 |
|
« November 2007 | Main | January 2008 »
Three days after a state appeals court overturned the felony grand theft conviction of state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, the Senate Minority Leader is weighing in with a predictable message:
"The outcome of this case reminds us of the importance of the presumption of innocence, both for the trial, and the first appeal," Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City, wrote in a news release. The full statement can be read by clicking below.
Let the expectations game begin. As Rudy Giuliani tries to rev up his presidential campaign while not winning early contests, his campaign has put out a "strategy memo" -- wink, wink -- on why his plan will work. It reinforces the Giuliani strategy to bank on Florida's Jan. 29 primary instead of building momentum out of Thursday's Iowa caucuses (where he is trailing). The Giuliani campaign, which has seen its Florida lead drop, notes 40 percent of the delegates by Jan. 29 come from Florida.
"In Iowa, one could anticipate that Mayor Giuliani might finish outside of the top 3. Governors Huckabee and Romney are battling it out for first, Senator Thompson is spending a lot of time in the state over the closing days of the campaign and Senator McCain received a recent boost from the endorsement of the Des Moines Register. While placement in Iowa will be a focus of the media, it should be remembered that Senator McCain came in 5th place in Iowa (behind Bauer and Keyes) before winning New Hampshire [in 2000]."
And: "Also, by the time we get to Florida, the field of candidates and the race will look remarkably different than it does right now. Florida will be the important battleground not only for our campaign but for the race itself."
The Mitt Romney presidential campaign is decrying an anti-Mormon mailer that has popped up in Hillsborough County.
"Help me sound the alarm that one day the Mormon Church plans to replace the Constitution with a Mormon theocracy. Mitt Romney's political success indicates this may be sooner than most have thought," reads part of the 11-page letter that reached a Plant City Romney supporter Saturday.
"Do you really want a president who believes he will someday become a god? Is that who you want occupying the most powerful position in the world . . . the United States presidency?"
Story here.
DAVENPORT, IOWA - Gripping a sign in wind-chapped hands, a 22-year-old from Tampa confronted the challenge of 2337 Rusholme St.
A neighbor told Adam Hoyer that the old woman who lived there did not like to go out at night, when Iowa holds its presidential caucuses. A lifelong Iowan, she had never even been to a caucus. Probably not worth the time.
But if Hoyer could eat clay to win a vote for Barack Obama - which he has done - he could spend 10 minutes in the fading sunlight Saturday trying to win another.
"Would you be willing to caucus for the senator? There's no better time to start," he said, urging gently with a smile. He asked about her grandson, giving a knowing nod when she said he's "from over in Muscatine." (story here, and click below for more photos.)
Gov. Charlie Crist's schedule these days reads like a candidate running for office. Photo-ops with suburban families. Automated phone calls to voters. Fundraising parties aimed at raising millions.
But this campaign isn't for re-election. It's the runup to the Jan. 29 vote on a property tax plan, and it comes after a politically successful inaugural year for the populist governor.
The St. Petersburg Republican had spent the past year governing Florida with a centrist brand of politics that has won high approval ratings, appreciation from Democratic allies and growing unease among conservative Republicans. (A look at Crist's first year in office.)
We're all about defending the honor of Florida, even amid the snow of Iowa. So when we spotted Democratic Iowa Gov. Chet Culver this morning in Des Moines, we jumped at the chance to ask him why, as a Democratic hoping to win the White House, he would encourage Democrats to boycott Florida's primary and give Republicans a leg up for our 27 electoral votes. A gracious Culver first raved about how much he enjoys Sanibel, and then noted that Florida Democrats had voted for the schedule they're now busting.
"Michigan and Florida, they all signed off on Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina (going first), and that took four years to get that nearly unanimous vote..The idea that after four years you can just blow that up and then start jumping around is really disengenuous to the process,'' Culver said. "I understand, I really do the good arguments that they're making in Michigan and Florida, and my hope is that we can all get back to the table in '09 and make it work. ... It could turn out, certainly on the Republican side, that Michigan and Florida, are the states this year, and they might have an impact somehow on the Democratic side too."
