Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Martin DyckmanNovember 3, 2014

The strengths of Tom Slade, the former Florida Republican chairman who died Oct. 20, included a talent for recruiting good candidates for offices the party had not won before. Comptroller Bob Milligan and Education Commissioner Frank Brogan were two of them. But this story, untold until now, is about a big one that got away. […]

Martin DyckmanOctober 30, 2014

You’re the victim of a bad business deal, a drunken driver, a home improvement fraud, or a big bad check. So you call your lawyer. Nothing happens. The other guy’s lawyer has gotten to yours. They go partying together and he contributes money to your lawyer’s political campaign fund. If this happened in private life, […]

Martin DyckmanOctober 8, 2014

The campaign for governor strikes many Floridians as all sound and fury, signifying nothing but that too much money is being put to too little good. Some are even questioning why they should bother to vote. The answer is elemental. If they don’t, other people will be voting for them. At the end of the […]

Martin DyckmanAugust 3, 2014

Our texts today are not Biblical, but they are definitely topical. A wise man changes his mind often, a fool never -Spanish proverb. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines –Ralph Waldo Emerson. In every political campaign since the Stone Age, it has been an […]

Peter SchorschJune 9, 2014

J. Stanley Marshall, former president of Florida State University (1969-76) and founder of the James Madison Institute, died Sunday at 91. “Ol’ Stan Marshall puts his pants on one leg at time,” the barber said as he trimmed the back of my head, which may have been trembling too much for him to cut in […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 17, 2014

Even as a television plot it would be implausible. A white man enraged by loud music coming from their car shoots 10 bullets at four black teenagers, killing one. But the jury is able to find him guilty only of the shots that missed. Once again, Florida is a theater of the absurd. There are […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 12, 2014

The Florida Bar is all but begging lawyers to apply for once-coveted memberships on the panels that nominate judges for the governor to appoint. With too few applications on hand for 12 of the 20 judicial circuits and one of the five district courts of appeal, the Bar has extended the deadline from Feb. 11 […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 11, 2013

There’s one major issue that Charlie Crist overlooked when he declared his ambition to be governor again. It’s the fate of Florida’s courts, perhaps the most momentous in its long-term effects. To illustrate the importance, let’s consider a current appeal involving sovereign immunity, the ancient common law doctrine that the king can do no wrong. […]

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 […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 3, 2013

The sight of Charlie Crist running for governor as a Democrat should not startle anyone old enough to remember that Richard Nixon went to China and began successful strategic arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union. For such an arch Cold Warrior to come to terms with common sense and necessity was in one of […]

Tag: Reubin Askew

Martin Dyckman: It’s a shame the Democrats didn’t have Tom Slade working for them

Martin Dyckman: Attorney General Pam Bondi repeatedly has been lobbied out of representing the people of Florida

Martin Dyckman: Two huge reasons to vote — the courts, the state constitution

Martin Dyckman: Wise politicians learn, evolve — and change their minds

Peter Schorsch: On the death of J. Stanley Marshall: Florida has lost a giant

Martin Dyckman: ‘Loud music’ killing is another stain on the ‘Gunshine State’

Martin Dyckman: Scott is trying to pack the courts with compliant judges

Martin Dyckman: Crist needs to explain position on court appointments

Jim McClellan: No governor? No problem

Martin Dyckman: Who is the real Crist — and do voters care?