one by one the other members of the Florida Cabinet voiced displeasure with Rick Scott’s decision regarding Medicaid expansion. While Scott clearly can read public opinion polls and seems to have taken some steps to reinvent himself following a poor elections cycle for core Republican issues (best evidenced by the failure of ideologically […]
The Florida Squeeze 