Daily Loaf

Equality Florida, the state’s leading LGBT political group, is endorsing Dan Gelber in his race against Dave Aronberg for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General.

The two candidates, who engaged in a relatively high mind debate 9 days ago at the Democratic Party’s state conference in Lake Buena Vista, are campaigning hard for endorsements and financial support 10 months out before next year’s primary.

In a press release, Stratton Pollitzer, Equality Florida’s Action PAC Chair says:

Our community has two friends in the Democratic Primary race for Attorney General, however Dan Gelber stands apart as someone who has used his political capital to truly lead on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

The group lauds his record of co-sponsoring legislation to make it illegal to fire employees or deny someone housing solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as his ” outspoken opponent of Florida’s shameful ban on gay and lesbian adoption.”

Gelber  said“I am proud to receive the endorsement of Equality Florida. Standing up for civil rights and for human rights is the foundation of our country and our democracy. I have worked with Equality Florida and all the human rights organizations throughout Florida, and as Attorney General I will continue to advance the cause of civil rights in our state.”

Hillsborough County community activist Marcella O’Steen and her husband have some thoughts on County Administrator Pat Bean and County Attorney Renee Lee’s 1% percent raises they were able to provide for themselves in 2007.

Commissioner Mark Sharp has said he will make a motion for an outside probe  at tomorrow’s County Commission meeting. Sharpe has suggested that the Hillsborough County Clerk of Circuit Court’s office could investigate, but will defer to the wishes of his colleagues at tomorrow’s meeting.

Support for a government run public health care option is rising in the U.S.  As activists prepare to protest in front of Senator Bill Nelson’s office today, perhaps the new numbers will inspire him and others to get more behind the idea?

One prominent Florida Democrat has no opinion about a public option,

and,  with just two weeks to go before election day in St. Petersburg, former police chief Goliath Davis weighs in on the recent controversial comments on race made by mayoral candidate Kathleen Ford.

Also in national news, the Obama Administration announced yesterday what they said they were going to do when they came into office – that is, stop prosecuting sanctioned marijuana suppliers or the patients who purchase medicinal pot.

Download the report

Attorney General Eric Holder had said his Justice Department would no longer go after those dispensaries when he took office, but his office did actually continue to do so for awhile.

And in the story I quote from, there’s this little caveat:

And while the policy memo describes a change in priorities away from prosecuting medical marijuana cases, it does not rule out the possibility that the federal government could still prosecute someone whose activities are allowed under state law.

Also, President Obama may be in Tampa next Tuesday.  We’ll report once we have the details.

And, swine flu shots will begin being administered in Hillsborough County schools today.  The School Board issue a press release this morning with results from a survey of parents on whether they will have their kid get inoculated.

The results? 55% said yes, 24% said no, and 21 percent were undecided.  Over 25,000 people responded.

Murray has health insurance though her job now, but she said she can easily recall a time when she did not.

“It was awful.”

She gave birth to her first child and was stuck with a hospital bill for more than $1000. It was money she did not have. The hospital visit put her into debt and she spent years paying it off.

Murray said her story is all too familiar in her community. Most of the families are uninsured, many do not qualify for Medicaid and others are unaware of the healthcare that is available to them. And for those who are aware of the different healthcare options, they do not further seek them out “because they’ve been turned away in the past.”

High Point resident, Kaisha Alimar, volunteers at the YMCA there. She said she sees on a daily basis how improper healthcare seems to be a problem, particularly for the Latinos in her community who, “ are hesitant to search for healthcare because of language barriers or not being citizens.”

The Fall Health Awareness Festival, Alimar said, hoped to change some of that. It was held last Saturday, at the High Point YMCA. It offered free health screenings, including HIV tests, glucose monitors and blood pressure tests.

Josh Armstrong, from the Pinellas County Health Department, conducted some of the tests. He said “ the paperwork can be confusing and intimidating at times,“ and he was there to close the gap between minorities and healthcare.

At the health fair, Armstrong said he experienced the struggle  that language barriers create. He gave a blood sugar test to a Latino woman. He said he had to have “ a translator… and be extra sensitive to make sure he understood her healthcare situation.”

The YMCA’s George Garcia said the first time event was thrown to not only connect low income families to healthcare, but to honor National Latino Aids Awareness Day that was on October 15.

