Sabato scutinizes Florida

Savvy UVA political scientist Larry Sabato appeared on "Political Connections" on Bay News 9 Sunday (Check out ch. 342, Bay News 9 on Demand if you missed it), and gave his take on some widely watched Florida races. Given the tough climate for Republicans nationally, Sabato is not among those who think Republicans have a lock on the governor's race:

"It's really one of the few major governor races where a Republican is favored for November. But I don't think Charlie Crist is heavily favored. I think this is a reasonably competitive race, and if Jim Davis gets enough money he ought to be able to make a decent contest out of it.

While Democrats are making noise about Congressional districts 9 and 13, Sabato sees Clay Shaw in CD 22 as the only truly vulnerable Congressional Republican. CD 9: "I don't think (Gus) Bilirakis is vulnerable. I think a lot of people won't know he's succeeding his father.'' CD: 13: "Vern Buchanan is not the strongest Republican for Katherine Harris' successor but I would still give him the edge. Certainly Christine Jennings is a reasonably strong Democrat, but there has to be a strong Democratic trend before any democrat can win that district.''

Comments

[Rich]

I fully agree with Sabato's analysis. This is why I wanted Katherine Harris out of the senate race. The far left will come out in drones to ensure she is destroyed, and that could hurt Crist.

The only thing going for Crist is that he is moderate overall, but still popular among conservatives in Florida. However, if Davis tries to make the whole race as an anti-republicans race b/c they are not popular nationally, I am pretty sure Davis will lose. Republicans are much more popular in FL than nationally currently.

If national republicans weren't so unpopular, and harris was not running, I would put Crist as a lock. But instead, I would put it at Leans republican, but close. (5-6 points)

[gatordem]

Larry Sabato needs to come to Florida and get a sense of what is going on here on the ground. I am only too painfully aware how hard it is for a Dem to win in the FL 13th. I would give Phyllis Busansky a MUCH greater chance to win in the FL 9th than Jennings has in 13. The FL 9th is much more of a swing seat than the 9th, and believe me, people do know that it is Jr that is running. They also know what a GOOD alternative they have in Phyllis.

Also, the Governors race is going to be a much more interesting event than Larry seems to think. Jeb Bush is not on the ballot, but his unpopular policies (FCAT, vouchers, insurance crisis) all will be. With Harris on the top of the R ticket and Charlie not the darling of the religious right, FL R’s are going to be demoralized this cycle. This could be a VERY big year for Dems in Florida.

[Rich]

Gatordem,

Things are only seeming to be going so badly to true democrats, but to many in FL, what is seen is 3% unemployment, rising wages (6.7% just last year), lowering crime.

Insurance rates are rising, but blaming republicans simply because they are in power is a transparent argument. Most people know that 8 hurricanes ripped thru the state causing $40 billion in damage, that will cause rates to rise.

As for the FCAT, graduation rates have risen 15% in 8 years, so most people think thats good, although we all know we still have a ways to go. But blaming republicans for education problems, they have helped rise the education system. Some do hate the FCAT, especially the teachers union b/c they hate competition and accountability.

75% of Floridians want vouchers, thats a pretty simple argument. I doubt Davis will win, but im sure it will be pretty close, as in less than a 6% win.

Who the hell is Larry Sabato and why do we care what he thinks? He doesn't even live here.

I hope people remember after this election what his predictions were.

[Kingite]

Rich,

“Some do hate the FCAT, especially the teachers union b/c they hate competition and accountability.”

That has got to be the most ignorant statement I’ve ever read. So, your theory is “don’t blame the Republican out-sourcing corporate establishment, blame the teachers” It’s not the managers fault, it’s the employees fault the business is failing. You are about a fool.

Only in American, land of the million dollar campaign marketing firms, can those in charge get away with bashing what is under their charge, and transfer the blame to those under their charge.

By the way, save your bogus percentages for people who don’t understand how there are derived. Crist will win, I have no doubt… but the illusion of Jeb is false. Put down the Kool-Aid and use your mind.

Yawwwwn. Where's my no-Doze?

