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

Martin DyckmanDecember 7, 2016

So Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring out of a Northwest Washington restaurant. Imagine that. Actually, someone did. The fake “news” then raced around the internet like chicken pox through a kindergarten. But who could possibly believe such trash? Actually, people did. The restaurant and its neighbors were besieged with death threats. And […]

Martin DyckmanDecember 1, 2016

Aiming to regain some relevance in the Republican Party, Jeb Bush argues that it should show voters that it stands “for a few a big ideas” rather than only for things to vote against. Regrettably, four specific ideas that he proposed in a Nov. 24 Wall Street Journal op-ed are not simply big but bad. […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 18, 2016

When the news flashed on Facebook before the election that Queen Elizabeth II had offered to take us back, some people failed to recognize it as one of Andy Borowitz‘s deft satires from the New Yorker. And some, I’m sure, now wish it were true. Afterward, a friend in Britain wrote to offer refuge — […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 11, 2016

On one of my earliest days covering the Florida Legislature, I was walking along the main hall a few feet behind Jack Lee, the lobbyist for Associated Industries, when a document dropped out of his portfolio. He didn’t seem to notice, so I picked it up, intending to return it to him. I barely had […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 9, 2016

On the next to last morning of our nation’s most dreadful campaign, my wife questioned whether it’s possible to be a politician without losing one’s soul. As I started to name those I knew who had kept theirs, word came that my old friend Janet Reno had died. I rested my case. Her integrity ran […]

Martin DyckmanOctober 24, 2016

It’s in our genes here in America that the losers of an election congratulate the winners and we all move on. That’s more than good manners. It’s the survival instinct of any democracy. Donald Trump‘s contempt for that disgusts Republicans as well as Democrats and independents. But look closer. There are 54 members of his […]

Martin DyckmanOctober 13, 2016

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“Once to every man and nation “Comes the moment to decide “In the strife of truth with falsehood “For the Good or Evil side ….. “Then it is the brave man chooses, “While the coward stands aside” American poet James Russell Lowell wrote those words in 1844 during the intensifying crisis over slavery. They speak […]

Martin DyckmanOctober 8, 2016

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What sort of Supreme Court justices would Donald Trump appoint? For an insight, consider the case of Kathy Johnson v. Omega Insurance Co., decided by the Florida Supreme Court Sept. 29. One of his prospective nominees was on the wrong side of that. The business model of an insurance company is to take as much […]

Martin DyckmanSeptember 27, 2016

Your vote is a terrible thing to waste. That lesson was demonstrated 16 years ago, when his contested margin of 537 votes in Florida made George W. Bush president of the United States. From that came the invasion of Iraq and the present turmoil and bloodshed in the Middle East, the Supreme Court nominations of […]

Martin DyckmanSeptember 15, 2016

“I do not like thee, Doctor Fell, “The reason why — I cannot tell; “But this I know and know full well, “I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.” Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both have their liabilities, but his are so much more numerous and serious than hers that the race should not be nearly […]

Martin Dyckman

Martin Dyckman: Spreading fake news, a dangerous bell that can’t be unrung

Martin Dyckman: On Jeb Bush’s relevance

Martin Dyckman: Our ‘flawed’ Electoral College, mistrusting the people

Martin Dyckman: Richard Corcoran brings wisdom to reign in Tallahassee lobbyists

Martin Dyckman: Remembering the broad, deep integrity of Janet Reno

Martin Dyckman: Supreme Court vacancy makes GOP Senate just as bad as Donald Trump

Martin Dyckman: Cowards who stand aside

Martin Dyckman: Donald Trump pick Charles Canady could bring ‘dog whistles’ to SCOTUS

Martin Dyckman: Now is no time for exalted idealism

Martin Dyckman: Thinking of voting for Donald Trump? Do yourself a favor and ask why