The Latino Commission on Aids (LCOA) reports that while Latinos make up only 13 percent of the population nationally, they make up 18 percent of new aids cases each years. And it is worse for Latino men than women who create the majority of the cases at 76 percent. Latino women, however, are still at a disadvantage. They are four times more likely than white women to contract the disease.

Pinellas County Health Department’s Lynn Swain was at the event encouraging HIV testing and handing out condoms, information packets, and warm words of encouragement. She said she wants to make Latinos “aware of the high risks they face.”

The best thing Latinos and all minorities can do, Swain said, is get tested for HIV. Most don’t and Swain said the reason for this is “fear of knowing.”

Yet, Swain said she wants Latinos to know there is hope. Lots of hope. “Ten years ago when awareness was being raised among the black community, people did not want to get tested because they did not want to know. The perception was ’If I have it, I’m gonna die,’ but over the last 15 years a lot has changed in treatment. Now a person can live a long time if they do certain things…up to 40 or 50 years longer.”

Dante Ross is also from the Pinellas County Health Department. He was there to not only warn Hispanics about HIV, but Hepatitis.

Hepatitis, Ross said, is another disease that affects not only Latinos, but a lot of minorities. It can be contracted through contact with infected person’s blood or body fluid.

There are not many symptoms for Hepatitis A, B or C, which Ross said creates a problem. Most minorities won’t get tested or seek medical help “ unless they have to.”

The best way to prevent Hepatitis A or B is to get a vaccination, Ross said. There is no vaccination for HCV, but there is treatment for the different types of Hepatitis.

After the hundreds of people moved through the YMCA, visiting the different information tables, by the end of that day, Ross said he calls the event, “ a success.” He was able to “target the population” he wanted and get healthcare knowledge to those who have been disconnected for so long.

Ebony Murray agrees. Yet, she said that beyond the help that was given to families on Saturday, it is important “for low income people to get out to similar events that are held through out the year at the YMCA.”

When reporters attack! Watch as St. Petersburg Times reporter Christina Silva nails St.Pete City Council Chair Jeff Danner on his lies about allowing peace groups to have input in the Baywalk sidewalk issue.

Thank God there are still a few reporters in this world that will stand up to the government when our representatives are so obviously fixing the facts and situations just prior to stealing another Constitutional right from the people.

Several groups were allowed to speak at the 10 a.m. meeting in St.Pete City Hall, both referred to as the (COW) Committee of the Whole and also as a workshop session. These groups did not include any of the demonstrators like St.Pete for Peace who have been using the sidewalk to exercise their 1st Amendment rights for many years. The City Council did allow members of the Chamber of Commerce to speak, most likely because the Chamber has been in support of removing free speech from the sidewalk in question, in a misguided belief that it is the 1st Amendment that has caused the financial collapse of the shopping center, and not the downturn in the economy or bad management.

It seems rather clear that Chairman Danner did not truly wish to have any advocates of free speech involved in the discussion of the sidewalk vacation or any alternatives. It is interesting that the only Council member who spoke about the 1st Amendment was Wengay Newton, who not only read his oath to the Constitution aloud at the previous meeting, but also voted consistently against giving the sidewalk away from the people to the corporations that own BayWalk. Leslie Curran switched her vote back and forth, and spoke favorably about the protesters at the previous meeting. But at the last meeting she shook her head in strong approval when Chairman Danner said, “Do not mistake me for being on the side of the protesters,” “I think what they were doing was deplorable.” Just before they voted against vacating the sidewalk.

So it would seem that these two flip-floppers, Danner and Curran, were: first for it, then at one point were against the vacation, perhaps because they are up for re-election and opposed by candidates who support the US Constitution. And perhaps they thought the vacation of the sidewalk was a “done deal” like Council Member Kennedy had said, in which case they thought they could cast a populist vote safely and without repercussion. (This tactic was undertaken by Tarpon Springs City Commissioner Peter Nehr, during the all-night WalMart hearing — he voted safely against WalMart, because he knew the votes were there for it to pass anyway. When he ran for State House, WalMart gave him the maximum contribution. They obviously knew where his true heart lay.)

