Riptide loves a good underdog, but if you’ve been running for two months and we haven’t heard of you yet, that means you’re really flying below the radar. In fact, not until yesterday were we notified of the existence of Michael E. Arth. (Do you think he uses his middle…
Let’s get one thing straight: Fidel Castro doesn’t think Barack Obama is the great socialist hope for America. In fact, he writes, “Obama was born, educated, made policy, and succeeded in the imperial capitalist system of the United States. He doesn’t wish to or would change the system,” in a column published…
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 Bilirakis, Lou Frey, and Clay…
Just a few weeks ago, at a county school board meeting, Bernie Winer — a consultant for the Miami Beach Police Athletic League — received a standing ovation. A month before that, Miami Beach city commissioners handed him an award. But Riptide has uncovered a PAL expense report that helped…
You know why we haven’t had a major hurricane in quite some time? Because Gov. Charlie Crist gets down on his knees. Crist left a payer note on the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2007 while on a trade mission that read, “Dear God, please protect our Florida from storms and…
Charlie Crist has added former state legislator Dan Webster to his ever-growing shortlist of possible Senate appointees. The Central Florida political vet has already said he’d be open to the job, because “it would be prety cool.” Webster served in the Florida House for 18 years and became the first Republican speaker…
National Review, a serious political journal of wingnuttery, which has recently featured Carrie Prejean and a Buddha-fied Sonia Sotomayor with the words “Wise Latina” on its cover has chosen Marco Rubio as its next coverboy. Why don’t they proclaim Rubio the “Wise Latino”? I guess because they make only sorta-racist covers when they…
According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 58 percent of Floridians support creating a government health insurance plan, while only 36 percent oppose it. So it should be good news for supporters of the so-called public option that voters in a notoriously moderate swing state seem to be down with government health insurance. Yet,…
Been a long time since we’ve had some hot political poll action around these parts. Luckily today we got figures from both Rasmussen and Quinnipoac in various races. First to the Senate soap opera. As of right now it’s safe to say Charlie Crist is still pretty much going to win…
Lincoln Diaz-Balart dropped out of contention yesterday, so Gov. Charlie Crist will interview two more possible candidates for Florida’s temporary senator: Rep. Jennifer Carroll and University of North Florida President John Delaney. Carroll’s name was first mentioned last week, and she is the first woman that Crist has publicly shown interest in for the…
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart has announced he won’t pursue Mel Martinez’s open Senate seat. Gov. Charlie Crist had sent Diaz-Balart an application of sorts for the job. His announcement also puts to rest any crazy political musical chairs rumors his open House seat could have set off.”It was a great honor…
Francisco Tudela’s resumé could inspire a kick-ass James Bond flick. The former vice president of Peru, he once shared an office with a spy, was held hostage at the Japanese embassy, and worked under a world leader who was convicted for murder and kidnapping. But for all of the drama…
Republicans almost always win the agriculture commissioner, so this might or might not be earth-shattering, but the Democrats’ leading candidate, conservationist Eric Draper, has dropped out of the race. Instead, he’ll return to concentrating on his work with Audobon of Florida. So now the Democrats are without down an AgComm candidate and, more…
Roll Call and Naked Politics present a pretty thrilling scenario for the game of political musical chairs that could be set off if Gov. Charlie Crist appoints Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart to Mel Martinez’s U.S. Senate seat. Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln’s brother, might have had his district specially drawn for him, but it’s fast becoming…
The Palm Beach Post is reporting that Governor Charlie Crist has sent out a document entitled “Questionnaire for Senate Appointment,” to three men [link to pdf]. The first two names have been mentioned widely before: former Secretary of State Jim Smith, and former US Attorney Bob Menendez. But the third…
Remember Betty Castor? She’s the lady that lost to Mel Martinez in 2004 by about a percentage point after Martinez hammered her with accusation she failed to fire a “terrorist” in 1996 while president of USF. I kind of wondered what she felt when Mel Martinez announced his resignation from the…
He’s not running from South Beach or Wilton Manors (where he could probably win on that photo alone), but from somewhere in Hillsborough County, where he was a one-term commissioner. Blair is a former professional wrestler who fought on a tag team called the Killer Bees (named for the Miami Dolphins’…
Last year, we dubbed Damon Weaver “the best political reporter in South Florida,” and after a long quest, the 11-year-old finally got to do yesterday what most political reporters only dream of — sit down for a one-on-one interview with the president of the United States. Dreams do come true!…
Say what you will about Rev. Gaston E. Smith, the Liberty City pastor who faces felony theft charges and is the subject of this week’s New Times feature, “In the Name of the King”. One thing is indisputable: The man can preach. We’ve received a couple of emails looking for videos of…
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in a town hall meeting in Nigeria as part of her tour of Africa. Apparently Nigeria can have town hall meetings without a load of loons ripping up Rosa Parks posters and whatnot, but they can’t really have an ethical election. Their controversial 2007 election…
In terms of Attorney Generals they don’t get much bigger than Janet Reno. Wait, excuse me. In terms of Attorney General endorsements they don’t get much bigger than Janet Reno’s. The former US Attorney General gave her blessing to Florida Attorney General hopeful Dan Gelber today. “Dan has the gumption and spirit…
I think everyone can agree we need to reform health care in this country one way or another (if you don’t, you’re either greedy or not paying attention), and since the Democrats are currently in control, they’re the ones taking a shot at it. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and…
