Senate 
Mon Feb 15, 2010 at 10:10:46 AM EST
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Apparently the leadership of the Florida House of Representatives and Senate enjoyed "teeing" off on the Fair Districts Florida Chair Ellen Freidin. The joint Senate and House Reapportionment Committees peppered her for some 3 straight hours, and at the end, Ms. Freidin elected to quit counter punching. Don't be fooled folks. I first met the seasoned attorney almost 40 years ago when she accepted the high profile position of campaign chair for the legendary Florida Speaker of the House Dick Pettigrew's campaign to unseat a well entrenched State Senator who was a confidant of the old Pork Chop Gang. It is ironic that Ms. Friedin received the same kind of bully treatment then, even though again she was on the side of good government. The result then, and I rather imagine in some form or fashion, the result again will be success for Ellen Freidin. She and her colleagues simply asked the people if they wanted a more active role in their government. Since hundreds of thousands said yes, does that mean no for the politicans that grilled her last week?
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 at 17:38:02 PM EST
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The Governor's apparent position on the President's stimulus program: For It--Picture of the Governor hugging the President, thanking him for the stimulus money, 2009. Against It--When questioned by reporters, 'bad policy', campaigning for the Senate, 2009. For It--During the Special Session to pass Sun Rail, and get at the 'head of the line' for the stimulus money, 2009. For It--Picture of the Governor shaking hands with the President, accepting the stimulus money, 2010. Come on Governor, if you are not careful, sing along, "...looking like a fool...pants on the ground..."
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Sun Jan 10, 2010 at 18:42:37 PM EST
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Looks like some of the GOP leadership is getting desperate. Some of the same old tactics - twisting arms to make money. They keep this up,and Dems will take Florida blue for sure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVX5HoyoAvA
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Sat Nov 21, 2009 at 20:05:55 PM EST
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Now that Leader Reid has gotten the 60 votes to start the lengthy health care debate in the Senate, it is imperative, in my opinion, that the Obama Administration reload and double up their leadership on the other major pending issues--war strength levels, jobs and the economy, financial reform and energy. I realize the popular opinion is that the President not multi-task on these mega issues. The reason I say action now is because solutions to those issues are as critical as health care is to the country, and to ignore them, even if temporarily, could be devastating because: 1. Solutions to each issue are complex, thorny, and require all the support of the White House to be accomplished, in such a vituperative partisan Congress. 2. Each issue has a separate, large and vehement constituency--to ignore them and their issue, will encorage them, out of frustration, to involvement in other issues, like possible opposition to health care reform. 3. Aggressive attention to these four issues, if diverted collectively, could send a dangerous signal of lack of importance that could be impossible to overcome. Early indications of concern, especially for jobs and the economy, surfaced last week among members of the Congressional Black Caucus. This is not the time for the President to take his eye off the ball, even temporarily.
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Thu May 14, 2009 at 07:13:36 AM EDT
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I'm tired of hearing Florida Democrats tell me how much they like Governor Crist, now an official candidate for the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by Mel Martinez. "He’s such an improvement over Bush.” they say, or ”He's not a real Republican." Really? Okay, maybe Charlie Crist is the Florida Republican version of Miller Lite Beer -- you know, “Tastes Great!” -- compared to the bad taste Jeb left on our political palates. No, wait; make that “Less Filling!” -- of our heads with empty Republican rhetoric. But that's not good enough for me, and it shouldn't be good enough for any self-respecting Florida Democrat.
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Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 01:42:02 AM EDT
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Marco Rubio, (recently) chair of the Select Committee to Protect Private Property Rights, has been revealed to have stolen elements from his new website, marcorubio.com, straight from the popular website Hulu.com.
The theft was first noticed by a tweet by Matt Ortega, a former co-worker of mine, who followed up over at his blog in a post, "One of These Things Looks Exactly Like the Other."
Take a look at the images at his site, side-by-side. Then a closer look at the gradient, the bar, and the text. A perfect match, in every respect.
Clearly Rubio didn't create the website personally, but the first and obvious question is what action will he take once his campaign discovers what's actually pretty shocking -- particularly for how directly elements and images were lifted. We're not talking about being inspired here, these are images copied from one server and saved onto another. Will there be a symbolic slap-on-the-wrist? We'll see.
