Bill Nelson

One-Word Election Reviews: Obama's Win Was "Ballsy"; Mitt's Crowds Were "Chalky"

Rick Scott on Florida's Election Debacle: "The Right Thing Happened"

Facing criticism that his voter reforms and refusal to extend early voting hours lead to Florida's election debacle on Tuesday, Rick Scott told a radio station today, "Well, I'm very comfortable that the right thing happened."Hmm, let's just check the definitions of "right" from Merriam-Webster.

Barack Obama's "Ballsy" Victory: A Single-Word Review of What Happened On Election Night

Unless you're stuck in some Jack McKeon-like time warp in which Twitter relies on actual messenger pigeons, you've probably heard by now that Barack Obama punched yesterday's election in the crotch. And unless your name is Mitt Romney and you've permanently foregone alcohol and caffeine, your brain ... More >>

Connie Mack Is Tweeting Out a Bunch of Illegal Pictures of Marked Ballots

So, as we informed you this morning, it's totally illegal in Florida to take a picture of your marked ballot. Well, the Connie Mack campaign only reads Riptide when we write something about Connie Mack (usually followed up by a terse e-mail). So, Mack is just retweeting out pictures of his supporter ... More >>

One in Four Romney Voters In Florida Only Voting For Him Because He's Not Obama

We're getting hit with presidential polls every day now, but every once in a while a little bit of data comes along that perfectly sums up the general mood of this election.A recent poll of likely Florida voters taken by Fox News found that a full 25 percent of Floridians who say they're voting for ... More >>

Fifty-Five Percent of Florida Cubans are Voting for Barack Obama

For years Republicans have been able to rely on solid support from the majority of Florida's Cuban community, but one of the few public polls that actually includes figures specifically on Cuban voters says that President Barack Obama actually has a 16-point advantage over Mitt Romney among Florida ... More >>

Miami-Dade Election Results Liveblog: Pit Bulls, Primaries, and County Hall

Miami-Dade voters went to the polls today to vote on a long ballot filled with primary battles for both federal and state level legislative races, and the first (and in some cases, possibly final) rounds of the county mayor race, and several county commission seats. Longtime Miami-Dade State Attorne ... More >>

Marco Rubio Wants To Stop Taxing Olympic Medal Winners

Marco Rubio has been studying the American tax code, and at last he's discovered the scourge that's been dragging down the U.S. economy. No, it's not Obama's higher taxes on the top-one percent, and it's not Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy.It's Uncle Sam's tax on Olympic medalists, who, yeah, appa ... More >>

"Whereas... LeBron James Decided to Take His Talent to South Beach": The Awesome Congressional Resolution Congratulating The Heat

It seems that Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen went all fan girl when drafting up a Congressional resolution to congratulate the Miami Heat on their NBA championship, because the thing is actually the rare Congressional measure that's a pleasure to read. It's basically a manifesto on why the Heat are just s ... More >>

Are Connie Mack and Marco Rubio Dumb? The Grade Level They Speak At Suggests It

The Sunlight Foundation has noticed an interesting and perhaps even troubling trend about the people who make our laws: the grade level that members of Congress speak at has taken a noticeable dip since 2005. The average member of Congress spoke at an 11.5 grade level in 2005, but now speaks at a 10 ... More >>

Marco Rubio's Wife Might Be Preparing for Role as VP's Wife

Marco Rubio's wife Jeanette has kept a relatively low profile despite her husbands growing national profile. While he's in Washington, Jeanette Rubio usually stays behind in West Miami raising the couple's four children. Though, she just gave her first extended interview in conjunction with her hubb ... More >>

Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann Choose Different Sides in Florida Republican Senate Primary

If you're the kind of Republican voter who finds yourself easily swayed by some of the more deafening but dimmer voices in your party, well then boy do we have a quagmire for you. Two of your favorite also-rans from the GOP presidential primary have chosen different sides in the Florida battle betwe ... More >>

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski Not Happy with Obama's Contraception Compromise

​Caving to demands voiced by Senator Marco Rubio, Catholic leaders and others, President Obama today announced a compromise on a portion of his health care reform laws that would have required all employers to offer female employees free birth control even if the employer had religious objections. ... More >>

Carlos Miller: Freedom for photographers

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Comes Out Against SOPA, Too

​Miami-area congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has finally made her position on SOPA clear: she's against it. Unlike Marco Rubio, who changed his position on SOPA's Senate companion, PIPA, earlier today, Ros-Lehtinen had never been a co-sponsor of the bill.