"Those first couple races are going to dictate what happens next," said Democratic pollster Dave Beattie. "If Hillary wins Iowa it's much more difficult for Obama or Edwards to close the gap." But the Republican race is so full of viable candidates that even talk of the primary stretching into a brokered convention no longer seems entirely far-fetched.
"Everybody's goal, on both sides, is to be one of the two or three people still viable on Feb. 5," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "If there are three viable Republicans still standing on the morning of Feb. 5, you have the possibility this could go on a long, long time, possibly to the convention."
The scenarios are countless, but we've narrowed it to seven. See here.
George LeMieux's journal of every meeting Gov. Charlie Crist's chief of staff attended in 2007 (see below) is teeming with history. So the St. Petersburg Times filed a public records request asking to read the book, which could yield new insights into the shaping of policy in the first year of Crist's term. But Crist's communications director, Erin Isaac, declined the request in an e-mail Saturday.
"Pat Gleason (Crist's advisor on open government issues) has advised that your request is not covered by Chapter 119," Isaac wrote. "Mr. LeMieux kept personal notes that were not shared with others in a notebook he paid for." (To be continued ...)
Dr. Charles Siebert, the medical examiner who oversaw the Martin Lee Anderson boot-camp death, lost his job Saturday. Siebert had his critics, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Push Coalition, which criticized Siebert's conclusions in the Anderson case. But Panama City-area State Attorney Steve Meadows, one of the doc's strongest supporters, said an "agenda-driven investigation" was aimed at ousting Siebert. His firing did not directly relate to the Anderson case. More from AP here.
"If you like craziness with your politics, you're probably going to like Florida more than ever in 2008. Round 1 is the property tax vote on Jan. 29. It comes in tandem with the early-bird presidential primary that Democratic candidates are boycotting. They act as if our 27 crucial electoral votes were some dreaded disease.
"As for an election on Jan. 29, when was the last time you voted during Super Bowl Week? While New Yorkers Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani look toward Florida as a fire wall against setbacks in Iowa and New Hampshire, the tax vote will pit populist Gov. Charlie Crist against a dangerous coalition of firefighters, teachers and others with Democratic Party ties."
More from Steve Bousquet here.
Jan. 2: Gov. Charlie Crist gives a high five to Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp during the swearing in ceremony at Florida's Old Capitol. Times photo | Scott Keeler.
... Came from Rudy Giuliani. This went statewide.
Charlie Crist's top aide, George LeMieux, kept a little black book throughout the first year of Crist's term -- but it's not what you think. The lawyerly LeMieux carried the bound book everywhere he went and kept meticulous notes of every meeting, including who attended, issues discussed, etc. It may be the biggest to-do list in the history of Florida government.
"It just occurred to me that the idea of having legal pads and sort of ripping pages out and sticking them in files was not helpful," LeMieux said. "I needed to take all my files with me. I needed to be able to go to a meeting and say, 'Okay, Seminole Tribe, last time we met, you said this.'^"
Brace yourselves, establishment politicos and all you defenders of the Council on Foreign Relations. The Ron Paul Revolution hits Florida any time now. Or at least the Ron Paul blimp is due for a Jacksonville rally soon, before heading to Orlando and then Tampa Bay.
Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, issued a statement Friday in response to Democratic Sen. Gary Siplin's acquittal in an appeal of his felony grand theft conviction. Pruitt said that Siplin's acquittal proved that the right decision was to let Siplin stay in office, though it was highly controversial.
"The principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' is a basic premise of our judicial system," Pruitt's statement said. "The Florida Senate relied upon this fundamental ideal as Senator Siplin's case made its way through the process. Regardless of the outcome, I believed then that we needed to allow the system to work. Today's opinion only confirms the importance of allowing the judicial process to run its full course."
Siplin's conviction for illegally using state resources to advance his 2004 re-election campaign came three months before Pruitt became Senate president in November 2006. Pruitt took plenty of heat (some of it here) for his decision, but time and circumstances proved him right.