I mean, they didn't even bother to change the filenames. Literally, the same images used as background, pixel-for-pixel.
http://marcorubio.com/images/nav-background.gif
http://static.hulu.com/images/nav-background.gif
(Images/screenshots saved in case they try to purge the evidence.)
Note to whoever created this website -- presumably David All's team (see update), since he was hyping its "style" as something fresh: If you're going to rip someone off, make sure it's not one of the most popular websites in the entire Internet.
And speaking of David All's Miami "style..." Disclaimer: I work at SEIU doing new media stuff, but this was all done on my own time, with my own stuff, and is unrelated to it. I guess a big part of me just misses Florida political blogging, heh. Update: In case there was any doubt, the CSS file attributes David All. Update 2: They have changed the design, slightly. Mainly the coloring.
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Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 22:57:24 PM EDT
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{First, a cheap plug for my blog Senate Guru.}
Even in Florida, I'm sure you've heard plenty about what's going on with the still-unsettled Senate race in Minnesota.
While Republican Norm Coleman prolongs his endless and pointless appeals, cementing his admission into the Sore Losers Hall of Fame, progressive organizations Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have introduced a new effort: NormDollar.com, "A Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away." Very simply put, commit to contributing just one dollar per day for every day that sore loser Norm Coleman refuses to concede.
This is exactly the correct approach to take in order to provide Republican leadership in Washington with adequate disincentive from continuing to fund Coleman's endless appeals. The GOP bigwigs funding Coleman's appeals see value in putting their money toward keeping progressive Senator-elect Al Franken from being seated. This grassroots-powered effort will make them think twice by generating many thousands of dollars for progressive candidates for every single day that they fund the Coleman circus.
If you feel so inclined, you can certainly chip in a bit of change directly to the Franken Recount Fund, as well.
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Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 08:19:45 AM EST
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Associated Press reports that "If former Gov. Jeb Bush decides to run for U.S. Senate, he could find himself facing an old foe."U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek has been traveling the state meeting with Democratic strategists about the idea of running for the seat Republican Sen. Mel Martinez is giving up in 2010. Bush is also considering a run, and would likely grab the Republican nomination if he does.
A potential Meek-versus-Bush matchup would come packed with history: As a state senator, Meek staged a sit-in protest in Bush's office complex after the governor stripped affirmative action protections from state contracting and university admissions.
Meek also led the effort to place class size limits in the state constitution — a campaign Bush vigorously fought as he sought re-election in 2002 and later tried, but failed, to repeal.
Plainly put: Bush and Meek aren't too fond of each other, a fact that would ratchet up the intensity of a Senate matchup. "Meek Considers Senate Run, Could Face Old Foe Bush".
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Thu Dec 13, 2007 at 12:55:19 PM EST
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Cross posted from Sunlight Foundation
"We can never understand [a House member's] Washington activity without also understating his perception of his various constituencies and the home style he uses to cultivate their support..." states Richard Fenno in Home Style: House Members in Their Districts. Fenno understands that the work of members of Congress is more than committee meetings and votes but is also people they meet with from the district. The work in the district builds trust constituents need to send them to Washington and to accept the decisions they make there. Fenno's makes the point that the work of lawmakers done in the district is not an exhibition but the yang to Washington's Ying.
This trust that lawmakers create in the district extends to who they meet with in Washington. The Punch Clock motto has always been "Members of Congress work for us, and we should know what they do every day." Fenno made this point a different way, "Trust is, however, a fragile relationship. It is not an overnight or one-time thing. It is hard to win; and it must be constantly renewed and rewon. "
In this spirit, Sunlight has decided to help out by creating a trust-building tool. This tool, the Punch Clock Map, is a Google map mashup with corresponding RSS feeds that lets citizens see for themselves just how elected officials spend their time and how they serve their district's needs.
Punch Clock Map provides a visual representation of the meetings detailed by the eight members of Congress who post their daily schedules online. Currently, that includes: Sen. Max Baucus,? Rep. Kathy Castor,? Rep. John Doolittle,? Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand,? Sen. Bill Nelson,? Rep. Denny Rehberg,? Rep. Jan Schakowsky? and Sen. Jon Tester.? (As Rep. Alcee Hastings? posts an abridged weekly schedule, his is not included.)