Crist trounces Davis by more than 10 points. Crist embraced the centrist voters during the primary while Davis had to veer left for money and endorsements. Plus Crist is telegenic and warm, while Davis is a stiff (though better than a year ago).
The Dems maybe pick up Clay Shaw's seat; repeat, maybe. Winning the other seats are pipe dreams.

[Rich]

Kingite,

Let me tell you the story of my education. Private school (middle class, not expensive) 13 years, classroom size average of 30 people. Even art classes were 25 students. Teachers tought, had kids learn, or were let go. And these teachers even earned 20% less than public school teachers.

Graduation rate, 96% to 100%, depending on the year. Why? teachers taught, bad kids were severely punished, and people were fairly graded, not passed along.

Bottom line, if people's kids were not learning, they put their kids somewhere else. Competition, its a good thing.

Rich, I have been arguing along those same lines for a long long time, and the Dems just don't understand. I know its got to be said, but you just can't reason with dems when it comes to education. Rational thought is foriegn to liberals when education enters the conversation.

[Rich]

12:41

You are right, I shouldnt try. The teachers union has a strangling rope around the democrat party.

Well, November 7th we will all see what happens, and if Crist wins, 95% of people will accept it, the other 5% will be the wackos on the leftist blogs that are convinced that Diebold rigs its machines to switch votes to republicans.... And Im drinking the kool-aid... yea.

Rich,

So… tell me why it was that our boy Jeb crushed the classroom size amendment? Tell me what exactly would happen if we removed the word Public from all of our school signs, and replaced it with the word Private? Would that solve it?

We’re talking about administration, management, and the charge of providing a successful department. This falls under the leadership of our National, State, and Local elected officials. You want to blame the teachers and claim that privatizing will take care of it all. Get a freaking grip. It creates a class system, that’s all.

Let’s try this… FIX THE DAMN SYSTEM! Don’t just blame, shame and transfer. You want a truly phenomenal model to follow, take a look at China.

12:41,

Real smooth, throw the liberal tag into a reasonable start to a reasonable discussion. Wipe that candy kiss off the tip of you nose and get back to PE. By the way, I’m a disgruntled R looking for a reasonable solution, nimrod.

Damn, Rich… I had so hope for a good discussion.

[Dexter Class]

Someone should scrutinize the republican party of Pinellas county. i heard a staff stole money and forged signatures and the chairman covered it up!

Can anyone shed light on this?

A private school can also get rid of "bad" students. Trying to educate everyone is a hard task.

In regards to the FCAT and other tests that are tied to funding. The reason teachers don't like them is that it is dumbing down the classrooms. There is such a push for the test that teachers can't teach.

Gus does not have CD-9 locked. Far from it. Phyllis Busansky is a qualified candidate who will exploit that he has done nothing as a state rep. Where has he been in the lead up to the insurance crisis? Just wait & see.

$, common sense & hard work in the field will equal a win for Davis in November. He clearly knows the issues inside & out, has solid plans & will execute. Charlie simply can't say the say.

1:19 - where he has been, is taking moneey from insurance companies and voting to let them raise our rates. we have to spread the word that phyllis is the better choice in cd9 and doesnt offer more of the same!

We have an homeowner's insurance crisis and an education crisis. Charlie Crist doesn't own a home and doesn't have kids. Why would I vote for Charlie Crist?

DEXTER.. WHY ARE YOU AIRING YOUR REPUBLICAN DIRTY LAUNDRY HERE? IF THERE'S MONEY STOLEN, YOU GUYS TAKE CARE OF IT.

and Charlie's land lord applied for the Homestead exemption.

[gatordem]

Rich,

I hardly know where to begin. But let’s start with your education. Apparently you never attended a public school in Florida? If that is true, how do you know ANYTHING about public school teachers, what they do and what they think? You don’t talk at all about post secondary education. Did you go to college? Take the SAT’s, the GMAT or LSAT? How’d you do? What was your GPA? Since private schools are not held to ANY measure of accountability, how do we know what kind of education you received? But, we do know you had ART classes. Did you know that MOST public school students DON’T GET art classes because the money is not there?