Sen. Gary Siplin, an Orlando Democrat, won a reversal Friday of his felony conviction on grand theft charges. The case stemmed from the use of state workers on his 2004 re-election campaign.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal concluded that the state's evidence in the case, which hinged largely on the testimony of former aide Naomi Cooper, was not strong enough. The court also remanded the case to Orange County Circuit Court with instructions that Siplin may be re-tried on a misdemeanor count of using the services of a state employee for political purposes during working hours.
"I want to say to Jesus, praise the Lord and glory be to God for him protecting me," Siplin told The Buzz. "The Lord gave me this seat and I'm going to do the best job I can as a state senator." He also praised Senate President Ken Pruitt as "a man of his word" for refusing to buckle to pressure to remove Siplin from office after his original conviction.
Siplin, a 53-year-old lawyer, has been in the Legislature since 2000. His case was controversial because Pruitt refused to suspend or remove him from office after his felony conviction -- in large part because of concerns that Siplin would win his case on appeal. He was thought to be the first convicted felon to remain a senator in Florida.
From the PB Post today: "...Former state senator Dick Langley, who had been a co-chair of Mitt Romney's Florida campaign, ripped a Romney sticker off his lapel and replaced it with one of Huckabee's..
"I just couldn't figure out where Mitt stood," Langley said to applause from the crowd. "I had to have somebody that I could know where he stood, with the right values for this country and for a future for this country." "
Langley was a co-chair for Lake County.
Attorney General Bill McCollum isn't buying Gov. Charlie Crist's belief that global warming is a threat to Florida and the world. Shortly before Christmas, McCollum sent a memo to Crist and the other Cabinet members, advising them that "the science is not all in" on the subject and urging them to view the enclosed DVD, a British television documentary called The Great Global Warming Swindle. (It costs $19.99, and this is not exactly "It's a Wonderful Life.") Check out the web site here.
The makers of the program include Martin Durkin, who's no stranger to controversy across the pond. The Guardian newspaper in London reported in 1997 that Durkin considered himself a Marxist. At the time, he helped produce an anti-environmental broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 called Against Nature. Crist, by the way, says he'll keep seeking alternative energy sources to combat global warming in 2008, with or without McCollum's support. McCollum was campaigning Thursday with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The Buzz is that Charlie Crist has promised John McCain he won't make a presidential endorsement until after New Hampshire's Jan. 8 primary, though Crist wouldn't confirm such a deal with McCain: "It was a private conversation,'' he told Steve Bousquet.
But a strong showing in New Hampshire would resurrect McCain's candidacy heading into Michigan and South Carolina, and Crist's endorsement could be a giant boost for the Arizona senator in Florida Jan. 29.
Here's how McCain campaign manager Rick Davis assessed Florida in an e-mail to supporters: "A state Rudy Giuliani has bet his whole campaign on, Florida will be so driven by momentum from previous victories that no amount of early money or organization will make a difference. John McCain is right on the issues in Florida and has the unique ability to bridge political divides in this historically divided state."
From CBS News with Huckabee in Orlando today: "...He made a bad choice of words when saying the U.S. needs to consider 'what impact does it have on whether or not there’s going to be martial law continuing in Pakistan.' He should have said whether or not martial law will be reinstated – it was lifted nearly two weeks ago. A minor slip, maybe, but not a subject he wants to mess up on when he is already considered weak in the area of foreign policy."
Near the end of a wide-ranging end-of-year interview with Gov. Charlie Crist, The Buzz discovered the limits of the new transparency in the governor's office by simply asking if he had a girlfriend.
"Well, I might," Crist said. "You know how I look at it? I have chosen to be a public figure. Who I date, they have not. So I'll keep it at that for now." He has been linked in a tabloid to Carole Rome, a New York City businesswoman with Miami ties, and the two were together at a Donald Trump-sponsored fundraiser for the property tax amendment in Manhattan on Dec. 7.
Crist said the chatter about his love life goes with the job. "I get credit, if it's that, for going out with people that I've never had a date with. It's really kind of weird," he said. "I understand it's just part of being a bachelor governor of a state like Florida." And he said he had no misgivings about his recent late-night stop at Big Daddy's, a bar frequented by FSU students. (Pictures of the event were all over Web sites the next day.)