But it would appear that Danner and Curran didn’t know there’d be one vote too many, cast by wildcard Herb Polson, and a tie caused the motion to fail (someone was not following the playbook). The following week it was Herb Polson asking for a re-vote on the issue, to now undo what he had done. And then when the City got its Do-Over, something had changed. Council Member Karl Nurse decided to show some photos from previous protests (keep in mind that the pictures he showed ironically were from one of the other times the City broke the law in regards to this sidewalk, when they used barricades to create illegal “free speech zones,” which the City eventually had to remove). Now even Danner and Curran were terrified by the thought that they might be tainted by the same tie-dyed belief in the Constitution that Newton was into. So they went above and beyond to convince the Chamber of Commerce and other moneybags in the room that they were only opposed to the corporate welfare gifting of the sidewalk, because other smaller less deserving companies might want a similar handout once the precedent was set. What a show. And the smiles upon Danner’s and Curran’s faces told the tale. They had just voted against the vacation, and their vote failed. But it sure seemed like they got what they wanted, by their expressions, when the thing passed. Like I said, what a show.

I have re-read the City Charter for St.Pete, begged my friends for research help and searched the City website and Google, to get to the bottom of their Sunshine Law violations. The City of St. Petersburg does not even come close to government in the Sunshine. They are Partly Cloudy at best. The trouble is proving that they have violated the actual letter of the law and not just the spirit of it.

St. Pete allows backdoor meetings between the Mayor and developers and singled out Council Members. This is not allowed in my home city of Tarpon Springs (There is a loophole in the law that might allow them to get away with this one, until we challenge it). St. Pete also has some meetings where they do not allow public comment. This again is not the case in Tarpon Springs. We can comment on any agenda item, including the ever elusive consent agenda. We also have public comment on all of our City meetings including our workshop sessions. Oh yes, and our meetings start with public comment, for items that will not be on the agenda. St. Pete only allows public comment at the end of the meeting, at which no one knows what time that will be. This is an obvious tactic used to discourage those who would speak. And to further the abuse of the 1st Amendment, I’m told that they ban speakers from speaking more than once a month. Yes, it would appear that St. Petersburg has a proud tradition of discouraging free speech, on sidewalks and in City Hall.

So just what can be done about this? On my end, I will continue to do research. I remember a Florida House Bill, that was proposed to mandate public comment at the beginning of City and County Meetings throughout the State, as well as mandated comment on all agenda items. Help me find this Bill. Did it pass? Who sponsored it? Also we need to hound the ACLU to file suit against St. Pete to protect the Constitution. File pro se lawsuits of your own. Write letters to the Attorney General of the State of Florida and ask for his legal opinion in writing. Do your own research, and find out exactly what the rules are and make them public. Actively campaign against the incumbents on the St. Pete Council, and find candidates you can help to replace them. Hurry, time is running out!

There are news stations around the state and the country who reported the fight in City Hall, and you have no doubt seen it more than once yourselves. Just think, if these same stations had shown the video above with Silva and Danner. That’s where the real fight was. And better still; just think if all of these same news reporters would have acted like Christina Silva did that day. The City Council would have let the people be heard. And you can bet, the Council would have been afraid to violate our Constitution, and the vote would have gone the other way.

The Miami Herald’s Beth Reinhard reports today in a story entitled, “State CFO Sink painted as silent on tough issues” about the CFO’s reluctance to disclose how much campaign contributions she’s received from the political action group Emily’s List, which supports candidates who believe in abortion rights.

That’s somewhat interesting, but only in the respect that it comes on top of Sink’s refusal to say anything about a government run public health option, which as I have reported in another posting today, has strong support amongst the American public, at least according to a new survey.

But some Democrats don’t support a public option, and virtually every Republican is against it, including Sink’s potential GOP opponent in next year’s gubernatorial race, Attorney General Bill McCollum.

But what’s frustrating (though not to any state Democrat that I talk to, because they all are in blind support of a candidate  that they see as finally breaking through what wil have been 12 years of Republican rule) is that Sink has yet to offer any comments on the issue.

To be fair (as Reinhard reports), McCollum is taking a no comment stance on a proposed constitutional amendment that would define a fetus as a person – even though he co-sponsored such a proposal while he served in Washington.

Many of those present earlier this month in Lake Buena Vista where state Democrats convened for their annual conference had no problems in letting Bill Nelson know that he should support a public option.  And with no serious challengers in the Democratic race for the nomination, CFO Sink is probably not being hurt by not commenting.  But shouldn’t her supporters want to know where she stands on the issue?