Now, let’s talk about how things are in Florida for the REAL people who live here. 3% unemployment seems pretty good. But did you know that the method for gathering that statistic only counts people already employed and those actively seeking work? It does not count anyone who is so discouraged they have stopped seeking work or collecting unemployment and are not able to be employed because of some sort of disability. Ask those people what they think. Incomes up what? I haven’t taken the time to look up the real figure (can you source that for me.) But I can tell you that REAL wages (adjusted for inflation) are actually down in this country since 2000. I’d be willing to bet that real wage growth in Florida is real close to at or below zero. How could that be you ask? What do you think a call center job pays? Or a job at Wal-Mart? (I am NOT hopping on the anti Wal-Mart bus, at least not in this post.)

Lower crime? OK, maybe the overall crime rate is down, but the VIOLENT crime rate is up. Murders, armed robberies are all up. People don’t really feel safer when VIOLENT crime is up. Just look at Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami. Tell people there that crime is down and see what they say. BTW, Charlie is going to want to scare people about crime, because he’s Chain Gang Charlie. So maybe you want to dial back that crime is down stuff. My free political tip of the day. You’re welcome.)

Blaming R’s for rising insurance rates just because they are in charge? Who do you want us to blame? God? Your religious right buddies would just love you for that. The R’s have let the insurance lobby have anything they want in this state. The R’s have been in charge of the legislature for 10 years now, and the Governors Mansion for eight. Who the hell should we blame?

And as far as bogus percentages go, where did you get that ridiculous favorability for vouchers? And what was the question that was asked? Also, speaking of percentages, did you know that the class size amendment got a higher percentage of votes than Jeb did? Check it out.

So, here’s a second free political tip of the day. (And I about NEVER do that.) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep on thinking what you think.

[Rich]

12:59

I did not say privatize it all. I said create accountability, competition. The teachers union is mainly there to ensure a teacher keeps her job no matter how bad he/she is.

If we give the power to allow bad teachers to be fired, bad administrators to be fired, and forcing students to learn, study, and not disrupt, with strict penalties, and allow parents to move their kids around if one school is not doing its job, then things will begin to turn around.

Look at EVERY other industry. You perform, or you are gone. Simple as that, and thats why people perform. Teachers who have tenure barring setting the school on fire, are not going to try hard (most of them).

I know liberals just cant fathom competition in schools, and hard core accountability like every other industry. But its the only way to fix the school system.

The spending per student has jumped between 6% and 12% every year nationwide since 1985, and yet schools arent getting better. Why, because more money is not the answer.

Anyone who doesn't think that Phyllis Busansky can trounce the Bilarakis name in CD9 has never met Phyllis Busansky.

She turned Healthcare into a winner in Hillsborough, went on to lead in the state, and will now do the same thing for Insurance in Florida.

Her record for taking care of her constituents is stellar, - that's why she's running, and that's why she's winning.

[Rich]

Gatordem,

I went to college, and had a breeze the first year, having easier base classes in a highly competitive statewide university than I had in high school.

Unemployment, go ahead and give the liberal bleeding heart argument on unemployment, and then research the FACTS on the history of the unemployment rate. This is the lowest rate in 35-40 years in FL. So argue all you want about those darn few who are so discouraged that they stopped working, but the facts say otherwise. You have to relate the rate to historical standards.

Look at socialist countries, since you are such a liberal, France 10%, Germany 12%, etc. If you think our economy is worse than theirs, then you are smoking the crack pipe.

Rising insurance rates, somehow you just seem to forget that 8 hurricanes hit Florida in 2 years. Duh.

Class size amendment, passed 52% to 48%
Jeb Bush won 56% to 43%
Check your facts.

Murder rate has ticked up, but the rest has gone down. Check your facts.

Apparently check forgery is up in the PCREC, huh marilynne?