"I thought it was fine," Crist said. "I'm not a monk. I'm a governor."
It seems Florida Republican Don Phillips has a deep fear of homeless people and Democrats. Phillips, a developer, Republican donor and John McCain supporter, sent a letter to Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Police Chief Steve Hogue asking for protection from both. Phillips owns office space near downtown Tampa and says homeless people sometimes congregate in a nearby park. "We have seen these same individuals urinate on the sidewalk outside our window," he wrote, and asked to discuss "enforcement possibilities" with Hogue. "In addition to this, we have another growing concern," he wrote. It seems the Republican Party of Florida has opened a satellite office in Phillips' building. "As the 2008 Presidential Election draws near," the letter continues, "we expect there to be numerous political protests at the very least directly outside our office building. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how heated those protests may become. We want assurance from the Police Department that they will respond quickly and take immediate action to diffuse any potentially harmful situation." Hogue says he's not sure why Phillips is so concerned about potential protests. "Maybe he has some information he didn't relay in the letter," the police chief said. "We wouldn't do anything to stop the protest," Hogue said, noting it's a legal right. But he promised to monitor any activity "to make sure no one gets out of hand."
Janet Zink, Times staff writer
ST. PETERSBURG -- The nation is focused on next week's Iowa caucuses, but Rudy Giuliani's attention remains fixed on Florida. ...Giuliani is no better than third in recent polls for Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses or New Hampshire's Jan. 8 primary. Acknowledging he hasn't spent as much time in Iowa or New Hampshire as competitors, he said he has visited Florida 24 times.
"We'll figure out who the genius is after Feb. 5," he said, referring to the day when 23 states have primaries. "I think this is the right strategy."
More here.
State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, is jumping aboard team Huck: "I support Mike Huckabee because of his positive, optimistic message," Senator Haridopolos said. "He, better than any candidate on either side, is listening to the voter and projecting a message that communicates with all Americans."
Nearly a year into his governorship, Charlie Crist is still keeping at least one Christmas tradition. On Monday night, Crist was seen with his parents, siblings and extended family at First United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg for the Christmas Eve service.
Crist, in coat and tie, was among those who read the Christmas story from the Bible to the congregation as the last Advent candle was lit by one of his young family members.
FDLE agents were waiting outside. No word if the agents got invited to Crist family dinner.
--Scott Keeler, Times staff photographer
Look what the pro-property tax referendum YesOn1 committee found in its Christmas stocking: a second $250,000 check from Florida Power & Light, the utility that was once Charlie Crist's mortal enemy but is back in the governor's good graces. The committee's online record of contributions shows a second $250,000 check from FP&L on Dec. 21, in addition to the same amount a week earlier. (That's a lot of kilowatt hours!) See earlier story here.
FP&L's cumulative support of $500,000 is second only to the Realtors' $1-million. The Florida Chamber of Commerce also kicked in $100,000 on Dec. 21.
Travis Allred feels his auto shop slipping away. Thirty-five years after opening Brisco Bros. in Tampa, insurance and property taxes have become more than a burden. "We're just breaking even each month, but I don't want to close up," Allred said. "They need to give us some real help."
To hear Gov. Charlie Crist tell it, help arrives Jan. 29 when voters take up the property tax cut proposal that he helped the Legislature create. Taxes, he says, would "drop like a rock." But the plan gives little relief to business owners, who helped launch the cry for reform in 2006 after their tax bills jumped more than 40 percent in two years. Research shows that the main provision aimed at businesses -- capping annual growth of a property's taxable value at 10 percent -- would rarely be triggered for commercial properties. The other provision is a $25,000 exemption on certain business property and some mobile home property
More here.
MIAMI -- In any conversation of more than a few minutes, Barack Obama's top advocate in Florida is apt to bellow, "I'll kick your a--," become agonizingly corny about the greatness of America, make an off-color ethnic joke, and predict that Republicans will nominate John McCain "because he's like the last chick left in the bar." Suffice to say, Miami lawyer Kirk Wagar, Obama's roguish Florida chairman, has not mastered the soaring rhetoric of the politics of hope.