Meanwhile, a potential threat to both Sink and McCollum’s dreams of living in the Governor’s mansion is Lakeland GOP  state Senator Paula Dockery, who tells the St. Petersburg Times that she is ‘leaning very heavily’ towards entering the GOP Primary for Governor.  I know this news excites some state Republicans who are not convinced that McCollum can beat Sink.  Maybe I’m the only guy who thinks this, but I also believe Dockery would be a legitimate challenge to Sink.  Again, in conversations with state Democrats earlier this month, very few if any that I asked said they worried too much about the Lakeland legislator.

But It seems to me that the way they’ve been rolled in state politics over the past decade, the last thing state Dems should be is overconfident about anything.

Yesterday in St. Petersburg, former mayoral candidate Deveron Gibbons led a group reported to be around 30 who held a news conference in front of City Hall, denouncing Kathleen Ford’s comments last week on a radio program as being racially insensitive.

The interview (done with Bubba the Love Sponge) became news on Saturday after it was discovered that Ford quoted Princeton Professor Cornel West’s line about “HNIC”(standing for “Head Negro in Charge”) when referring to deputy mayor and former police chief Goliath Davis.

Davis was critical of Ford in that Saturday article, and extends his thoughts on the manner this morning in an op-ed published in today’s Times.

Entitled, “Don’t return to divisiveness, strife” Davis says (in case anybody wasn’t certain) that the term is derogatory, and

Individuals I’ve encountered since Ford’s remark was reported by the Times on Saturday find it inconceivable that the local St. Petersburg NAACP president or anyone else could logically conclude that Ford was not referring to me as an HNIC given the immediate juxtaposition of her response to the preceding comments by the radio host describing his opinion of me. Since Ford says she is the “detail” candidate and made specific references to Princeton University professor Cornel West and his theory, her assertion that she did not know the meaning or connotation of the term is also suspect.

Davis goes on to write that he will not call Ford racist, but does question her judgment, as has Bill Foster in the wake of the controversy.

This is a big development, because those are watching this race closely believe the black vote could be the deciding factor in it.  Sunday’s Times/Bay News poll indicates that close to a quarter of the population is undecided going into the election in two weeks, and this is not positive coverage for Ford.

FCAN (the Florida Consumer Action Network) along with students from USF and UT will be holding a news conference this afternoon in front of Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s downtown district office, calling on him to support health care reform.  It’s part of a nationwide call out today targeting members of Congress, and it comes the same day that a new poll shows that by a 57 %to 40% margin, the American public says they want a government run health care option in any legislation coming from Congress.

What does this mean?  It should mean that centrist Democratic Senators (like Nelson who have been somewhat all over the map on supporting a public option) now might have a little more political cover to support the plan.

For those Americans who believe that health care reform without a public option is no real reform at all, it’s critical for those indecisive Senators to embrace at least some form of a public option, whether it means a ‘trigger’ as the all powerful Olympia Snowe, Republican from Maine, has suggested, or allowing states to opt in or out (as Delaware’s Tom Carper has suggested).  But the magic number for Harry Reid has always been about getting to 60 votes – this poll can’t hurt that cause.

(Interestingly enough, the survey asked if a public plan were run by the states  and available ONLY to those who lack affordable private options, support jumps to 76 percent, with a majority of Republicans also in support).

I mention Senate Democrats, because it’s clear that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many if not most House Democrats (excluding the Blue Dogs) are strongly in support of a public option as well.  The House will most certainly pass a bill with a public option, but of course it must be reconciled with the Senate’s version before a final bill can be passed and moved to President Obama’s desk.  This is clearly good news for those who have been clamoring for some form of a public option to be in the final legislation.

At noon today, former St. Pete mayoral candidate and now Bill Foster supporter Deveron Gibbons led a group of religious leaders and others to denounce Kathleen Ford for her now infamous “HNIC”crack on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio program last week.

Ford quoted Princeton Professor Cornel West in the interview when discussing Goliath Davis, the former police chief of St. Pete and currently a deputy mayor in the Rick Baker administration.

This follows an article written last month that had put Ford back on her heels,  where she was forced  to refute charges that she was racist, in a piece that also referenced her battles with Davis when she was on the Council a decade ago.

As I wrote in an earlier blog post today, I attended the debate in St. Pete’s Midtown section on Saturday morning, when the story was originally reported in the Times.