Give it up RIch, you're debating with people who can't see the facts right in front of their face. Responsibility and accountability are words that scare the hell out of them because the teachers that the union appeals to are the ones who need its protection. The truly gifted, hardworking teachers (which is most of them) understand that as long as they do their job their kids will do great on the FCAT. The ones that fear the FCAT are the ones who are scared it will show their own failings - and they're the ones who fall for al the union rhetoric. Good teachers, and good parents know kids are better off today than they were under the old system. That's how we win the arguement, not by banging our heads against the wall with these idiots.

Rich,

The problem is in your answer… “Look at EVERY other industry. You perform, or you are gone.” What the hell are you smoking? Hey, why don’t we bring back the leper colony concept. We can use it for all the non-white, non-rich (NPI), non-republican, gays, liberals, al quida and Nazis types (ie: anyone who questions Bush) and students who don’t pass the FCAT… Brilliant!… Oh, let’s not forget Mel Gibson.

These are people, not insurance investments. They are as individual grains of sand. Again, you want to blame the teachers. Why not just blame God for not making each grain of sand identical.

1:53… I’m convinced you’re Carl Rove… and an idiot.

Do you idiots realize what happens to a kid who doesn't pass the FCAT? They get HELP!! Something they never got before. Before, they got passed along until they either helped themself or quit (which is why our grad rate is so low still). Today, those kids get reading coaches, tutors and all kinds of special attention. Accountability works and we're proving it.

[Rich]

1:57

My goodness, you are as stupid as the people on democrats.com.

Do u understand the concept that if you tell people they can keep their jobs forever no matter how they perform, they will not perform as well.
I am not blaming teachers, but the system. The system has to force teachers to perform, or they wont. And you know who I blame. The teachers union. There ya go, i am blaming something.

Just as the labor unions in Michigan forcing the Big 3 to pay far above the market wage for laborers, and give far more benefits than most companies do, the big 3 can no longer compete b/c their overhead costs are too high.

1:58, Thank you - I take that as a huge compliment.

Going to a school that was almost 30% education majors I was sickened whenever I would go to an awards ceremony and see 8 out of 10 GPA winners as Education majors. Yes, education has a minimum GPA, but all that means is the professors keep the students above that. Why can't we get back to a C meaning you are average.

Rich,

Please stop the name calling and labeling, it doesn’t become you... just stick to the facts. You seem reasonable and intelligent, don’t get emotional.

Unemployment is up… period. Don’t believe “campaign season” manipulated numbers. It’s just like the sudden drop in gas prices. Unemployment numbers are very scewed. Transferred jobs count as “New Jobs” in the categories they’ve been transfered to… but not as “Lost Jobs” in the categories they’ve been transferred from. This is the primary reason for unrealistic unemployement numbers. It’s been played as a shell game for some time now.

Our social system does need a major overhauling. However, so long as welfare and unemployment pays as much or more than minimum wage, we will not succeed in this area. Basic human instincts at work here. And as much as I hate to admit it, gator is right on this one. Phone center jobs, Wal-Mart jobs, and sports marketing jobs does not an economy make. Manufacturing and mass produced exports is a good start.

Indeed, hurricanes have played a big part in rising insurance rates. But… and this is a big but… poor investments on behalf of the Insurance company’s and a legislature run-a-muck has had an equal, if not greater impact. You know it to be true, stop insulting yourself.

Crime rate… come on, man. Justifying it by saying “So, what’s the big deal, more people are dying but nobody stole my radio this week” Rich, come on.

Oh, and by the way… unions do not protect bad employees from good management. Unions protect good employees from bad management. If it were not for unions, you too, Rich, would be working 70 hours a week, for $7 an hour, no insurance, no vacation, no sick time, no minimum wage, no retirement… and living 10 to a single-wide… sound familiar?

And 2:02, your weak ass mind would take it as a compliment. Fool.

Sorry, that was not nice and very inappropriate. The compliment part, that is.

2:16, I would retort by calling you an evil name like "Carville," but unlike you I realize that while I may disagree with James Carville to my very core, he's not an idiot. Just because he has whipped our butts a few times, I don't have to hate him. I can respect him without agreeing with him. But that kind of attitude takes a lot of maturity and self confidence, so I would not expect you to be able to be able to feel the same way about Rove.

