Florida’s education rankings continue to linger in the bottom half of the nation’s states, and who does Charlie Crist appoint to the State Board of Education? Oh, a former professional football player. ex-FSU Standount and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Peter Boulware ran for a Florida House seat as a Republican and…
Former Florida Senator Bob Graham stopped by The Colbert Report last night, to talk about a report he put out as chair of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism (The video is above, scroll forward to the 7:30 mark). Colbert is supposed to…
“Sink not running against Martinez,” technically this Politico.com headline from Monday is correct, as no one will be running against Mel Martinez, ever again. But their assertion that she wasn’t throwing her hat in the ring to become Florida’s junior Senator in 2010 may have been off the mark. Naked…
Here is Sen. Mel Martinez’s first interview after announcing he won’t seek reelection. It was conducted by Republican Lobbyist, and former Jeb advisor Justin Sayfie, for his internet computer website The Sayfie Review. The Herald’s Beth Reinhard has already noted just how great it is for newspapers that politicians are giving exclusive…
If Ileana Ros-Lehtinen ever got an important 3am phone call of national importance, apparently she would hang up, and then put out a press release about it. Riptide has already written up Ileana’s now infamous Obama hang up, but let’s use the magic of bullet points to painstakingly detail just how…
So this Jeb Bush character wants to be our Senator, aye? What has he ever done for us? Oh, he was our Governor. Great, great. He was also the brother of that one guy, what is his name? I think he was the President for a little while, maybe. I…
It’s been our fear that something huge politic-wise would happen while we were away looking at pretty, little art things, and what do you know it happens on the first day. Sonofa. Senator Mel Martinez has announced that he will not run for re-election in 2010. His Senate seat was generally…
Miami Commissioner Joe Sanchez, a former cop, has opened an account to run for city mayor, opening the way to the best political contest in recent memory. Commissioner Tomas Regalado, who announced several months ago, is sure to attack, particularly as we get close to election day. Regalado’s ethical lapses…
Another Miami-Dade city, another city commission appointment controversy in the works. This time around, Miami Beach is trying to decide whether to fill Dan Gelber’s vacated seat with an appointee or hold a special election. An election would cost as much as $400,000, and Mayor Matti Bower told the Herald: “That’s a…
A group of devoted fans have already started a Draft Alex Sink website, but they were hoping Florida’s CFO would run for Governor. Turns out she may have her eye on Washington instead. The Hill is reporting that Sink will make an announcement very soon as to the future of…
Katherine Cue, of course, isn’t the only recent controversial appointment to an elected office. Yesterday, Delaware’s Governor announced that she would appoint Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s chief of staff Edward Kaufman to his soon to be vacated senate seat. The Governors of Illinois and possibly New York will also name…
The shortlist for HUD secretary keeps getting longer. Mayor Manny Diaz is still on this list, released to the AP from ominous sources inside the party and transition team: Miami Mayor Manny DiazRep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.Renee Glover, head of Atlanta’s housing authorityNicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing StudiesShaun…
The venerable New York Times is selling prints of this picture of Barack and Michelle Obama in downtown Miami starting at the low, low price of $199 for the 11 x 14 size. But if you’ve got the big bucks, you can splurge $1,099 on the 20 x 24 that’s framed and “signed,…
The Miami Herald and teevee stations covered the news in the same human-interest tone they would a water-skiing squirrel. “Isn’t it just adorable that Little Miss Hialeah gets to play city council member with the big boys?” The Herald brushed aside questions of nepotism and conflicts of interest. Largely, they…
Poor Charlie Crist. Sure, he went out of the way to let it be known he wouldn’t mind being John McCain’s personal vice president, but he hasn’t done anything that indicates he really wants to stage his own presidential campaign in 2012. He must seem like a natural to the…
Obama’s fast rise had as much to do with his natural charisma and thoughtful, powerful speeches as the fact that he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. The former first lady a year ago seemed like a lock for the White House, but the anti-Clinton factions in her party needed a superstar challenger…
Babalu Blog and its ilk haven’t picked up on this, but we can already imagine their response: “That dirty socialist mainstream media is trying to pull one over on the Cubans by implying that this new attorney general isn’t a godless prick who jumped for joy at the though of…
Chuck Todd of MSNBC just broke news that Mayor Manny Diaz is being vetted for the cabinet positions as head of Housing and Urban Development or the Department of Transportation. The role at HUD is the most likely appointment. Riptide first speculatedlast week on Diaz’s chances for the HUD position,…
If you’ve been keeping up with blogdom for the past couple of days, you’ve probably come across the site How Obama Got Elected. The premise is basically “people who voted for Obama are stupid and misinformed, and it’s the media’s fault.” The guy behind it commissioned a Zogby poll to…
All three of Miami’s Republican representatives staved off Democratic challengers in the election, but the brand of Republicanism they represent is losing influence in their own party. While last week’s Republican Governors Association conference didn’t come to a clear conclusion on which ideological shifts the GOP should make, the Republicans…
Lieberman gets to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee and instead loses his position on a subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Maybe Bill Nelson changed a few votes with his phone campaign. Lieberman seemed to think so and publicly thanked him. Now let’s hope Nelson…
You can tell information is factually accurate when the author prefaces his little article with a boast about how one time he called a Democratic congresswoman a “poverty pimp” to her face. Oh snap. He then blathers on, “If her constituents somehow became affluent — in spite of her best…
