U.S. Conservative Politics

Florida's Republican Director of Hispanic Outreach Is Now a Democrat

How badly are Republican's efforts to win over Hispanic voters in Florida going? Well, the man once in charge of the effort announced that he's quit the party and is now a registered Democrat. Pablo Pantoja, the former State Director of Florida Hispanic Outreach for the Republican National Committ ... More >>

Marco Rubio Narrowly Leads GOP Presidential Pack, Jeb Bush in Fourth, Poll Finds

Hope you like a long, drawn-out campaign, GOP faithful! Because three years out from choosing a nominee to run in the 2016 presidential race, Republican voters aren't showing any inclination toward picking a favorite yet.Marco Rubio narrowly leads the field in a new Quinnipiac poll out this morning, ... More >>

Reader Mail: Tea Party Leader Is a Fraud and a Kook

Poll: Rick Scott's Approval Rating Is "Awful," Charlie Crist Has Best Chance To Beat Him

Maybe it was the bungled Election Day, or the Stand Your Ground backlash, or the drug testing programs gone awry, or just the fact that he still looks like a cyborg sent from the future to slash entitlement programs. Either way, Gov. Rick Scott continues posting historically bad poll numbers.A new Q ... More >>

Declaration Dancing

Despite Concerns It's "Terrorism" and a "Nazi Plot," Florida County Adds Fluoride Back Into Drinking Water

Swept up in Tea Party hysteria, Pinellas County --Florida's sixth largest county and home to St. Petersburg -- decided to stop the widespread practice of fluoridating its water supply in a surprising 4-3 county commission vote last year. Though, citizens soon got sick of sipping that right wing ... More >>

Charlie Crist Says Obama "Saved Florida": Republicans Fume, Democrats Shrug

Last night, Charlie Crist completed his nasty two-year break-up with conservatives. When he strolled onto the DNC set in Charlotte, the Republican establishment he once belonged to collectively winced. Then it watched the former Florida governor openly praise President Barack Obama."But even as the ... More >>

GOP Decides to Let Rick Scott Speak at RNC

So, the Republican are having their National Convention in Florida, which is slightly uncomfortable for conservatives as Florida has one of the least popular Republican governors in the country. Despite some early speculation to the contrary, however, the Romney campaign has given Gov. Rick Scott a ... More >>

Poll: Charlie Crist Would Beat Rick Scott 48-34 in Hypothetical 2014 Governor Race

It's actually kind of hilarious how far Republican candidates try to flee from any connection to Charlie Crist considering that the former Governor remains modestly popular among Floridians who are not true believers in the Conservative moment. In fact, he's a lot more popular than our current, stri ... More >>

Marco Rubio's Grandpa Was Nearly Deported, Book Reveals, Complicating Immigration Policy

As if Marco Rubio's attempts to moderate the GOP's immigration stance weren't difficult enough: A Washington Post reporter has released part of a biography revealing that Rubio's grandfather ignored deportation orders from a Miami immigration court -- a detail that, combined with Rubio's own call fo ... More >>

Jeb Bush Endorses Mitt Romney, Finally

​In what is perhaps a sign that some in the GOP establishment are growing wary off the drawn-out Republican presidential primary and are ready to rally around a frontrunner, former Florida governor Jeb Bush broke his neutral stance this morning and officially endorsed Mitt Romney.

Fox News Pundit Dick Morris Auctions Off Studio Tour to Benefit Florida GOP Group

​Yeah, yeah, we all know the Fox News Channel is hardly an accurate or impartial news source and is practically an official wing of the Republican Party (or is the GOP a wing of Fox News? Who knows anymore), but rarely is one of their employees so blatant about it as Dick Morris. The former Clinto ... More >>

Jeb Bush Should Get Into Presidential Race, Top GOP Senator Says

​The Republican primary is officially in chaos now with Rick Santorum surging and topping Mitt Romney in some national polls. The former Pennsylvania senator is even leading in Romney's home state of Michigan, but some in the GOP establishment aren't quite sure Santorum is presidential material. O ... More >>

Marco Rubio Bitches About Obama and Senate Colleagues at CPAC

​Last year, while delivering the keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference Florida Senator Marco Rubio talked about grand ideas. This year he was in total Mean Girls mode while speaking at the Conference this morning, and made digs at his veteran colleagues in the Senate, lib ... More >>

Marco Rubio Sticks Up for Romney, Scolds Gingrich

​Marco Rubio is sticking to his promise to stay officially neutral in the GOP primary, but earlier this week Newt Gingrich started running around the state and basically inferring that he was the Marco Rubio to Mitt Romney's Charlie Crist. At least when he wasn't busy calling Romney "anit-immigran ... More >>