I'm sure there were many opposing football fans that used to hate Bear Bryant when he beat them over and over - same thing.

[Rich]

2:16

I agree mostly on the unions, I mean why they were started, just as why the EPA was started, and the civil rights movement, etc. Like many things, they are started for a good reason, then eventually go WAY too far, and become bad.

The murder rate has been down 7 years in a row, until this year, so its only the latest year that they are ticking up, and that will be fought.

If you look at the statistics on jobs, they are VERY detailed. It clearly shows each sector, etc. Some sectors lose jobs, others gain, and the total job growth is the NET number up.

Insurance, the legislature has not done enough for sure, but... in 2003 my home insurance rates would have been only $500, now they are $1000, why, hurricanes mostly. Plus if you go to Texas, my home would be $1800 a year. Even in Michigan, with no disasters, it would be about $700 a year. Florida was very low until the latest hurricanes.

1:34- ha ha ha ha.

[FRD]

Wait!!! Who forged what? Money stolen? republicans? This is too good to be true.. Tell me I'm dreaming! Who is Marilynn?

[Boca Grande]

Sabato can't even get a job at a school with a decent football team.

2:26,

You can retort by not putting so much vodka in you Kool-Aid. You’re drunk an arrogant… Let me know when you come up with a point.

Rich,

Good overall point on the unions and such. But the days of Hoffa are over. Unions are scrapping for power these days, primarily because of the illegal immigration issue. Why do you thing we’ve been so lackadaisical in this area? They are cheap and exploitable labor units, and equate to higher corporate profits. I’ll pay 20% more for my oranges, put Americans to work. There are many options available in this area, including using it as part of a reform program in the social entitlements arena.

Crime rate is up. There are a tremendous amount of societal impacts that contribute to this... education, drugs, wages, housing, environment, to name a few. Fight as much as you wish, but it will continue to climb. I’m not saying any particular Party is responsible for it. Frankly, we all are in some way or another, whether directly or indirectly via apathy.

I’m not debating the “Presented” numbers on job growth, just the methodology used to create the presented numbers. There are many factors that impact the presented numbers, they are as manipulated as Paris Hilton’s diary… gained jobs, lost jobs, transferred jobs, undocumented but listed jobs… point is, they are inexact using flawed and manipulated methodology. Chose to believe them if you wish, I’m not going to change your mind on that.

The paradigm used to establish insurance rates is based on a very simple principle; spread the burden/risk, and hope the hell nothing happens… and invest your earnings well so that should something happen, you’ll be able to cover. This is where the industry screwed up, and legislature wasn’t watching. They should share in the accountability. The answer is out there, but I fear that those in the position to bring it to fruition are too far-gone. In short, they are owned by the lobbyist and contributors, and are unable to address it in an honest, fair, intelligent and balanced manner.

I disagree with Sabato on the gov race. I believe Crist will beat Davis comfortably. But the Ds do have a chance to pick up a couple of cabinet seats. Great chance with the CFO seat and I would say %50/%50 in the AG seat.
If they were smart, the D's should concentrate on Sink and Campbell. Lee and McCollum are both weak opponents. McCollum just cannot win, and Lee is viewed as being too hypocritical.

[gatordem]

Rich,

I agree with 2:16. Name calling really doesn't become you. So, here's the deal. I won't call you a right wing nut job, if you quit calling me a liberal. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I consider myself a moderate, say in the tradition of Bob Graham. If you don't know who he is, ask Charlie Crist.

OK, so the throw away line about class size isn't correct. But you know what, it’s not far off. I’m glad you went to college. Sounds like it was a PUBLIC university (probably FSU if it was easier than high school. OK, only kidding. That was just too easy.) I didn’t hear anything about GPA or graduating or graduate school though. Just checking up on what we didn’t get answers too.

