Crist dials 'the maestro' for Amendment 1

Gov. Charlie Crist faces a tough road to get the 60 percent voter approval for Amendment 1. So he's relying, quietly, on his political savant and former chief of staff George LeMieux.

"I seek his advice on an awful lot of issues, certainly that one included among them," Crist acknowledged this evening. "It should be fairly obvious the amount of respect I have for his judgments."

But can you say what level he is advising you? "A high level," Crist said, smiling.

But what in particular is he doing? "Well, just general advice. Trying to help determine how we can best win. The guy is pretty good at managing a winning campaign. So any advice he has to offer I take very seriously."

LeMieux is not being paid, said Yes on 1 spokeswoman Vivian Myrtetus.

Comments

[terminator]

this is a good sign for opponents of A1.

Charlie's tax cut sham is in deep trouble and CC is attempting to breath life back into a campaign that's well below the 60% threshold necessary for passage.

I'm sure the Frenchmen is making out handily. FPL could have just sent the check directly to Gunster-Yoakley.

"managing a winning campaign"? The Maestro won ONE campaign (Crist's Gubernatorial bid in 06) against two flawed candidates I might add.

the New England Patriots he's not!

word is spreading even amongst Pubs. A1 is going down Frenchy!

termie, get a life. Trying to cut taxes may well be the ONLY good thing Charlie has actually done (or ever may do) while Governor.

[terminator]

Pretty bold of the Frenchman I might add, last year he waited until he won to take credit for doing all of the work.

Now, with most evidence pointing to defeat he's already taking credit. Things must not be going well at

Gunster?

Termie, you are so full of it! 1 passes big. People are sick of paying too much tax and no matter how small even one penny a day is better in their pockets than governments.

Go ahead increse the fees--- you will be history on the next election. The people have spoken and they are pissed!

A1 is going to win. Bank on it!

Looks like the Gov has full confidence in the team he assembled. Didnt he pull Arlene out of the Gov. office so she could steer this to a victory? He is just completing the team with George on board.

I was told by someone working on A1 that Lemeiux is running numbers and media and Crist asked RPOF Chairman Greer to take over the day to day Decisions on Yes on One , people must be worried about it passing !

8:45 - Arlene, is that you trying to get people thinking you are actually leading this thing?

George will not jump in this one with both feet... he will keep his distance... but who can pass up the bucks they are probably throwing at him. Wonder if it is even close to what he got as a bonus for the Gov's race...

George, should I wipe my butt with my right hand or my left?

If they want to win, they should mobilize the MOBILE HOME VOTERS.

Huge benefit if it passes.

$240 is not a tax cut on a $10,000 dollar property tax bill, it's a night out.

$150 billion dollar tax rebate in a 13 trillion dollar economy is not a solution, it's a gesture. Republicans are not economists they're thieves. Time for a reality check.

[terminator]

8:33
get real.
A1 is a flop and more people are starting to figure that out.
60% will be hard to get especially with the unions fanning the flames amongst teachers, firefighters, police, AFL-CIO, AFSCME etc.
A1 is on life support with Crist pouring more money into media buys in order to shore up sagging poll numbers.
I predict Charlie the tuna and his sidekick Maestro will fall agonizingly short (somewhere around mid to high 50's even with all the media buys).
Go eat some snails Frenchy!

I have already received three mailings against Amendment 1. I was against it anyway, but am impressed with their campaign efforts.

Don't think there are enough mobile home owners that vote to save this one- it is not clear that this helps them. They may DMV for tax tags. The percentage on carports and screened in porches is a hassle, but i don't think they SAVE on A1.

A1 goes out of its way to tax poorer people. The proposed increased homestead of 25,000 more exempted is applied to the third 25,000 tier of the home's value, not the second. So, if you have a cheapo house under 50,000- then you do not receive this benefit. If your house is more than 50,000.00 then you get the 50K homestead exemption (exempting educ taxes). So it does not help most mobile home owners who fall under 50,000k taxable value.

Let's be sure and not lose the taxes from the poorest, you know.

Survey USA poll yesterday suggest this would likely pass.

New Yorkers support McCain Clinton, & property tax cap:
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2008/01/21/daily8.html

Not going to make the 60%.

[No Relief For Me]

Hoping it does not pass, I do not feel overly confident it will fail. Personally I have noticed more persons taking the time and effort to learn more. Those that seek credible information are deciding it will DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD. I hope that continues.

I do not approve of the deceptive tactics used on both sides. In his position, Crist has much power to persuade and is telling only half truths. He states the amendment will help seniors and families. His implication is that it will help all, when in actuality if a senior doesn't own a home, it does nothing for them. OR, if they have no intention of moving, it does very little, which can easily be wiped out with a millage increase. It only helps families that want to move and that have accumulated SOH benefits. He also states that it "preserves" SOH. That implies that a NO vote will possibly take SOH away. SOH will be preserved no matter what the outcome. Passing of portability, however, will undoubtedly result in more lawsuits to repeal portability and/or SOH, which makes it more vulnerable if it does pass. Crist claims portability is freedom - but that is only true for those that have SOH benefits and want to move.

Many people are angered by the overspending of our governments and rightfully so. I also don't like it when someone threatens public safety and loss of services.

My reason to VOTE NO is because the plan is not good enough. Portability creates an elite class of taxpayer within the same class and it is unethical, unjust, or immoral (whichever term you like best). My fear is that if this plan passes, nothing more will be done. We stand a better chance at true reform if we kill this amendment and demand more.

VOTE NO -- WE DESERVE BETTER!

If it should Pass watch George take all the credit , if it fails look for Greer to be the fall guy!

If it should Pass watch George take all the credit , if it fails look for Greer to be the fall guy!