According to one of the organizers, Gypsy Gallardo, a straw poll taken after the event found that of the 62 people in attendance,  the vote was tied at 40% apiece between the two candidates.  The event, which featured a short opening and closing statement but otherwise consisted of questions from the overwhelmingly black audience, did not feature a single question asked about the “HNIC” remark.  Nor  did anybody at the event have anything to say about it afterwards.  Now, having said that, the story may now be gaining more resonance with today’s news conference, but at least among Ford’s black supporters on Saturday,there was no blowback.

Earlier today I spoke with the Reverend Charles McKenzie, who emphasized that he was not speaking in his role with the St. Pete chapter of the NAACP (where he serves as vice president), but in his position with Operation Push/Rainbow Coalition.

A Ford supporter, he said, “I think we have to be careful and investigate closely the real substance here.  I believe there are forces that are designed to perhaps prejudice a candidate.”

With new poll numbers showing Ford with a narrow lead, Pinellas County Democratic Excecutive Committee Chairman Ramsey McLaughan sent out an email to his membership yesterday that included this:

Look for Foster to try to create a division within the African American community. Despite the fact that Ford was on the Obama/Biden legal team trying to protect a fair elections and Bill Foster and many of his supporters were opposing the President, many African Americans are still undecided in the race for mayor.

Today’s news conference can’t be considered a good thing for the Ford forces, but it also illustrates how careful both candidates have to be in their public pronouncements, with their critics prepared to pounce on anything remotely controversial.

The St. Petersburg Mayor’s race just got a whole lot more interesting.

The Obama Administration is not dropping its jihad against Fox News.

And some in the media are spreading the narrative that Barack Obama simply isn’t tough enough – but Obama’s radio address on Saturday threatening to revoke the health care industry’s anti trust exemption is a pretty serious threat.

Download the report here.

Despite the official imprimatur of the St. Petersburg Times (who endorsed Bill Foster yesterday), a new poll commissioned by the Times and Bay News 9 shows Kathleen Ford leading Bill Foster, 39% to 34%, 16 days before the election.

The poll was based on interviews with over 600 people and was taken last week.  From the story:

Ford, a Democrat who would become the city’s first female strong mayor, fared better among white residents, those over 55 years of age, Democrats, independents and women.

Foster, a Republican, scored higher with black residents and Republicans.

The candidates, both lawyers and former City Council members, fared equally among males and voters 54 and younger.

Ford, 52, has ruffled feathers with her frequent criticisms of City Hall and plain speak.

Her supporters overwhelmingly said they valued her knowledge of the issues and policy ideas. Fifteen percent cited a dislike for Foster as the most important reason they were supporting Ford.

It’s still a long way away, but this news has to be somewhat of a shock to the St. Pete establishment, which is firmly behind Foster.

The story appeared on the same day that the paper endorsed Foster.

Declaring “on substance and style” that he’s their man, the editorial makes their case for him on the issues, but really takes off on Kathleen Ford when it comes to style.

The paper says Ford pits neighborhoods against each other, has been reckless in some of her public comments, and has been “heavy-handed”‘ in commenting on Foster’s support for Creationism.

But the kicker is in the conclusion:

Ford creates confrontations and attacks City Hall as though she is more intent on avenging her last election loss than in setting a course for a brighter future.

Meanwhile, though it was strictly anecdotal and in a group of mostly Ford supporters, I found no backlash to Ford after the Times story on Saturday, which quoted her as making a comment on Bubba The Love Sponge’s radio show last week on the “HNIC” theory on black leadership (referred to as “Head Negro in Charge,” or perhaps another N word to be inserted for Negro).

Ford made the comment when asked by Bubba about Goliath Davis,  the former police chief and current deputy mayor.  Ford has said she was not referring to Davis, but about the idea of a designated leader for the black community (and said she was quoting noted African-American scholar Cornel West).

The two candidates were in midtown Saturday morning for a debate at the Royal Theatre, speaking to an audience made up almost exclusively of black voters.  From interviews I conducted afterwards (and also based on crowd reactions) it seemed that most of the 50+ people in attendance in the theater were Ford supporters, and the Times story seemed to carry little traction, at least with this group.

But it wasn’t a very smart statement.  At least according to the above listed poll, Foster is doing better with the black community than Ford.  But again, based on what I saw and heard on Saturday, it seems that bloc is still up for grabs.