Fidel Castro Calls Republican Primary a "Competition of Bullshit"

​In a move that Republican presidential hopefuls will probably milk for all it's worth as they travel in and out of Miami this week, former Cuban President Fidel Castro today called the field competing for the Republican presidential nomination, "the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance th ... More >>

Javier Manjarres: This shark eats politicians

Gingrich, Romney Ramp Up Florida Campaigning Ahead of State Primary UPDATED

​UPDATE: Turns out Rep. Ron Paul is dumping us -- though it looks like he has mailers going out to voters, Politico reports his campaign is skipping the Florida primary to concentrate on caucuses in February, a decision likely informed by Paul polling horribly&nb ... More >>

Could Jeb Bush Still Enter the GOP Presidential Primary?

​The Confederacy of Dunces that emerged to vie for the GOP presidential primary certainly must have some could-have-been candidates rethinking their decision. After the swift, and often surreal, rises and eventual falls of Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain, the race is pretty much down ... More >>

Connie Mack IV Is Crushing His GOP Opponents in Latest Poll

​Rep. Connie Mack IV has only been in the race for the GOP senate nomination for two days and he already has a monster lead. He's ahead of the rest of the field by double digits in one-on-one match ups, and seems to have a wide base of support among various strands of the Republican base.

Herman Cain Is Whiter Than the Ku Klux Klan

​Luther Campbell, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke assesses the African-American frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Herman Cain's emergence as the GOP ... More >>

Connie Mack To Enter Senate Race

So far the Republican primary to decide who gets to take on incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012 has been a big, wet, cold heap of "ain't nobody care." Neither George LeMieux nor Adam Hasner have caught on with GOP voters, and pretty much every poll has shown that most are undecided. Well, Rep. Connie ... More >>

Herman Cain Comes One Step Closer to Becoming America's First Black Vice President With Florida Straw Poll Win

​A bunch of the state's Republican activists gathered this weekend at the Presidency 5 conference and held one of those crazy, meaningless straw polls of which they're so fond. Of course, with a wide-open and ever-changing Republican field, the contest did take on extra meaning. Texas Gov. Rick Pe ... More >>

Poll: Perry Leads Romney in Florida, but Only Romney Beats Obama

​Texas Gov. Rick Perry's quick shot to the front of the GOP-primary pack certainly has a lot of conservatives pleased. But liberals have a reason to be happy too. The general thinking right now is that Perry appeals less to general-election voters than his main rival, Mitt Romney, and thus would d ... More >>

Allen West Considers Senate Run

​Though guys like George LeMieux and Adam Hasner have  for months been running for the GOP nomination to take on Senator Bill Nelson, no one has made much headway with voters. That leaves the field wide open for a potential late entrant. Rep. Adam West, Florida's most Tea-soaked new ... More >>

Poll: Romney and McCallister Lead Florida GOP Primaries; Debt Deal Hurts Obama

​We're still in that uncertain season of the 2012 election cycle where every poll will show some different and somewhat surprising result. Quinnipiac is the latest to crunch the numbers and shows that Mitt Romney is the favorite to get the presidential nod from Republican voters in Florida. Meanwh ... More >>

Poll: Rick Perry Leads Florida GOP Primary, Even Though He's Not Running

​Florida Republicans don't seem to know what to make of the rag tag bunch seeking the Republican presidential nomination, so much so that a recent poll shows that the favorite nominee in the state is a guy that's not even running. Yep, apparently Florida GOPers can't get enough of various Governor ... More >>

Another Rich Guy Seeking Office: Craig Miller Enters GOP Senate Primary Race

​Stop us if you've heard this one before: a millionaire business mogul with little name recognition is using his vast fortune to jumpstart a surprising campaign for a statewide office in Florida. Yep, after the mixed results of Rick Scott and Jeff Greene is 2010, Craig Miller, the former CEO of th ... More >>

Florida Looking at Early March Primary, Might Again Lose Half Its Delegates

​Republican leaders are still eager to host Florida's presidential primary election earlier than most states, but they're hoping to avoid a repeat of 2008's fiasco. Leaders plan to set the primary in early March, just days before the traditional Super Tuesday -- even if that means holding the ... More >>

Mitt Romney Made A Surprise Visit in Miami Today, and He Didn't Even Quote Fidel Castro This Time

