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

Jim RosicaNovember 16, 2015

“Though she be but little, she is fierce!” — William Shakespeare, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Death first came for lobbyist Stacey Smelser Webb decades ago but she wouldn’t let it take her. Surviving cancer taught Webb that life was a gift to be savored every day, through good food, wine, and the joy of being […]

Jim RosicaNovember 16, 2015

Stacey Smelser Webb, a Tallahassee-based lobbyist with Southern Strategy Group, died Sunday. She was 46. Webb died after experiencing complications from recent heart surgery at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, said her husband, John Webb. Her firm issued a statement saying Webb “saw each new challenge as an opportunity to grow and learn.” “Although small in stature, she […]

Jim RosicaNovember 14, 2015

The Paris attacks had New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stress that the first responsibility of the presidency is “protecting the safety, security and freedom of the American people,” he said Saturday. Christie, one of the Republican contenders for president, spoke at the Sunshine Summit in Orlando, burnishing his ‘law and order’ reputation as a federal prosecutor. After […]

Jim RosicaNovember 14, 2015

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took a scattershot approach in his Sunshine Summit speech Saturday, bouncing between political correctness, immigration and national security. He first chided fellow candidate Donald Trump, however, for equating Ben Carson‘s childhood “pathological temper” to a child molester in comments to CNN. Saying it was an “insane comment,” Jindal told the crowd, “I’m for all an […]

Jim RosicaNovember 14, 2015

Hours after the terrorist attacks in Paris, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum told a Sunshine Summit crowd on Saturday that the U.S. was “on the verge of a global war.” “The world is on fire,” he said. “You’re going to be electing a wartime president … We better elect someone with experience, (not) someone who […]

Jim RosicaNovember 13, 2015

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told reporters if he had been president during the Paris terror attacks he’d offer support and seek a coalition to counter the Islamic State. He spoke after an appearance at the Sunshine Summit in Orlando Friday. But he said currently there’s no leadership in America to give our allies confidence we’d […]

Jim RosicaNovember 13, 2015

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson reminded a Sunshine Summit crowd that he’s a relatively new Florida resident. Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, said he decided to move in 2013 from “the People’s Republic of Maryland,” seeking the Sunshine State’s lower tax climate. Carson then told a homespun tale about his Detroit upbringing and his mother, […]

Jim RosicaNovember 13, 2015

Insiders promised that Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, one of the Republican candidates for U.S. Senator, would shake things up a bit in his Sunshine Summit speech. He delivered with one memorable shock line: “I will bust my ass for Florida every day and be part of the solutions and not part of the problems,” he told the crowd to […]

Jim RosicaNovember 13, 2015

Todd Wilcox, GOP candidate for U.S. senator from Florida, told Sunshine Summit participants that his non-politician, non-lawyer background is a plus for seeking office. Primary voters need to ask “which candidate has real-world experience,” he said. “Let’s face it, we’re all fed up with career politicians,” Wilcox said, a seeming dig at fellow Republican and […]

Jim RosicaNovember 13, 2015

If you thought estoppel was hard to get people interested in, try the Renewable Fuel Standard. Generally, it’s a 10-year-old mandate by Congress aimed at getting more ethanol, an alternative fuel made from corn, into gasoline to reduce emissions for cleaner air. Smarter Fuel Future, a group that opposes the standard, had a table at […]

Jim Rosica

Friends remember lobbyist Stacey Smelser Webb’s “immense heart,” “kind soul”

Stacey Webb, admired Tallahassee lobbyist, dies after heart surgery

In Paris, evil has visited again, Chris Christie tells #SunshineSummit

Bobby Jindal talks radical Islam, immigration at #SunshineSummit

Rick Santorum tells #SunshineSummit U.S. is verging ‘on global war’

Paris attacks: What would ‘President’ Ben Carson do?

Ben Carson’s #SunshineSummit speech links personal to political

Carlos Lopez-Cantera tells #SunshineSummit, “I will bust my ass for Florida”

Todd Wilcox focuses on national security as national strength

Obscure issue aims for traction in presidential contest