Meanwhile today the Times announced their choices for City Council.  To no surprise they like Jim Kennedy in District 2, Leslie Curran in District 4, Steve Kornell in District 5, Karl Nurse in District 6 and Jeff Danner over Leonard Schmiege, who the Times calls “passionate but on the wrong side of important issues.”

On  ABC’s This Week program,  the president’s alleged lack of toughness was the first topic that George Stephanopoulos brought up in his sitdown with White House advisor David Axelrod.

Showing the cover of the current National Journal as well as a skit that aired on Saturday Night Live, Stephanopoulous asked whether it’s a fair question on the twin issues of the day (Afghanistan, where some on the right have said he is “dithering” on deciding on the strategy and troop strength there) and on health care (is he really for a public option?  And if he is, why isn’t he fighting for it)?

Axelrod sidestepped the question, but maybe the president is getting the message.   In his Saturday radio/YouTube address, Obama went off in unusually strong terms (video after the jump) against the insurance industry, accusing it of using “deceptive and dishonest ads,” and actually threatened to rid the industry of its exemption from federal antitrust laws. Read the rest of this entry »

The Obama White House again dissed Fox News on Sunday, trotting out administrative spokespeople for all of the public affairs programs that dominate network news programming — with the noted exception of Fox News Sunday.

This has become a story unto itself, particularly after White House Communications Advisor Anita Dunn went on CNN last week to declare that the administration considers Rupert Murdoch’s network to be a “wing of the Republican Party.”

White House advisors Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod echoed those comments on their own appearances on the shows they did appear on yesterday.

Back on FNS, host Chris Wallace trotted out the network’s Karl Rove (above) to debate with former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe on the administration’s escalating battle with Fox. (Video after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

St. Pete City Council candidate Leonard Schmiege has found an ingenious way of getting some free publicity for his campaign to oust incumbent Jeff Dannner.

Schmiege, an activist who first became known in the city for his work on voting issues earlier this decade, was at yesterday’s City Council meeting when emotions burst out after the Council reversed themselves and voted to allow for the vacating of the public sidewalk in front of the BayWalk shopping center.

Overnight, Schmiege posted on YouTube and sent out to local media organizations a 5-minute video recording of the fracus between  76-year-old Frederick Dudley, the brother of Councilman Rick Dudley, and 61-year-old Ronald Deaton.

Just seconds into the video a green balloon pops up at the top of the screen entitled, “Filmed by Elect Schmiege, click here to see my campaign ad.”

The candidate told CL today that he was able to embed the balloon with a new YouTube feature called Annotations.   He said he spent several hours working on the video Thursday night, but expresses regret that the tool does not allow the user to link to another website.

When asked his thoughts about the Council’s reversal (or specifically, Herb Polson’s),  he said he was disappointed, but expressed more anger at his campaign opponent, Jeff Danner, for his conduct during the workshop that was held for hours before the Council’s vote on Thursday.

“They just put on a dog and pony show,” he said, referring to the fact that representatives from the city’s police, fire and transportation departments, as well as representatives from BayWalk and Muvico Theatres, were given time to speak, but nobody from the activist community was given time before the committee.

The Reverend Bruce Wright also weighed in with his thoughts today.  Wright — last seen exiting Council Chambers yesterday in disgust, saying, “You’re so full of shit it’s ridiculous” — was hardly in a better mood today.

“I’m of the opinion BayWalk is already on the road to its own demise,” he said.

Wright blasted Councilman Polson, who reversed his vote, saying “he was trying to cover his ass.”

Wright will be joining up with others at tonight’s protest at BayWalk.  He said this morning that he had already received calls from people telling him he shouldn’t go out on the sidewalk — not tonight, anyhow.

CL has contacted Councilman Polson to try to learn more on why he switched his vote.

Some of the activists are in a vengeful mood.  St. Pete for Peace member Chris Ernesto told WTSP television that some members may now want to protest in front of Council members’ homes.

We’ve discussed Rush Limbaugh possibly buying a piece of the St. Louis Rams for much of this week, so now that El Rushbo has been kicked to the curb by his would-be financial partner, Dave Checketts, time for some reality.

