There's ALWAYS a Florida connection...

You know this.  So you should not be suprised that the Palm Beach Post is reporting, "Cheating South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford expected to spend the Fourth in Hobe Sound."

The governor's spokesman said he would be joining his wife and four sons at his inlaws' home in Hobe Sound's gated Loblolly Bay community.  The spokesman added that the family would be taking a longer vacation later in the month of July, and requested that "members of the media" respect their privacy this weekend.

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall in that house?

Fox News has additional details.

-----

Photo:  AP

St. Petersburg mayoral candidate is Tased, puts video on campaign website

Just in from our sister blog, Bay Buzz. One from the WTF? files...

-----

Sounds like it hurt. Enjoy.

From the Bill Foster for Mayor campaign website

Liquored-up man threatens wife, invokes Obama

According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputies who responded to a domestic violence call last week, the man was drunk and screaming loudly inside the house.  His wife told the deputies her husband had been drinking and yelling all day long, though there had been no physical violence.  She said he'd told her she would be found "like they were going to find our new president, shot in the head."

Deputies gave her a domestic violence pamphlet and drove the man to a local motel to sleep it off, according to nwfdailynews.com.

Fla. rep. 'flabbergasted' Obama call wasn't prank

MIAMI (AP) -- First she hung up on President-elect Barack Obama - twice. Now Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is fielding calls from angry constituents who think she did it on purpose.

The Miami congresswoman says she and the Democrat had a good laugh Wednesday after she apologized profusely for assuming his calls were a prank.

"I was just flabbergasted," Ros-Lehtinen said Thursday. "I just hung up on the most powerful man on earth - twice."

She said Obama called to congratulate her on her re-election, saying he was looking forward to working with her as the ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs committee.

But she assumed it was a radio station prank. Typically, when high-ranking officials call, an aide calls in advance to verify. That was the procedure recently when Ros-Lehtinen received a call from Sen. Hillary Clinton.

"But this one was just out of the blue he's calling me. And I said, 'Boy, you're a much better impersonator than that guy on Saturday Night Live,' and he's laughing and he's thinking I'm kidding," she said.

© 2008 The Associated Press.  All rights reserved.  This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read the rest of the story on Tampabay.com.

Exercising the right to free speech

TBO.com draws our attention to a house on First Avenue N. just west of 63rd Street in St. Pete, where two homemade signs tacked to different trees read "Vote Right" and "Vote White."  Also on the property -- a plywood silhouette of a Black Sambo character under a large sign reading, "Hasta La Visit Obama" and "What About Galveston."

A 6-foot privacy fence with a locked gate surrounds the property, and the TBO reporter was unable to get hold of the homeowner.  A neighbor wishing to remain anonymous said there is a church, a day care center and a voting precinct across the street.  S/he said the sign person had moved to the home from Texas a couple years ago and appears to be more politically oriented than is typical in that neighborhood.

Election surveys found at junction of I-4, I-275

The intersection known for years as "malfunction junction" might have another notch on its belt.

Highway workers early Monday morning discovered hundreds of election-related questionnaires on the shoulder of the westbound I-4 ramp just before the entrance to southbound I-275 in Tampa.

About 4:15 a.m., documents scattered along the shoulder carried an alphabetical listing of Tampa residents, their party affiliations, age, sex, home address and sometimes phone numbers.

Each entry includes check boxes to mark whether each person supports John McCain or Barack Obama, whether they voted and whether they need a ride to the polls on Election Day.

"It was apparently boxes of surveys that fell off a truck," said Kris Carson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation, adding that she had not seen the documents and was unsure what they were.

-----

Read the rest of the story at Tampabay.com.

The intersection known for years as "malfunction junction" might have another notch on its belt.

Highway workers early Monday morning discovered hundreds of election-related questionnaires on the shoulder of the westbound I-4 ramp just before the entrance to southbound I-275 in Tampa.

About 4:15 a.m., documents scattered along the shoulder carried an alphabetical listing of Tampa residents, their party affiliations, age, sex, home address and sometimes phone numbers.

Each entry includes check boxes to mark whether each person supports John McCain or Barack Obama, whether they voted and whether they need a ride to the polls on Election Day.

"It was apparently boxes of surveys that fell off a truck," said Kris Carson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation, adding that she had not seen the documents and was unsure what they were.

-----

Read the rest of the story at Tampabay.com.

Nudists won't get own polling site

Go ahead and make your jokes about optical scans. 

The nudists at Caliente Resort have asked Pasco County elections officials to set up a clothing-optional polling place for their community.

Brian Corley, Pasco's supervisor of elections, dismissed the request as a publicity stunt. 

"I think they're just doing some marketing hype," said Corley, adding he heard there was a news release by Caliente touting its request.

-----

Read the rest of the story at Tampabay.com.

"Obatics" -- UF students construct Obama-campaigning robot

It's nearly six feet tall.  It blinks its blue eyes, moves its arms, and can roll and rotate 360 degrees at four miles per hour.  Its innards consist of remote-control motors, batteries and transmitter receivers. 

Meet "ObamaBot," a robot constructed by three University of Florida students, specifically to "campaign" on behalf of the Democratic presidential candidate.  “Obama’s message is important to us, said Camilo Buscaron, a UF sophomore, "and the way we went about it — through robotics — was something we all could relate to.”

Buscaron and two fellow students used $250 of their own money and a bunch of spare parts to construct the robot, pulling a few all-nighters in their machine intelligence lab.  “This is the first phase in demonstration robots,” said Bryan Hood, an electrical and mechanical engineering junior, who conceived the project about a month ago.  “The long-run goal is to have robotic marches on Washington.” he told UWire.

Did Donald Segretti switch parties?

The flier invited people to come out to see the Republican candidate for Escambia County sheriff sing and dance -- at a topless bar, according to pnj.com.
Pensacola police believe they know who is responsible for distributing the flier about David Morgan, but aren't sure it was a crime. The State Attorney's Office is investigating.
The flier also featured a copy of a campaign finance report detailing contributions from the owner of the topless bar and her family members. Morgan received a total of $1,600 from her and her family in 2006.

Big Daddy, meet Obama

What do a drag racing legend and a presidential candidate have in common?

According to the Bristol Herald Courier, it would seem both Don “Big Daddy” Garlits and Barack Obama enjoy the fare that local greasy spoon diners have to offer.

While visiting his daughter in Abingdon, Va., Garlits, who lives in Ocala, was eating ice cream at Pop Ellis Soda Shoppe & Grill when Obama stopped by for a vanilla shake, a burger and some fries.

As national and local media swarmed the candidate during the surprise stop, Obama found out the 76-year old racer was also at the soda shop.
“Hey! Hey! Over here!” Obama said. “This is the father of big-time drag racing right here.”

After taking some pictures together, Garlits, who still is undecided on president, gave his take on the candidate.
“I do lean Republican, and Obama did vote against the war, but Republicans don’t do everything right.”

*