To let citizens monitor how their elected officials address their district's needs, the maps mark the home-base location of the organization or individual who met with the lawmaker, not where the meeting occurred. If the lawmaker's schedule provides a location, organization or individual (who can be easily identified), those meetings are plotted on the map. (The map does not include internal business meetings, committee hearings, meetings with constituents without easily identifiable addresses or location and meetings with other current members of Congress.)
The Punch Clock Map is an extension of the Punch Clock Campaign, an initiative the Sunlight Foundation began in 2006, which asked all candidates for congressional office - challengers and incumbents - to promise, if elected, to post their daily schedules on the Internet. Inspired by the 60 percent of Americans who 'punch a clock' to account for their time at work, Sunlight asked why members of Congress should not also account for their time to their employers: the citizens they represent.
Building trust is an essential part of the representative - constituent relationship. Posting a schedule helps maintain the trust that lawmakers go through such efforts to maintain and it also helps instill trust in the constituents who are always looking for ways to not trust their lawmakers.
Disclaimer: I am the outreach coordinator for the Sunlight Foundation
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Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 21:44:01 PM EDT
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in Iowa
Debate Schedule
August 27-28, 2007 - Cancer Forum, Cedar Rapids, IA (MSNBC & Live Streaming)
September 9, 2007 - Univision Forum (Spanish)
September 26, 2007 - Hanover, New Hampshire
October 30, 2007 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 15, 2007 - Las Vegas, Nevada
December 10, 2007 - Los Angeles, California
January 6, 2008 - Johnson County, Iowa
January 15, 2008 - Las Vegas, Nevada
January 31, 2008 - California
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly....
he's only human, guys....let's go....
missed the debate, Sunday, August 19th in Iowa? replay on C-Span, 6:30 & 9:30 PM ET/PT
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Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 13:11:23 PM EDT
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Debate Schedule
August 19, 2007 - Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa (ABC) 8PM
August 27-28, 2007 - Cancer Forum, Cedar Rapids, IA (MSNBC & Live Streaming)
September 26, 2007 - Hanover, New Hampshire
October 30, 2007 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 15, 2007 - Las Vegas, Nevada
December 10, 2007 - Los Angeles, California
January 6, 2008 - Johnson County, Iowa
January 15, 2008 - Las Vegas, Nevada
January 31, 2008 - California
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly....
he's only human, guys....let's go....
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Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 17:08:58 PM EDT
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Suzan Franks, candidate for State SD3 chatted with FPC members and others for more than an hour this afternoon. We'd like to thank her for her time, which is precious considering the primary is Tuesday. Here is a transcript of that chat. I cleaned up typos and re-ordered some of the comments to make it more readable.
[KQ] Sorry, I'm running a few minutes late. I wanted to thank Suzan for joining us.
[Suzan] Hi Kenneth
[Suzan] I'm so happy to be here
[KQ] The way I figured this would work is that we would open it up to questions from the other chatters, allowing Suzan time to respond before asking another one.
[Suzan] OK....fire away
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Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 12:17:25 PM EDT
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FPC will have two chats today with SD3 candidates. At 4 p.m., we will be chatting with Citrus County Democrat Suzan Franks and at 7 p.m., we'll be talking with Tallahassee Democrat Mark Ravenscraft. To participate, simply go here, choose a screen name (pick one that will let me identify you, so I know who is participating) and hit enter chat. Then all you have to do is type your message in the field at the bottom of the page and hit "Say." That's it. This is a very simple chat interface -- we're using that to make things simple and easy and focused on the content, not the bells and whistles. We'll post a transcript later for those who can't make it.
The primary election is Tuesday and news coverage of this race has been sparse, so particularly if you live in this District, which spans from Tallahassee to the edge of Jacksonville all the way down to Ocala and Citrus County, this may be your best chance to get to know the candidates. Join us.
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Thu May 17, 2007 at 23:17:48 PM EDT
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(Yes We Can - promoted by Florida Politics)
It seems like a given that the Senate District 3 Special Election is a toss-up between Charlie Dean and Dennis Baxley and the Democrats have no chance. This makes no sense. I understand why the Republicans think this, that's what they're supposed to think. They are supposed to be confident and believe they are going to win. Why are Democrats agreeing with them?
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Sat Apr 07, 2007 at 21:20:15 PM EDT
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(Sun Apr 08 - promoted by Florida Politics)
Although it's not a done deal yet, it looks more and more like there will be a vacancy in Florida Senate District 3, with Nancy Argenziano moving on.
