Blake Dowling, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Blake DowlingJuly 21, 2018

I visited Ozark, Alabama last weekend to attend a family reunion at my grandfather’s childhood home, the Holman House. Holman House is a 15,000-square-foot historic landmark built by hand (with no electricity) in 1912 by a small team of local master craftsman. A truly amazing feat, if you think about it. The house sits directly across […]

Blake DowlingJuly 4, 2018

Our nation and our state are both the greatest in the land. We have so many to thank for this, our armed forces, first responders, law-abiding citizens that vote, the media, government employees, athletes, the business community, even rock-n-rollers and anyone involved in The Process. It might seem sometimes there are problems everywhere you look […]

Blake DowlingJune 30, 2018

There are certainly lots of hot topics of bad behavior lately. Maxine Waters certainly got the nation’s attention with a recent statement: “If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out, and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you […]

Blake DowlingJune 16, 2018

Do you need a break from Putnam, Donald, Kim and all the other headlines raging this week in the Sunshine State and our nation? How ‘bout we talk cybersecurity, so you can make sure you have all the bases covered (baseball analogy for the upcoming College World Series). Are you familiar with “social engineering?” The […]

Blake DowlingJune 2, 2018

Technology can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Have you ever “replied all” to an email when you meant to reply just to the person who sent it to you? Has your phone ever pocket dialed your high-school sweetheart or the FBI? The “oops factor” in tech is always looming, so make sure […]

Blake DowlingMay 19, 2018

Net neutrality is back in the news. There are 2 sides to the issue and everyone is weighing in. Except for the guy from now shall be known as “Shopping Center Man,” found at the 59-second mark of this WCTV News segment from Thursday night in Tallahassee. When asked what is net neutrality, he says […]

Blake DowlingMay 12, 2018

Last night, I was watching a Celtics game. Late in the half, during a timeout, there were back-to-back commercials — each a message of apology. Wells Fargo was very sorry they created millions of fake accounts to cook the books; Facebook is very sorry about, I guess, lots of things. Wells Fargo’s message was pretty […]

Blake DowlingMay 5, 2018

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has been a vocal advocate and champion for the victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Last year in our state, a Coral Cables man was arrested for human trafficking. The headlines are all over the state — from Miami, to Boca to Tallahassee … One common element in many […]

Blake DowlingApril 28, 2018

Last week, I had an opportunity to visit Pebble Beach outside Carmel, California. As I basked in the glory of the extraordinary West Coast scenery, I just couldn’t stop thinking about Cambridge Analytica and its micro-targeting techniques, as well as the disruptive and deceptive Internet Research Agency and the trail of havoc and misinformation created […]

Blake DowlingApril 14, 2018

Do you use Facebook for your business, lobbying firm, campaign for not running for Mayor or just personal use? If so, read on. Have you seen an endless stream of news about the social media site? Such issues as pay-to-play for who sees what posts, ad prices going way up, millions of users data lost […]

Blake Dowling
The Yankees organization is generous with Helene relief in Florida. Image via AP.

Blake Dowling: A weekend of Alabama history and therapy animals

Blake Dowling: Happy Fourth of July

Blake Dowling: Discrimination, bad behavior in 2018

Blake Dowling: Social engineering

Blake Dowling: Oops

Blake Dowling: Net neutrality redux

Blake Dowling: All apologies

Blake Dowling: Backpage and the fight against human trafficking

Blake Dowling: Latest in political campaign tech

Blake Dowling: Where does Facebook go now?