Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorMay 20, 2014

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” — Albert Schweitzer Friendship has changed in our social-media age. We used to maintain long-distance friendships with letters […]

Guest AuthorMay 15, 2014

What do Preparation H and Florida’s U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio have in common? Nothing! But if he thought he could turn curing hemorrhoids to his political advantage, he’d claim to have come up with a plan faster than you could say, “Cuba sí, Castro no!” Laughably uninformed, he’s nonetheless convinced himself and (what’s left of) […]

Daniel TilsonApril 13, 2014

It is what it is. Most Floridians seem resigned to the corporate welfare system their elected officials have quietly created and perpetuated. As a result, another legislative session winds down without the welfare reform we need. You may remember how debate about a growing “culture of entitlement” drove the Clinton administration in 1996 to reform […]

Guest AuthorMarch 26, 2014

Last weekend, I was invited to attend a reunion celebration of the 20th anniversary of Joe Scarborough’s first campaign for Congress. Scarborough and his team did something that we rarely see in our lifetimes. They changed the course of politics not only in Northwest Florida, but the entire state. In 1994, Bill Clinton was president, […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 21, 2014

The GOP is in need of a unifier in a bad way! There seem to be Republicans who believe they have proprietary rights about who is allowed to call themselves a Republican. Let’s get one thing straight — one wing of the party cannot determine who and who is not a Republican any more than […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 14, 2014

The other day I heard Jim Stafford’s seminal 1974 song “Wildwood Weed” while listening to the radio. About the same time, the Florida House subcommittee on Criminal Justice was debating the merits of medical marijuana. This is a Republican-led House and a very conservative committee chairman. Many were shocked to see it happening, but I […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 5, 2014

As the political winds are turning to presidential politics in 2016, now is the time for Republicans to start thinking about their ticket. I know it’s early, but the top of the Democratic ticket has already been pretty much decided by the mainstream media. It’s Hillary and whoever she wants as her veep. For the […]

Guest AuthorDecember 23, 2013

Let’s give a shout out to some good news, but do it quietly because it involves libraries. It’s refreshing in this anti-education, Tea Party era to see that so many people say that they support public libraries, those hotbeds of learning, entertainment and advancement. A new study by Pew Research Foundation found plenty of support […]

Marc YachtDecember 19, 2013

Although the recent slaying of a Zephyrhills High School student was not part of a school rampage, it does bring home Florida’s vulnerability to a school incident. Furthermore, on the eve of the anniversary of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy, an apparently well-known and liked Colorado student brought a shotgun to school and shot one girl critically, […]

Guest AuthorDecember 8, 2013

We live in a time in which incessant polling, ubiquitous social media, and 24-hour news outlets register every ripple in public opinion. And for some elected officials, each such ripple, however small, feels like a groundswell as they drift along with no anchor of core principles other than an unremitting desire to please, so they […]

Tag: Tea Party

Steve Kurlander: Artie Lee: A social-media friend that I regret I never met

Stephen L. Goldstein: Marco Rubio has a cure for hemorrhoids and all of America’s ills

Daniel Tilson: Florida’s corporate welfare crisis

Rick Outzen: Scarborough’s 94 campaign began GOP revolution

Jamie Miller: Who is going to unify the GOP?

Henry Kelley: This Tea Partier supports legalizing medical marijuana

Barney Bishop: Jeb Bush is best presidential candidate for GOP in 2016

Mark O’Brien: Libraries provide more than just books, movies and CDs

Marc Yacht: Florida officials can do better on gun control

Mac Stipanovich: Leadership memo from Edmund Burke: Get grit