[Tipper]

Greer get ready to fall on your sword!, Lemeiux won't even know what A1 was if it fails.

If they can't pass this, they won't be able to pass anything.

Termie talking about the power of the unions? Like when they defeated Jeb, or Charlie, or . . . wait . . . when was the last time the unions actually won an election in Florida . . . hmmmm. I guess they did get Frank Brogan elected as Education Commissioner by running the worst ever statewide campaign ever for Tim. I still can't remember their last win. Still thinking . . . Can you help me termie? An election win for the union?

The amendment will win or lose by a close margain. But, with this amendment being attacked on all sides: it hurts the schools too much; it doesn't save the taxpayers enough; and, it saves money for the wrong people - there is no hope of doing better than this. If they can't get 60% on an amendment where a vast majority get something (even something small), it is hopeless on the next proposal.

George is being called in, eh? I guess Arlene was running this into the ground just like she was with EOG. A week to go and the Governor decides that Arlene isn't cutting it... hmmmm, didn't see that one coming!

By the way... I heard a nasty little rumor that Kamilah has been shown the door (finally). Any truth?

Cancel that order of "Ask Arlene DiBenigno" t-shirts.

even the maestro can't make this pig look good.

Termie, does Katie help write your posts?

Amazing first he takes complete credit for winning the campaign (everyone knows the Frenchman couldn't cut it) and then he steps in now and acts like he is the frontman. Apparently George is only good at one thing and that is taking other peoples hard work and turning it into his own.

[terminator]

10:38
don't know about your union in Tampa Bay but our union down here in S. FL and the statewide union (FEA) has endorsed plenty of winners (legislative, school board, county commission, etc.)
And I believe we did support Ms. Sink (although I didn't personally).
Heck, we even supported Marco (can you believe that)?
We defeated Jeb four consecutive years on his attempts to kill class size.
We defeated Jeb on vouchers.
We are currently in the process of dismantling the FCAT as a high stakes test and getting rid of teacher merit pay.
So, overall I think we've been pretty effective.
We're not at war with Charlie like we were with Jeb (the anti-Christ) because Charlie has no education agenda and doesn't really care about public education K-12 like Jeb did (such is good for us).
We do know a scam when we see one and A1 is a scam.
Like Cuba Gooding said in Jerry McGuire "show me the money"!

If this passes, we will have in our state constitution another pregnant pig...

1 will fail and the legislature did it to itself with the 60% threshold....oh, and by not creating a tax cut worth a sh*t.

57% for.

I hope it is 59.9% after the recounts and then we can see all the SOH welfare recipients start complaining about not being able to take their entitlement with them...

1 is going to lose, but it will be close. Probably 56%.

The George L hate on here sucks. Some of you guys must have no lives.

The haters are just jealous that George pretty much gave up two years of his life with his wife and child(ren)... He deserves all that will be coming his way.

And how much is Cristi paying George for this "advice"? Maying his new friend Trump is footing the bill?

Once again Arlene is sinking and the maestro is called in. HAHAHAHA Go GEORGE!!

George is first rate and will help bailout that incompetent Arlene. Hope the wise governor keeps her out of his office when she is done. She is the meanest person that ever worked in any governor's office.If they win the amendment it will because of the popularity of the governor, Florida Power and Light and George.

[jangle balls]

why can't we have something like proposition13 or what housespeaker rubio suggested at the start,like a 2% raise in sales tax and do away with taxes all together? even a 1% increase and cut them in half. nothing would be lost in city services and more importantly...no property taxes. if you want to boost the economy,housing market and more money in your pocket,wouldn't this be the way to go? atleast you would know where your monies going.i would.

Gearge is running this campaign and its is the worst i have seen. The message is bad and tv is real bad.

[Pepe LePew]

i just love it, don't you. and who is the hell does Rubio think he is and offering a better tax plan that will limit local government forever with their crazy tax increase. Did local government spending really go up 200 percent in less than 4 years. but yet they cant cut their budgets.

[terminator]

Pepe and Jangle balls:

Marco is salivating at the thought of Charlie's tax scam going down to a crushing defeat.

This session you will be seeing new and revised plans on the property for sales tax swap out of the house.

Incidentally, just look north to our Georgia neighbors who are currently considering such a switch.

[Napoli]

What is it like to be short, bald, and ugly?

George is a bright, nice young man that has more than paid his dues. I'm a friend of George's and I'm personally glad he is going back to the private sector. He has given more to the public sector than I would guess any of us on this blog have - including myself.
George, enjoy your life, your beautiful wife and your babies. God speed and thanks for all you have done for our great state.

Dunno, but I am tall, fat, bald and ugly...

[jangle balls]

rubio is the only one that has the hutzpah to try and do anything about the taxes. who in their right mind likes to pay that taxes we floridians do? i don't like working just to pay taxes.

[terminator]

1:19
you are delusional.

yes George is a decent guy but for heaven's sake "thanks for what he has done for our state"?

is that for George'e ONE year of service as chief of staff to CC or is that for giving us the "people's mistake"?

ok, carry on.... back to your kool-aid and bong hits!

Let's just say amendment 1 is going down... because of ARLENE!!! maybe if karma didn't bite..she would have had better luck. Good luck Arlene. Your day will come. Don't let the door hit your fat &^% on the way out. Poor George. He always cleans up her messes even when in the private sector. George is a good man for putting up with her.

[Paul D. Harvill]

Biggest contributions FOR Amendment One:

http://forum.tallahassee.com/viewtopic.php?t=47465

___________________________

Biggest contributions AGAINST Amendment One:

http://forum.tallahassee.com/viewtopic.php?t=47846