Senator Allan Bense?

Washington Post blogger and former Mouthpiece Theater cohost Chris Cillizza adds another name to the list of possible politicos Charlie Crist could appoint to Mel Martinez’s soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat: former state Rep. Allan Bense.Add that to a list that already includes Jim Smith, Gov. Bob Martinez, George Lemieux, Dan Webster,…

Connie Mack Won’t Take Senate Gig, But Clay Shaw Jr. Will

The Florida Political blogosphere has exploded with Mel Martinez Madness, and the main symptom is wildly wondering who will replace him. We already put in our two cents, but here’s the latest updates. Charlie Crist further confirms he won’t appoint himself, but will have someone picked out by the time the…

Who Will Charlie Crist Appoint to Replace Mel Martinez?

As long as I live, I don’t think Florida will see a more chaotic election cycle than 2010. Now, Mel Martinez has thrown in another twist by resigning early, leaving the decision to pick his appointment to Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running to replace Martinez himself. Let’s take a…

Mayor Manny’s Legacy Crumbles Before His Eyes

Manny Diaz wasn’t arrested for throwing a box of tea at his wife. He never showed up mad as hell, in his pajamas, at a constituent’s house at 5 a.m. He never lead the city’s budget into complete shambles. So, really, by those standards, he should leave office this fall as the best mayor…

Mel Martinez Will Resign

Woah, boy. Grumpy Sen. Mel Martinez has apparently had enough of this “serving the people” stuff. Several sources report he will resign, possibly as early as today. His term would expire in early 2011, and he had previously promised to serve the rest of it. But the race to replace…

United States Will Officially Have Its 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 Mel Martinez.  She’ll…

Former Obama Campaign Bigwig Parts Ways with Kendrick Meek

Kendrick Meek’s hiring of Steve Hildebrand to run his Senate campaign was supposed to be a message that his candidacy was to be taken seriously. Hildebrand was deputy national campaign director for a little campaign you might have heard of — Barack Obama’s run for president. Hildebrand spent the closing days in…

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Is Personal for This Miami Guy

Remember Keith Meinhold? Yeah, Riptide didn’t either — mostly because we were more into reading Goosebumps books back when the gay Navy officer made headlines in all the big newspapers. It was the summer of 1992. And even the paragon of media integrity The Rush Limbaugh Show followed his story.   It was…

Ray Sansom Doesn’t Give It Up That Easy

Perhaps if today was a different day this post would include such phrases as “gentle teasing,” “a pinky finger and some spit,” “ky jelly,” and “latex glove and a vat of crisco,” but we simply aren’t in the mood. However, in case you weren’t aware Ray Samson, the former Speaker of…

Florida Inching Ever Closer to Official Blue State Status

Look at this big, bright, blue collection of states we call America. Gallup released their latest report of political party affiliation and it is not looking good for the Republicans. In fact, according to Gallup there’s only 4 real red states left, with one leaning. Democrats meanwhile have huge voter…

Obama Is the Joker? Pinellas GOP Chairman Is a Fan

We simply do not get this Obama as the Joker poster that’s making the rounds. What does the joker have to do with Socialism? The Joker = anarchy, right? Which is pretty much the antithesis of socialism. It would pass for something resembling humor if it said “Why So Socialist?”…

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 Gathering. RedState.com being…

Volusia County GOP Censures Charlie Crist

Some of the county-level Repulican party organizations have been mumbling not-so-nice things about Gov. Charlie Crist, but yesterday the Volusia County GOP passed a motion censuring him. Among Crist’s crimes: Appointing Democrats to political positions, appointing so-called liberal judge James Perry to the state Supreme Court, supporting the stimulus bill, nationalization of property…

President Alex Sink?

One day, when we are all living under the Sink administration –no, no, not just in Florida, but in the entire nation– we can look back at this Washington Post blog post as the first public utterance of a possible Alex Sink presidential run. Chris Cillizza isn’t saying Sink will be President, or…

Did Marco Rubio Rip-off Hulu.com?

Seems that Marco Rubio’s fledgling senate campaign has another group of detractors? The graphic design community. Last night we were browsing You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice, a blog dedicated to pointing out blatant design rip-offs. Six pages in we saw the name “Marco Rubio,” and seriously thought our weird obsession with…

Miami City Commission Urges Obama To Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

In an unanimous vote yesterday, the City of Miami Comission passed a resolution condemning the military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Introduced by Joe Sanchez, the resolution cited the dismissal of translators, inability to meet recruiting levels, and the blatant discrimination. The measure even went as far as to call some of…

Marco Rubio Without a Campaign Manager

Marco Rubio’s valiant fight to reclaim the GOP for people who refresh the Free Republic website all day and attend tea parties with “Obama Is a Socialist” signs isn’t going so well financialy. So much so he’s been forced to drop his campaign manager, Brian Seitchik, and top fundraiser, Ann…

Police Chief Timoney Speaks Up About Henry Gates Controversy

Miami Police Chief John Timoney was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today weighing in on the Henry Gates dispute. If you’re not up to speed on the latest media-made controversy, Henry “Skip” Gates is a highly respected Harvard professor. Upon returning from a recent trip, he couldn’t get into his own…