Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorFebruary 18, 2014

The Republican Party needs a Pope Francis. You know, an old white guy who is tolerant. Kind, not grumpy. Open to more than only people who have millions of dollars or an extra-large chip on their shoulder. Notice that Pope Francis hasn’t changed any fundamental beliefs of the Catholic Church. He’s just made it more […]

Daniel TilsonJanuary 23, 2014

Ready for a Hillary Clinton-Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign slugfest? Looks to be about a 60-40 bet these days. For quite a while now Jeb has played it close to the vest if not downright coy about his presidential prospects and plans. But recent events are conspiring to flush him out of the weeds of […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 16, 2014

There is an old saying around Florida that if you don’t like the weather just wait a couple of hours and suddenly it will change. Likewise, there are Florida political suddenlies as well. One day nearly 30 years ago, I rolled out of bed, a satisfied member of the Florida House of Representatives cruising to […]

Daniel TilsonJanuary 8, 2014

Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of The United States, must be spinning in his grave and cursing up a storm this week. You see, to mark the 50th anniversary of LBJ’s landmark ‘War On Poverty’, congressional conservatives like Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio are taking turns trying to discredit it. First came […]

Darryl PaulsonNovember 13, 2013

Charlie Crist has never had a political job he wanted to keep. He has served one term as state senator, one term as education commissioner, one term as attorney general and one term as governor. Not once did he seek re-election to any of those positions. “One and done” Charlie was always looking for his […]

Guest AuthorNovember 6, 2013

As expected, former GOP Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced on Monday that he is running for the statehouse in Tallahassee again, this time as a Democrat. Crist is a survivor, a career politician who served as a Republican state senator, education commissioner, attorney general and then governor. His big mistake: Crist then ran and lost […]

Mark FerruloOctober 29, 2013

In an inexplicable act of flip-flopping, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has decided to block President Barack Obama’s nomination of Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge William Thomas to a seat on the federal bench for the Southern District of Florida. Political obstructionism in Washington is hardly newsworthy, but this is an extraordinary case. You see, Rubio […]

Guest AuthorOctober 29, 2013

The nondescript, two-story, white bungalow at 928 N. Main St. in Rockford, Ill., seems an illogical incubator for the 1990s neo-Confederate rhetoric that has shape-shifted into the Tea Party and Evangelical majority within the Republican Party. Today, 928 N. Main is the home of the Rockford Institute, a 37-year-old, internationally recognized, very private, paleoconservative think […]

Julie DelegalOctober 1, 2013

This hold that the extreme Republicans in Congress believe they have is a mirage. The power that they and the dominant party in Tallahassee think is supported by a majority of voters simply isn’t real. Carl Hiaasen’s contention that “Americans aren’t buying” what the likes of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are selling is on […]

Darryl PaulsonSeptember 9, 2013

Near the end of his term as governor, when his name was being floated as a possible vice president on the McCain ticket, Charlie Crist visited Israel to help enhance his foreign policy credentials. One of the Israeli newspapers ran the headline “Christ is Coming.” It wasn’t Christ, but Crist, who was coming, and now […]

Tag: Marco Rubio
Anna Maria Island home after Hurricane Milton.

Mark O’Brien: The GOP needs an endearing leader like Pope Francis

Daniel Tilson: Here comes Clinton vs. Bush, circa 2016

John Grant: Florida’s best spectator sport, hands down

Daniel Tilson: The GOP’s impoverished anti-poverty platform

Darryl Paulson: The battle for governor: charisma versus competence

Steve Kurlander: If Crist wins, expect national implications for both parties

Mark Ferrulo: Why is Rubio blocking vote on judge he nominated?

Linda Cunningham: Tea Party movement demonstrates unhealed legacy of Civil War

Julie Delegal: Americans aren’t buying what the GOP is trying to sell

Darryl Paulson: The case against Charlie Crist for governor