​It was a leftist elitists worst nightmare: Leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney surrounded by the artwork of leading hack artist Romero Britto. Yes, the scene on Lincoln Road as Ol' Mittens made a surprise fundraising stop at Britto's gallery space must have been something. Lucki ... More >>

Poll: Florida Republicans Still Have No Idea Who They Want to Run for Senate

​At this point the 2012 horse race the republican primary for the Florida senate seat sort of mirrors the party's primary for the presidential nomination: a bunch of not-terribly-exciting politicians that no one seems to be all that excited about. The latest poll by Sunshine State Communications, ... 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 >>

Marco Rubio Bashes Barack Obama in CPAC Video Address

​When Sen. Marco Rubio announced he'd be sitting out the Conservative Political Action Conference this year, it gave the impression that he was trying to distance himself, for now at least, from certain elements of the right wing. Well, Rubio actually did make an appearance at CPAC today, though t ... More >>

Rick Scott's Budget is Tea Stained

​Despite that whole separation of church and state thing and calls to tone down partisan political rhetoric, Rick Scott introduced his first budget as governor today at a Tea Party rally in a church in small town Eustis, Florida. The rally took on a defiantly partisan affair as Tea Partiers had al ... More >>

Letters from the issue of January 27, 2010

Senate President Mike Haridopolos to Run Against Bill Nelson in 2012

​Senator Bill Nelson, currently the only democratic official in Florida to have been elected state-wide is up for re-election in 2012, and he's already beginning to draw Republican opponents. Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos will soon announce his candidacy, and is already talking openly ... More >>

The Marco Rubio for President Campaign Might as Well Begin Tomorrow

​Let's not be cynical. We don't know who is going to win the Florida senate race (so please go out and vote), but polls indicate Marco Rubio is the favorite. If he does emerge victorious tonight, then it's only a matter of time until some speculation that he may run for President in 2012 at least ... More >>

Mel Martinez Stands Up to Jim DeMint and the Tea Baggers

Despite the fact the outrageous fight for his former seat, former Senator Mel Martinez has been relatively quiet on the political front. Though Martinez, who also had brief stints in George W. Bush's cabinet and has chairman of the Republican National Committee, is now speaking out against his party ... More >>

'Tea Party At Sea' Combines Best Parts of Ranting At Government, Crusing Caribbean

The free-est ship on the seas.​Do you love arguing about the liberal socialist agenda to destroy America but wish you could quote the Constitution in a more nautical setting? Do you love cruising the Caribbean, but think constantly about how much more you would love it if you could share those gol ... More >>

Former GOP Chief Greer Apologizes to Obama, Says Many in GOP Are Racist

A little more than a year ago, former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer made headlines by condemning President Barack Obama's address to the nation's schoolchildren on their first day of school as a "use of taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda." Gr ... More >>

Florida Primary Election Results Live Blog

​Today Florida went to the polls for the 2010 primary election. While tonight's big theme involved controversial, self-funded billionaire outsiders taking on establishment career politicians in both the Republican primary for Governor and Democratic primary for Senate, there's still lots of ballot ... More >>

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp Will Endorse Marco Rubio, Hasn't Spoken to Charlie Crist in Months

Kottkamp (right) and Crist (left) in happier times with some old guy, we think Sarah Palin's grandpa.​Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp will betray the man who helped raise the former Ft. Myers-area state rep from political obscurity to, um, political semi-obscurity by announcing he's endorsing Marco Rubio f ... More >>

Marco Rubio Urged to Boycott Tea Party Event Featuring "Radical Islamophobe"

​Tea Party fave Marco Rubio has been urged by the Council on American-Islamic Relations to boycott a North Florida event headlined by Brigitte Gabriel, a fiery anti-Islam speaker. But the event's organizer says Gabriel is staying on the schedule -- and Rubio should think twice about declining his ... More >>

Paul Crespo to David Rivera: "Anywhere You Meet Me, Guaranteed to Go Down."

David Rivera May Need Steven Bauer to reprise his role as Manolo for tonight's Republican party meet-up​State Rep. David Rivera's campaign for U.S. Congress has taken quite the ass-kicking since he was caught being less than forthright about his friendship with Ariel Pereda, a Miami businessman wh ... More >>

Elena Kagan Will Make A Fine Supreme Court Justice

​Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke analyzes Elena Kagan's nomination to the highest court in the land. I'm happy to see that Barack Obama nominated El ... More >>

A Man Who Became a Woman Who Can't Marry a Man is Running for Congress

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke tries to understand how a transsexual running for Congress can be against gay marriage.​A few weeks ago, I came across som ... More >>

Letters from the issue of June 3, 2010