But at 38, this cocky, born-again son of an arctic ship captain has emerged as one of the most important and courted Democratic players in America's biggest battleground state. Beneath Wagar's legendary political incorrectness is a ferociously loyal and idealistic champion who, not incidentally, can reel in reams of campaign checks. "He's just an unceasingly optimistic guy who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit. In the darkest days before the Iowa caucuses, this guy was just a horse calling in every favor and chit he had to keep our doors open because he was absolutely convinced we were going to win," said Sen. John Kerry, for whom Wagar raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and in 2004.
Story here.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - To hear Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her allies tell it, all this talk of a polarizing Hillary is hooey. Just look at how she won over Republican areas of New York state, they say, and you'll see how she can win over red states once they get to know her better.
Outside the Price Chopper in Hudson, N.Y., on a recent rainy afternoon, the reaction to that thesis was, shall we say, a tad skeptical. "Hillary Clinton!? I Haaaate that woman," retiree Albert Smith bellowed. "I don't want her back in the White House."
Asked of she had been a poor senator, Smith paused. He cocked his head and dropped his voice considerably. "Actually," the Republican mused, "I'd have to say she's been okay in the Senate. She knows the issues. She's been fine."
Welcome to New York's 20th Congressional District, a Republican stronghold where the image of Clinton is, like most everything about her, multilayered and complex. (story here)
Columnist Howard Troxler reworks a few Christmas classics.
Deck the State Investment Pool
Deck the state investment pool with worthless paper,
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-HA!
Wall Street does us rubes a favor, (ha ha, etc.)
Grade-Z debt now much de-plored, (ha ha, etc.)
Lehman puts Jeb on its board (ha ha, etc.)
The Democrats are Not Coming to Town
You'd better not ask, you'd better not pry,
They won't say a word, and here's telling you why,
The Democrats are not coming to town.
They know they'll take our money, they'll sneak down here for cash. But not a word of pol-i-cy,
'Cause they fear New Hampshire's lash! Oh!
Republicans now, all over the place,
Don't give a dang about delegate space
But the Democrats aren't coming to town.
Times education reporter Jeffrey Solochek questions Florida Education Association prez Andy Ford about his opposition to the Jan. 29 property tax cut plan. Ford says it will be a while before the effort takes hold.
"I think after the last bowl game we might have the opportunity to gain peoples' attention again. But it will be about two weeks before we capture the voters' attention. As the presidential primaries gear up come January, that should probably bring attention to this amendment."
Gov. Charlie Crist, the public face behind the Jan. 29 plan, is already trying to sway opinion. And he's getting more help.
Campaign finance records posted by the Vote Yes on 1 campaign show one-time Crist nemesis Florida Power & Light has contributed another $250,000 toward the effort. Donations from Serta Mattress Co. ($10,000) and Rooms to Go ($5,000) illustrate the depths of the housing slowdown.
From the Jerusalem Post:
Two weeks before US President George W. Bush is scheduled to arrive on his first visit to Israel as President, his younger brother Jeb Bush is scheduled to arrive Monday for a private visit.
Bush, the former governor of Florida, will be accompanied by his wife and children, and will travel around the country, including visits to Massada, Nazareth and a tour of the northern border with Deputy Chief of General Staff. Maj.-Gen. Dan Harel. Bush is scheduled to meet Monday with Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik and a number of Knesset members.
State Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, have introduced the Florida Toy Safety Act, which would force retailers to identify products not meeting federal safety standards.
“As a parent, it is my right to know if what I am purchasing for my three year old is potentially hazardous,” Justice said in a release. “Florida is a gateway for international trade and we should be leading the way on regulations that increase product safety and consumer confidence. I want to be able to tell my constituents that the products they buy won’t harm their children. Right now, that just isn’t possible.”
The legislation is not yet online.
