Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorNovember 7, 2013

Does Florida even need a governor? I know there’s been a lot of hoopla around Charlie Crist getting in the race for his old job, but seriously, is the position relevant anymore? It seems to me that getting elected governor these days is like being knighted. It’s an honor for sure, but the job just […]

Guest AuthorOctober 31, 2013

The U.S. Constitution includes very specific protection for the right of citizens to bear arms. It does not, however, mention any similar right to bear children. With that in mind, I have an idea that will reduce all types of crime and violence without explicitly infringing on the Constitution in the process. What I propose […]

Guest AuthorOctober 24, 2013

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when Florida wasn’t governed by ideologues toeing a party line. It was a time when our state was more genuine and less generic, when personalities could still trump politics and candor didn’t kill careers. That time was in the 1990s, and I had the amazing […]

Guest AuthorOctober 17, 2013

Facebook is a minefield for me these days. Most of the time I just scroll along peaceably through updates from family and friends and others whom I really don’t know but I’m afraid to delete because they might be people I should know but forgot. Every now and then, though, BAM! I read something that […]

Guest AuthorOctober 10, 2013

I don’t really have a representative in Congress. I mean, I do live in Florida’s First Congressional District, and technically Jeff Miller is my guy. I’m just not his. Not one he really needs to care about, anyway. Don’t get me wrong; he does some things I like. However, even if I hated every position […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 19, 2013

I’m thinking of moving back to Tallahassee because I understand there’s a new line of work available for folks like me. I used to be a public relations professional there, helping clients generate interest in their issues, communicate more effectively with the public and avoid missteps in the dicey world of state politics. After years […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 12, 2013

People sometimes ask me when Florida officially went nuts. I like to tell them that the sane-train derailed somewhere between Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Carl Hiaasen. Rawlings’ classic stories are from a Florida that was settled, but not yet subdued by man. Like her fictional characters from “The Yearling,” she and a handful of “Cross […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 5, 2013

Former Gov. Buddy MacKay often included in his speeches a reference to Matthew 16:26: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” He used the quote to illustrate why Florida should protect its natural and cultural treasures or risk losing the very things that make our […]

Guest AuthorAugust 28, 2013

For the time being, the St. Johns and Withlacoochee are the only two Florida rivers that flow north. But if Georgia keeps sucking up more of its headwaters each year, the Apalachicola might just become the third. The good news is that the State of Florida has stepped up its efforts to keep that from […]

Tag: Jim McClellan
Image via AP.

Jim McClellan: No governor? No problem

Jim McClellan: A modest proposal to make our streets safer

Jim McClellan: Horse trading for ostrich feed

Jim McClellan: Don’t chill debate over climate change

Jim McClellan: How gerrymandering bites us in the ass

Jim McClellan: Lobbying the news media? Not likely

Jim McClellan: We need a test to determine who can survive life in Florida

Jim McClellan: The Cultural Cost of Florida’s Net Ban

Jim McClellan: More at stake than oysters in Apalachicola water wars