Regarding the employment picture in this state, I was trying to show you that figures never lie, but liars often figure. There are plenty of ways to screw with employment figures, and believe me, they get screwed with. What I was really trying to get to is this point. There is a genuine disconnect between the macroeconomic metrics and the way people are feeling about the economy. National figures should have people jumping up and shouting about the way the economy is going. Why then, when they are asked, do people not feel good with the way the economy is going? I know the numbers and the sentiments are a bit better here than they are nationally, but not that much. So what’s the answer? Here’s my suggestion. For MOST people, real wages are NOT going up. Even in Florida, real disposable income is actually going down due to things like property insurance, high gas prices and rising property taxes. Throw in the recent start of the decline of housing values and people are really starting to get nervous about the economy. Oh yeah. The fact that they are working more hours than ever before, that their real income is going down and that in Florida (a termination at will state), they could be let go at any time for just about any reason. And you know what? I don’t live in a socialist country. I live in Florida in the USA and I believe we can do better than we are.

Yes, I know we have had hurricanes hit the state lately. We have had hurricanes longer than there has been a place named Florida. The point is, insurance companies know that and are supposed to set their rates accordingly. (At least if they want to stay in business.) So, for the state to allow insurance companies to drop coverage and raise rates because we have had hurricanes is more than a bit of a red herring. Now, I know you conservatives say that we shouldn’t look to government to solve our problems. But, the state does regulate insurance companies. When insurance premiums and availability get out of whack, I would expect the regulators to do SOMETHING to ameliorate the situation. DUH.

And I’m sure that the folks who have lost loved ones because the murder rate has “ticked up” are really consoled that other rates are down. Check your facts.

And I’d still like to get the source on the vouchers thing. Other than that, how are you doing today?

2:54, I normally put grain alcohol in my kool aid - but I haven't done that in quite a few years - otherwise I prefer Jack Daniels thank you. and as far as my points go, I made those at 1:53 and 2:01 to start with. my other points were probably a bit too subtle for you - sorry.

Does Kim Berfield have a D opponent? She had an affair with a married representative. I think it was Mahon.

Pointless banter does not a point make. Stick with the JD… it’s better. You made no points though; you just threw around partisan political smack in support of Rich.

He seems to do ok on his own. Now, lean over a cubicle and tell Rich that you’ll stay out of it for a while, and get back to work… or I’ll tell Katherine that you’re the reason her campaign staff is leaving.

Ease up on Kim, she’s hot. Besides, an affair has nothing on CJ’s sick freak consultant.

[J D Knowledge]

I dated kim and barely got much of a kiss..I seriously doubt she had ay affair. She is asexual

4:23, not sure what's 'pointless' about my 2:01 post. You may not like it, because it is the truth, but it isn't pointless. Let me recap - FCAT identifies kids who aren't learning so we can help them learn. Tutors, reading coaches, etc. While democrats try and make us look cruel by having this "high stakes test" the real cruelty is in passing these kids from grade to grade without really teaching them anything. that ends in failure for everyone. helping kids learn to read early in life actually might keep them in school longer. Furthermore, the good teachers in FLorida (and there are many more good ones than bad I'm sure we all agree) know how to teach a kid to do well on the FCAT (a test of very basic skills) AND teach them much more. That is the difference between the democrat record of talking the talk, and the republican record of walking the walk.

Now, time for that JD. Thanks.

JD time was obviously just before you posted that. I will give you this though “the FCAT (a test of very basic skills)”… that’s why most of your R boys and gals won’t take it. Hell, Jeb needed over a year to study for it.

Just for clarification… “the real cruelty is in passing these kids from grade to grade without really teaching them anything”… Most of that happened during the Regan years. Isn’t that who your boy Charlie claims to be?

Now, “recap” the JD bottle and get home. You’ve got laundry to do.

I think Harris has been treated terribly. She was a good steward of the Republican Party. She was loyal to us and we should be loyal right back.

Charlie wins easily. Sink wins. Campbell wins. Nelson wins.

The FCat is the single most important tool our school system has. Everyone complains that teachers only teach to the test. Well, if they teach to the test then we know that they kids will learn what they need to learn.

The F Cat is brilliant. The D's never came up with anything that comprehensive. All they do is complain and never offer solutions.

Agree with 5:37 (mostly). Charlie wins easily, Sink wins, Campbell wins? (I am not too sure about this one - McCollum does have a chance) and Nelson wins.