Bousquet's column: "Thanks to the Web, the updated must-read equivalent of the clips is now the blogs - The Buzz on this paper's Web site, tampabay.com, and those of other papers. They are altering the political culture and the relationship between the media and government in ways that are encouraging and troubling. ...
"To readers - politicians and their staffers, lobbyists, campaign advisers and party activists - the comments section has an addictive quality, like rubberneckers gawking at a car accident. Who's writing this stuff? The question has become a parlor game among the political crowd.
"Somebody will call me and say, 'Hey, they said something terrible about you,'" said Gelber, the House minority leader who developed a thick skin as a federal prosecutor in Miami. "Now you wonder if it was that guy who just said hello to you in the hallway."
"...People elected to public office know they're easy targets. But mid-level appointees are terrified of having their names appear on The Buzz, fearing an embarrassing blowback in the comments section. Scott Dudley, a personable lobbyist for the Florida League of Cities, was among the very few Buzz readers who signed his name to a strongly worded comment. He said he'll never do it again.
From the St. Pete Times editorial board today: "The more Floridians learn about the near collapse of the state's local government investment pool, the more urgent the need becomes for a thorough investigation....Did Bush play any role in those investments? "The answer to your question is an emphatic no," Bush said in an e-mail message to the St. Petersburg Times. But Floridians and Gov. Charlie Crist should not take that denial at face value. Too much money and credibility are at stake. State officials should review all of the records, including any contacts with Stipanovich during that time, to determine what really happened."
Mike Huckabee's not wasting time grabbing Florida cash next week in the Orlando area.
He has a 7:45 a.m. fundraiser Thursday at Casa Feliz, a Spanish farmhouse overlooking a golf course in Winter Park. Then the surging Republican has a 9:30 a.m. fundraiser at David Matthesen's home in Windemere. He concludes the Florida run with a 10:50 a.m. media availability at Showalter Flying Service in Orlando. Buzz already detailed Huckabee's fundraiser Wednesday in Miami.
Given the terrible budget crunch looming for Florida leaders and the continuing cry for meaningful property tax relief, the timing could be ripe in 2008. So says state Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz, in a "Political Connections" interview airing Sunday on Bay News 9. The tax initiative on the ballot Jan. 29 is just a first step and further relief will "require a creative look at how we raise revenue,’’ such as sales tax exemptions and taxes on internet transactions.
"Politics are a product of the times we live in, and politics is always about timing,’’ Ambler said in the interview that airs at 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. "We are really going to be confronting a very serious trough in our economy...I don’t think anything’s off the table when people are going to be looking at very, very potent cuts that are going to cause a lot of folks to perchance lose their jobs."
Republican Fred Thompson started late, so maybe it's no surprise that a month before the Sunshine State votes his campaign is naming its northeast Florida grassroots team.
The folks below will cover Alachua, Clay, Columbia, Duval and Gilchrist Counties.
UPDATE: The Thompson campaign said these folks aren't "new;" many have been with the campaign from the start. Apparently just the media release is new.
Also, the campaign's Florida political director Brandi Brown is headed to Iowa after the Christmas holiday to help run the operations the last week before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
Continue reading "Month before election, Thompson names grassroots leaders" »
Just in time for the Christmas rush, backers of the 1.35 percent tax cap plan will air radio ads next weej in Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Myers and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale media markets. Script here.
"There is no time like the holidays to begin reminding Floridians that the best present that they can give themselves this year is a property tax cut on January 29th," said Floridians For Property Tax Reform co-chair Jose Cancela. "However, Amendment 1 is not comprehensive and will not fully secure and re-vitalize Florida’s economy; therefore, we are also urging voters to help us cap property taxes forever by signing the 1.35% petition."
Continue reading "1.35 percent tax cap proposal headed to radio" »
From the Florida GOP: "Searching for that perfect present for the Democrat lawmakers on your holiday shopping list? From candidates to Congressman and Florida to Washington, D.C., Democrats’ holiday wish lists abound. For those who just can’t decide what to get the Democrats for the holidays, below are a few suggestions…
10. Congressman Ron Klein: A Hand-Rolled, Ybor City Cigar (Oops, those are no longer av