The Wall Street Journal blasts the pressure brought on by progressive groups (and National Football League Players Association head DeMaurice Smith) that led the man who boasts that his talents “are on loan from God” to be rejected by the NFL establishment in recent days.

Smith did send out an e-mail earlier this week to his membership asking them to speak out against a potential Limbaugh ownership bid.  The Journal believes (as does Rush, as he said on his radio program  yesterday) that with new contract negotiations beginning between the players and the owners, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “punted’ because of fears of alienating the NFLPA.

Who knows what motivated Goodell to speak out against Limbaugh’s controversial statements in 2003 while working for ESPN?  Perhaps common sense? Good business acumen?  The fact is, even Rush lovers must realize that the man alienates a good third of the public.  How is that beneficial to the NFL?

The Journal points to MSNBC’s highly partisan political commentator, Keith Olbermann, working on NBC’s Sunday night telecasts, as a case of hypocrisy in action.

But in fact Olbermann’s role is akin to what Rush’s with ESPN, a well-known news man who loves sports doing his sports commentary.  I know Olbermann has done his “Worst Person in the World” bit on the football pre-game show, but I’ve essentially seem him stick to scores and highlights, not making racial pronouncements à la Limbaugh  back in ‘03, which led ESPN to give him the boot.

Most amusing has been the pity party that the right wing has been conducting in recent days, mourning the assault on Limbaugh in the media. Read the rest of this entry »

The Florida Public Service Commission will be deciding today whether or not to approve rate increases for proposed new nuclear reactors that Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light have proposed.

One leading environmental organization, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, released a statement on Wednesday calling for the PSC to reject the rate hikes:

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) should not vote Friday to rubber stamp staff recommendations that would impose a $200 million front-end bite on ratepayers before a single kilowatt of power is produced by new nuclear reactors, particularly since the economic slowdown has already eliminated the need for four  nuclear reactors on the scale that both Progress and FPL are proposing, according to statements made today by experts during a news conference.

Speaking of the PSC, that agency yesterday recommended that public utilities in the state not be required to give customers new incentives for saving and reducing  their energy usage.

According to (again) the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy:

The staff recommendation is to help reduce energy use in Florida by 1.2% over 10 years. At least 25 states (see below) have recently adopted more aggressive goals: five, ten, and even twenty times more aggressive than the staff of the Florida Public Service Commission feel are in, well, someone in Florida’s interests.

The PSC’s recommendations come despite Governor Charlie Crist’s rhetoric that he wants a consumer friendly PSC.  So much for the power of the bully pulpit.

Speaking of the Guv, a new poll shows him (for once) losing some luster in popularity in the Sunshine State.

An InsiderAdvantage poll has his popularity now below 50% – however, a new Chamber of Commerce survey stays with the status quo, showing him with a 62% approval ranking.  I look forward to the next Quinnipiac poll on Charlie’s popularity, and the latest on the Crist-Rubio face off in the GOP Senate Primary.

Republican blogger, daughter of John McCain, and overall minx Meghan McCain, almost pulled a Miley Cyrus this week after a racy photo on her Twitter account sparked outrage from conservatives.  With all the problems Americans face these days, why are we worried about a little cleavage?

Full “racy” shot after the break

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. Read the rest of this entry »

A fight broke out at St. Petersburg’s city hall after a re-vote on the controversial Baywalk sidewalk privatization issue.

Today the council revoted with a 5-3 vote for the sidewalk, a popular place for protesters and teens to gather, to be made private so that people may not loiter there.  Herb Polson was the Councilmember who switched his vote from 2 weeks ago, when the Council deadlocked at 4-4.

After the vote was taken, two men started a brawl. According to Bay News 9 both men were arrested. They reported that one man was the brother of council member Bill Dudley.

Members of the council who voted for the privatization said that to not do so would basically kill BayWalk, along with the millions of dollars the city has invested in the complex.

Mayor Baker said that the survival of the complex would be remote if the sidewalk was not vacated because new business owners would not move in, and with only 14 percent capacity now, Muvico would struggle to stay open.

What many say they really want is a third option, which is seemingly impossible for everyone to either come up with or agree upon.

Those against privatizing the sidewalk that is in front of the main entrance to Baywalk say that it is unconstitutional, violating first amendment rights to free speech and assembly.

Those for the vacation say that it is vital to business and commerce that cusomers can visit Baywalk without having to be hassled by protesters and unruly teenagers.