David Rivera Has $8,000, Frederica Wilson is a Millionaire, and Local Politicos are Worth $170 Million

David Rivera, multi-thousandaire.​Muckraking site OpenSecrets.org decided to throw some fire on the Occupy Movement this week by estimating the net worth of every single member of Congress, from mighty Darrell Issa with his $700 million to Florida pauper Alcee Hastings, who owes nearly $5 million ... More >>

Senate Candidate Adam Hasner: Occupy Protesters are "Thugs," "Anarchists" and "Anti-Semites"

​Adam Hasner is banking heavily on Tea Party support in his quest to secure the Republican nomination to take on Bill Nelson in 2012, but in a fundraising letter today he unleashed a very angry rant against another group of political protesters. Hasner pulled no punches in attacking, and in many c ... More >>

George LeMieux's French-Sounding Name is Hottest Issue in Republican Senate Primary

​The race for the Republican nomination to take on Sen. Bill Nelson next year is in a sad state of affairs. Some grassroots nobody named Mike McCallister is leading the pack with 17 percent of the vote, but 58 percent of Republican voters are still undecided. Meanwhile, the two establishment candi ... More >>

Allen West Is Not on a "Marco Rubio Level"; Sorry, Club for Growth

​Republican insiders aren't exactly thrilled with the crop of candidates who have entered the race for the GOP nomination to take on incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson. Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth, a powerful and influential fiscally conservative 527 group that endorsed Marco Rubio in ... More >>

Ironic Quote of the Week: Library-Closing Carlos Gimenez Says Favorite Book is Fahrenheit 451

Wikimedia CommonsFirst go the libraries...​Miamians were pissed off yesterday about Carlos Gimenez's plan to shutter 13 libraries around town. So when we saw him at a groundbreaking ceremony today, we thought we'd ask Gimenez a simple question: what's his favorite book? His answer:  Fahrenhei ... More >>

Marco Rubio Doesn't Understand How Grass Works

via Wikimedia Commons user MoserB A federal agency is very against one of the things in this picture.​Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson have taken a stand -- keep planting grass for people to mow.The National Hispanic Landscape Alliance -- which held its first conference in March ... More >>

Rick Scott's Administration Really Hates Sunshine Laws

​"Are there things we don't want you to know? Yes," Brian Burgess, Rick Scott's communication director (or misdirector in many cases) tells the Times/Herald's Tallahassee Bureau. "There are things we don't want to broadcast to our opponents."Florida's Sunshine Laws are supposed to foster an o ... More >>

Fifty-Five Percent of Floridians Don't Like Rick Scott

​After just a few months in office, Floridians have decided they aren't big fans of Rick Scott and his Tea Party-style politics. A new poll shows that 55 percent dislike the new governor, while only 32 percent like him. While Scott has never been Mr. Popular, those number have only worsened since ... More >>

Senate President Mike Haridopolos Got $152K in Taxpayer Money to Write Crappy, Misspelled Book

​Senate President and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Haridopolos lists his profession as college professor (though he's actually merely a lecturer) but apparently does a hell of a lot less toiling on his written works than one would expect of his students. He certainly makes a lot more money for it, t ... More >>

AIDS Funding for Poor Floridians Set to Run-Out in Two Weeks

​Florida's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) runs out in two weeks. The problem is, new funding doesn't kick-in until April. That shortfall has left legislators and activists scrambling to secure extra funds to keep anti-retroviral medication flowing to the Sunshine State's 10,600 ADAP recipient ... More >>

Don't Panic! (Yet) Those Tar Balls In Key West Didn't Come From The BP Oil Spill

As you can see above, a pretty solid freak-out hit Duval Street yesterday when upwards of 50 tar balls turned up in the ocean and on beaches around Key West. But not to worry! Turns out these floating blobs of disgusting petroleum didn't come from the massive BP gusher in the Gulf. Which is, we gu ... More >>

Tired of Art Basel? Five Suggestions for a Culture-less Weekend Getaway!

​Art Basel has a funny way of making us feel like we're outsiders in our own town. Traffic is horrible. Parking even moreso. The line at your favorite Cuban restaurant (even if that happens to be Pollo Tropical) gets filled with hoity-toity Europeans trying to work in a little "authentic Miami exp ... More >>

Dick Armey Sending Army of Dicks After Bill Nelson over Health Care

​Dick Armey, the former Republican House majorty leader who's not currently making an ass out of himself on Dancing with the Stars, was in Palm Beach Gardens today speaking to teabaggers, um, Tea Party activists. According to the Palm Beach Post, Armey told the crowd of conservative acti ... More >>

Is Maurice Ferre About to Mount a Senate Campaign?

