Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryMarch 8, 2016

To the surprise of virtually anybody, Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday that he will not run for president as an independent this year. Writing on um, Bloomberg View, the former New York City Mayor announced that after serious contemplation, he will not run this year, despite the concerns he has about the campaigns from both the […]

Mitch PerryMarch 7, 2016

Wouldn’t it be interesting, as comedian Sarah Silverman noted on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night, for all of the candidates — Republicans and Democrats — to debate at one time? The differences between the two parties standard-bearers would become event more evident. Take the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, for example. During Thursday night’s GOP debate […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 20, 2016

If one were a better person, the most likeliest general election matchup in the presidential race nine months from now would be Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. That scenario may never happen, but based strictly on the polls, those two candidates lead their respective parties nationally. There could be an interesting debate about who might […]

Mitch PerryNovember 13, 2015

Happy Friday to you all, and what a weekend it will be as virtually the entire Republican presidential field (including Jim Gilmore!) makes its way to Orlando for the next two days for the Republican Party of Florida’s Sunshine Summit. We’re off to the event shortly ourselves, so let’s be succinct: Will we hear more […]

Mitch PerryNovember 12, 2015

Overnight returns give Fox Business Network’s prime-time GOP presidential debate an 8.9 rating among households and 13.5 million viewers in prime-time. That’s just shy of the 9.5 rating and 14 million viewers earned by CNBC’s recent coverage for the third. Although it’s not nearly as large as the gaudy ratings numbers that Fox and CNN […]

Mitch PerryNovember 4, 2015

A friend of mine asked me Tuesday night whether Ben Carson is doing any fundraising in Tampa. It would certainly make sense if he were since the GOP presidential front-runner (in some polls) is spending this week in Florida on a book-selling tour. There’s no indication, though, that such an event is planned. Carson is running a campaign […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 4, 2015

It was famed actor, celebrity and humanitarian George Clooney who once said that he doesn’t tweet. “Just because, I like to have a drink at night. I could easily say something stupid, and I also don’t think you need to be that available.” But there are lots of folks who just can’t help expressing themselves via the tools of […]

Mitch PerryAugust 13, 2015

Good morning, happy 11th anniversary of Hurricane Charley. Charley, as those of us who were here remember, was the first of four hurricanes that descended upon Florida in August and September 2004. It was going to be the “new normal,” we all fretted. Major storms every summer. Since that time there were a couple that […]

Mitch PerryAugust 4, 2015

Fourteen Republican candidate for president met Monday night at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., last night. It was the equivalent of political speed-dating, (by the way, do those things happen anymore? I did it twice in the early aughts, and what I remember from the experience was how weary I was after standing up and moving to […]

Tag: Tampa Bay Express

Mitch Perry Report for 3.8.16 – Bloomy, we hardly knew ye

Mitch Perry Report for 3.7.16 — Dems tag team on Rick Snyder in Flint

Mitch Perry Report for 1.20.16 — Democratic Party establishment freaks out over Bernie Sanders

Mitch Perry Report for 11.13.15 – All aboard the Sunshine Summit

Mitch Perry Report for 11.12.15 — Does the DNC want anyone to watch its debates?

Mitch Perry Report for 11.4.15 – Figuring out Ben Carson

Mitch Perry Report for 9.4.15 – Sam Rashid is not backing down

Mitch Perry Report for 8.13.15 — Jeb Bush deals with a Black Lives Matter activist

Mitch Perry Report for 8.4.15 — Political speed date dialing in Manchester