The only activity I've seen so far in this district is on the Republican side. Richard Corcoran, former chief of staff to House Speaker Marco Rubio, has announced that he had raised more than $185,000 for his bid to replace her.
The demographics of this district, however, make it clear that the Florida Democratic Party should be looking for a strong candidate to challenge for this seat.
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Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 21:59:17 PM EST
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(Redistricting reform should be the #1 issue for Florida progressives. You can't win elections if the districts are rigged. Obviously, through my 2008 State House races diary, we can make progress, but a majority is still a long shot. Should it be, though? No. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida. Our state legislative and congressional districts simply don't reflect this reality. - promoted by Ray_Seaman)
The way the districts are drawn up in Florida is broken. The process is undemocratic and it supresses the will of the people. The results from this year's election are a clear example.
In Congressional races, the overall results were some of the best we've had in recent years. Two seats changed hands (and a third probably did as well, but the electronic voting machines have fouled it up). One of those, though, only changed hands because of the Mark Foley sex scandal. Five incumbents faced no opposition at all. Another incumbent faced only a write-in candidate. Of the remaining races, incumbents or favored challengers in open seats won 15 races with at least 55.9%. That meant there were only four competitive races out of 25.
In the state senate, the picture was even worse. There were 20 seats up for election and two seats changed hands, with no net change in the overall composition of the senate. Seven candidates faced no opposition at all. Four candidates faced only write-in candidates and three only faced third-party candidates. Three more won by at least 59.6%. That means that there were only three competitive races.
The reason our elections actually aren't elections is the way our districting lines are drawn. It's undemocratic and anti-American and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible if Florida is going to become the great state it has the potential to be instead of the constant punchline in national jokes it so often is.
Next time around, I'm going to take a look at the State House races.
UPDATE (by Ray): Virginia is headed in the right direction on redistricting. From one of my favorite blogs, Raising Kaine.
UPDATE 2 (by Ray): Iowa has a nonpartisan redistricting process. This is Iowa's congressional map:
No divided counties or municipalities. No ridiculous mile-wide arms stretching into pockets of voters of one party or another. This is how it should be.
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Mon Jun 19, 2006 at 14:34:31 PM EDT
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Check out this hillarious parody on the E! True Hollywood story on Florida's great laughing stock, Katharine Harris.
Good stuff all around.
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Wed May 10, 2006 at 11:53:12 AM EDT
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So says the St. Petersburg Times.
Update: The text of Bense's e-mail to members: Dear Members,
I have been humbled by the strong support and encouragement I have received from my family, my friends and from each of you as I decided what to do now that Session has ended.
Before I sent out an official statement, I wanted to let you know that I have decided not to run for the United States Senate.
Thanks to you, my term as Speaker has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and I am proud of the accomplishments we have made together. I hope I will be remembered as a Speaker who set aside any partisan or personal agenda and worked hard to make decisions based upon what was in the best interest of the Florida House and of the people of Florida.
Now, I look forward to spending time with my wife, Tonie, seeing our daughter, Courtney, get married this summer, helping our son, Jason, begin his career and sending our youngest son, Taylor, off to college. I am also eager to get back to the business interests I have neglected while serving the public and to pursuing whatever new opportunities may arise.
I hope you have a relaxing summer as you gear up for campaign season or whatever other plans you have. Please don’t hesitate to call upon me if I can ever be of assistance.
Regards,
Allan More below.
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Sun Feb 26, 2006 at 09:28:42 AM EST
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[The following was compiled from two posts on my new FL political blog, Florida Leftist Underground]
Duke Cunningham and Katherine Harris have a mutual friend in Mitchell Wade, head of MZM. If you recall, Wade was the guy who bribed the Dukestir in exchange for getting some sugar in the Defense appropriations bill. Well, Wade has plead guilty to a whole slew of charges. And the indictment? Well, it names our U.S. Senator-hopeful Katherine Harris as a recipient of Wade's illegal bribescontributions.
::details after the flip::
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 17:23:49 PM EST
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Good news. Our senator, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida has said he will vote NO on Judge Samuel A. Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Here's the link to the full story:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13700831.htm
The opposition to Alito is growing and now includes moderate Democrats.
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