Jonathan Postal​A couple of Democrats have flirted with the idea, but so far no one has stepped up to mount a real challenge against Kendrick Meek in the Senate primary. Now, though, there's buzz that former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre will enter the race next week.Beth Reinhard says Ferre will make ... More >>

Florida: 47th Most Powerful State in DC

​Florida ranks 47th our of the 50 states in terms of influence and seniority in the US Congress according to an analysis by The Sarasota Herald-Tribune. A dismal ranking by any means, but even more so considering we're the 4th most populace state. Our legislators have less swagger on the hill than ... More >>

Glades Invaders

It's too late to stop the pythons. The real question is, what's next?

Charlie Crist Will Ask Just About Anyone To Fill Out a Senate Application

​Gov. Charlie Crist has asked yet another round of former politicians to fill out applications for Senate. When will this end? When every Republicans to ever hold public office in Florida has submitted answers to Charlie Crist's questionnaire. The latest round includes Former U.S. Reps. Mike ... More >>

United States Will Officially Have It's First Hispanic Justice

Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the Senate today. No big surprise there. Every member of the Democratic caucus, save for Ted Kennedy who remains ill and could not attend, voted for Sotomayor. That would include, of course, Bill Nelson.While only nine republicans offered their "yays," including ... More >>

Will Marco Rubio Lead The March of Conservatives out of the GOP?

​If there's one point Riptide has been consistently making about Marco Rubio is that his values and policies are more in line with the right-wing, super-conservative blogosphere then they are with Florida voters. He pretty much hammered that point home this weekend by speaking at the RedState Gath ... More >>

Fighting for Justice for a Family Half a World Away

Think South Florida cops are crooked? Thank goodness you don't live in Morocco. Omar Ezzaidi, a Moroccan native who now lives in Miami, moved to the United States in 1998, leaving his family behind. Five years later, he became an American citizen and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Omar se ... More >>

The Week That Was: Miami Social Makes Us Want to Burn Down a Castle

JipsyCheck our Swim Week photo collection here.Something purporting to be a television program called Miami Social infected airwaves this week. We introduced you to the cast, and they proceeded to do nothing. Though, the show seems to be less infectious than Swine Flu. Also, Glenn Garvin made a funn ... More >>

Polls: Charlie Crist Would Win Senate Race 2-to-1

Floridians can only juggle the names of 4 or 5 state politicians in their heads at a time, and right now the only Democrat in the mix, Bill Nelson, is already in the Senate. So it's not surprising that a new Strategic Vision poll shows Charlie Crist winning pretty much every match-up with any given ... More >>

Live From The Barack Obama Stimulus Tour

Riptide is live today from Ft. Myers, Florida for Barack Obama's first visit to Florida as President of the United States of America. He'll be continuing the themes from his stop in Elkhart, Indiana and his first press conference last night, talking up the need for a stimulus package. The event ... More >>

MSNBC's Lone Conservative Rethinking a Senate Run

Back in 2006 when the Republican party came to the hard, cold realization that they would have to run political train wreck Katherine Harris as their Senate Nominee they begged and pleaded with former Congressman and MSNBC talking head Joe Scarborough to run. "Please, Joe, Please, Don't let us prete ... More >>

Oh, Look, We Already Have Front Runners for 2014

They don't share political idealogies, but they do share a hair stylist. It's a sign of just how much dominance Charlie Crist has in Florida politics that both races he could conceivably run in 2010 - Governor or, less likely, Senator - are having a hard time attracting big name candidate, but the n ... More >>

So, Who's Going to Lose to Charlie?

Absent amongst all this hullabaloo over who might seek the senate seat in 2010 is any murmur, any indication, any rumor of who the Dems might put up for Governor. Yeah, there's this wild card chance that Charlie Crist might run for senate, and if that happens expect CFO Alex Sink to declare her cand ... More >>

Crist-for-Senate Rumors Just Made 2010 a Lot More Confusing

Up until yesterday, it seemed the full picture for the Senate election in 2010 would come into focus soon, when rumored candidates including Republicans Bill McCullom and Marco Rubio as well as Democrat Alex Sink made their intentions clear. Well, now with The Hill reporting that National Republica ... More >>

His Satanic Majesty's Request

Close down every church so the true church can begin.

Out of Africa

Malika Oufkir, who spent decades unfairly imprisoned, just wants her son here. Why won’t our government allow it?

Peace of the Gables

These guys just don’t like war. What’s wrong with them?

The D Word

Say anything you want, but just don't call them Democrats

Bass Relief

Check your mufflers, biker boys

The Will Adams Embargo

The sad saga of how the feds hounded a senior citizen over, what else, Cuba

Vox Populi

Opposition to developing an airport in Homestead continues to grow

Scalded

A long-time aide. A few thousand dollars' worth of dubious insurance receipts. A cauldron of allegations. U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey has been . . . scalded