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

Guest AuthorFebruary 25, 2016

A team of scholars from Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Munich recently made a startling discovery: Florida delivers better bang-for-buck in K-12 education than any other state in the nation. And it isn’t even close. This finding is apt to surprise many Floridians who’ve grown accustomed to hearing our state’s education establishment claim that […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 25, 2016

The OMG moment tucked itself among the scone recipe, the adorable kitten video and the wing-nut screeds in my Facebook feed. There it was: The account of Gloria Steinem’s and Madeleine Albright’s speculations that today’s young women were failing to show up for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton because (a) they’d rather be where the […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 24, 2016

Was it inevitable? Who the hell knows. But it is a fact: Donald Trump has a better chance than ever to become the GOP nominee for president. It appears Ted Cruz is pushing against the reality of his threadbare coalition. There are just not that many evangelicals and hard-core conservatives to support him past his […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 24, 2016

“That was close.” I say that a lot. I’ve been running a few years now and cycling for almost 11 months. These activities are supposed to be good for my health, but there are days I’d be safer at home on the couch. When running, I try to stay on sidewalks. In Tampa’s finest neighborhoods, […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 24, 2016

It’s funny to me that the prompt on Facebook for posting says, “What’s on your mind?” Of course, what’s on my mind and everyone else’s these days is our presidential election. It’s become even more on my mind since Saturday night when the inevitable, in this year of little substance and mostly showtime, happened and […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 24, 2016

It’s not surprising that David Guest and his radical Earthjustice group would use a true weather-related crisis – record rain and flooding across Central and South Florida – to level yet another mean-spirited and false assault on local farmers living and working in the Everglades Agricultural Area. Guest’s statement regarding the state and federal government’s […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 23, 2016

It’s funny to me that the prompt on Facebook for posting says, “What’s on your mind?” Of course, what’s on my mind and everyone else’s these days is our presidential election. It’s become even more on my mind since Saturday night when the inevitable, in this year of little substance and mostly showtime, happened and […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 23, 2016

One of the most talked-about narratives in U.S. politics is that Democrats have an inherent advantage to digital campaigning over Republicans. It’s a story validated not just by the age demographics and tech sophistication of Democrats as a whole, but by digital missteps of Republican candidates on a national stage. That narrative may have played […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 23, 2016

When the current state constitution was approved in 1968 the only approved gambling involved pari-mutuels: dog tracks, horse tracks and jai alai. They had been in operation for decades and considered sporting events you could bet on. Since the constitution was passed, the voters of Florida have rejected amendments to allow casino gambling three times: […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 22, 2016

Last week, the Republican Party of Pinellas County emailed an announcement for the Donald Trump South Carolina Primary Watch Party. The event was to be held Saturday in Pinellas Park at Quaker Steak and Lube on 49th Street. Theresa and I decided to drop by. We arrived about 6:30 p.m. and the organizers were already setting […]

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AquaGlow beer (Courtesy of Hidden Springs Ale Works)

William Mattox: Bang-for-buck study should inform Florida’s per-pupil spending debate

Linda Grist Cunningham: Boomer women shouldn’t fret that younger women are making their own political decisions

Chris Timmons: Donald Trump’s rise will trigger the fall of the GOP

Catherine Durkin Robinson: Walking, riding a bike can be dangerous to your health

Ed H. Moore: Where Jeb Bush supporters should go, and why

Phillip Roland: Environmental activist’s claims about Everglades water and farmers don’t square with facts

Ed H. Moore: Where Jeb Bush supporters should go, and why

Joe Clements and Matt Farrar: Why Republicans now have advantage in digital campaigns

Jeff Kottkamp: Expansion of gambling a bad bet for Florida

Observations from a Donald Trump election results watch party