Gus definitely wins against Phyllis. Like it or not. Phyllis isn't a strong enough candidate to take beat Gus and his campaign war chest.

508, most of that happened in the reagan years? and who might have been governor then? and who might have controlled the education system in FLorida for the 120 years or so before that? COme on, you can do better than blaming our education problems on Ronald Reagan. I'm thinking you're the one who needs to put down the JD bottle. In fact, as I'm sure you know, Chiles implemented the FCAT - he just didn't let it be used to actually accomplish anything. He also rated schools - but he did it on a 1 to 5 scale so people didn't really know what it meant. a '1' was the worst rating, but how many parents knew what that meant? now, A B C D F - we all know what that means. And it was Jeb who made sure that kids who couldn't read didn't get passed along to 4th grade. COme on now, if' you're going to try argue that Jeb hasn't done a great job with education, you may need to fire up that "creativity tobacco" you hide in the back of your closet.

Jim Davis is a Washington puppet to special interest. Jim Davis VOTED AGAINST PROTECTING AMERICANS from the terrorist threat in HR895:
---------------------------
Rep James 'Jim' Davis D-FL voted NO.

Bill Number: H Res 895
Issue: National Security Issues
Date: 06/29/2006

Vote to pass a resolution supporting intelligence efforts to identify terrorists and track their finances in addition to condemning the disclosure of classified information.
-----------------------------
I hope the media reports on this

5:12-I mean Katherine...where did you come from? Long time no see.

Sabato is wrong about Vern Buchanan.

He's a losing candidate waiting to happen. His ad with his wife the last week of the campaign talking about how poor he was as a child had to be one of the most ridiculous ads I have ever seen in my life.

[Abe Lincoln]

Carole Jean Jordan, Chairman
Republican Party of Florida
George Bush Republican Center
420 E. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301

The Honorable Carole Jean Jordan,

Why blacks will always be the buffoons of the Republican Party
Because the RPOF refuses to acknowledge that their are creditable blacks in the party not just window dressing
Because the RPOF refuses to seek out the best and the brightest instead the RPOF continues to seek those blacks that will not speak up and allow the RPOF to exude total control over their thought process
Because the RPOF refuses to engage in an open honest dialogue with black republicans in the state of Florida
Because the RPOF refuses to acknowledge the contribution that black republicans have made and are making to the Party
Because the RPOF refuses to continually engage black republicans in the RPOF
Because the RPOF has persistently shown continued hostility to any black that is a republican that refuses to just be a window dressing
Because the RPOF has continued to create an environment of hostility toward black republicans
Where by the RPOF having persistently and continuously disregards blacks in the RPOF
We hereby by challenge the RPOF to engage in open and honest dialogue with black republicans.
We hereby challenge the RPOF to engage in open and honest continuous dialogue with black republicans not only during election cycles
We challenge the RPOF not to just hear us but to listen to our concerns
We challenge the RPOF to stop acting like the Democrats and grow up
We challenge the RPOF to stop trying to put black republicans in their place and open a seat at the table
We challenge the RPOF to stop approaching black republicans only when you need a black face in the room
We challenge the RPOF to allow black republicans to not have to carry around a label of black republican to get respect
We challenge RPOF Chairman Carol Jean Jordan to begin to treat black republicans like human beings not chattel
We challenge RPOF Chairman Carol Jean Jordan and all RPOF leadership to begin to openly and honestly communicate with black republicans
We challenge RPOF Chairman Carol Jean Jordan and all RPOF leadership to stop thinking and engaging us in the process as a mire afterthought
We challenge RPOF Chairman Carol Jean Jordan and all RPOF leadership to begin to look past the color of our skin
We challenge RPOF Chairman Carol Jean Jordan and all RPOF leadership to begin to treat us as equals

Cordially,

Tired of being put in our place.

[Rich]

Abe (mr. race-pimp)

Get over yourself and your complete bias. How stupid are you. Clearly you have been brainwashed by the kool-aid of the far left. Keep up the lunatic writings and turn more people our way.

[Abe Lincoln]

Rich

are you a republican?