Several news agencies are reporting that a ‘tentative plan’ to end the months long political crises in Honduras could be ending soon as as negotiators are again meeting to discuss whether President Manuel Zelaya, toppled in a June coup, should be returned to power.

Zelaya was forced into exile by soldiers in late June but he crept back into Honduras last month and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the capital to avoid arrest.

The coup has not worked out for Honduras.  Much of the world’s nations have demanded that Zelaya be re-instated back into power, including the U.S.

But others, such as South Carolina GOP Senator Jim DeMint (he of “health care could be Obama’s Waterloo” fame), think the coup was necessary.

Sorting it all out for you this Saturday night will be Dr. Harry Vanden, a Professor of Political Science and International Studies at USF.  He recently co-edited a special issue of the journal Latin American perspectives on social movements and also has published Latin American Social Movements in the Twenty-First Century.

The event takes place on Saturday, October 24th, at  7PM in the conference room at the studios of WMNF Radio, 1210 E. MLK Jr. Blvd. in Tampa. For additional information, contact Mauricio at 727-741-8489.

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting today that the Crist Administration is contemplating legislation that would make the sunshine state the first in the country to ban plastic and paper bags.

The proposal comes from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.  According to the Sentinel, the proposal:

targets the disposable bags provided by a wide variety of businesses, from supermarkets to fast-food restaurants, convenience stores to dry cleaners.

Items exempt from the proposed ban would include bags for produce and sub sandwiches — carryout containers, tissue, bubble plastic used to cushion delicate items, and newspaper bags.

Two years ago, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors banned the use of plastic bags.  That came after two years of debate, so environmentalists shouldn’t start cheering just yet.  But then again, they might.  The Governor was noted as one of the strongest Republican Governors in the country when it came to the environment, but suddenly has reversed course as Marco Rubio has been coming strong at him from his right flank.

The Rubio campaign doesn’t think much of the idea.  In a statement, spokesman Alex Burgos said,”Floridians are taxed enough already without having to worry about the new grocery bag taxes proposed by the Crist Administration.  At a time when Florida’s families are already squeezed by high unemployment and new Crist taxes and fees, the last thing they need is another tax.  Governor Crist should resist the temptation to once again break his no tax promise and bag this tax before it hits checkout lanes everywhere.”

Several stories in the news today – such as yesterday’s Mayoral Debate in St. Pete

St. Pete’s City Council again brings up BayWalk

And  there’s a protest at Bill Nelson’s office today on health care – also President Obama is  not popular in parts of New Orleans and San Francisco, which he visits today.

Download the report here.

Today at high noon, MoveOn.org is sponsoring a rally in Tampa, to be held in front of Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s Florida Avenue District office.

At the Florida Democratic Party State Conference last weekend, Nelson reportedly at times had to pause during his address to the delegates, with people yelling “public option” at several times during his speech.  What he didn’t say at that speech was that in fact, he did vote last week in support of a potential “level playing field” public option amendment introduced by New York’s Charles Schumer that went down to defeat in the Senate Finance Committee.

Now, with 5 different health care bills passed out of Congress (2 in the Senate, 3 in the House) the big question is, how do they get reconciled, and what about a public option?

Informed speculation has it that Maine Republican Olympia Snowe’s idea of a trigger that would allow for the creation of a public option is looked at favorably by the White House.  But several House Democrats (like cult hero Alan Grayson) have been vocal in recent days as asking “Who made Olympia Snowe in charge of health care?”

Meanwhile, President Obama hits the road today, in U.S. cities where you’d think he’s pretty popular.  And he is, but…

The President travels to New Orleans today.

But only for a few hours.

The NY Times resports:

Representative Steve Scalise, a Republican from southeastern Louisiana, held a news conference in which he called Mr. Obama’s visit a “drive-through daiquiri summit.” Representative Gene Taylor, Democrat of Mississippi, wrote a critical five-page letter to the president. Mississippi editorial writers are not pleased either.

“The theater’s all wrong,” said Lawrence N. Powell, a professor of history at Tulane who describes himself as an otherwise strong supporter of the president. “I know he’s got a lot going on, but I think this needed to be approached differently. You can’t multitask a world-historical tragedy.”

The President then flies out for the time during his Presidency to the great liberal bastion that is San Francisco.  However, protesters want a piece of him there.  Conservatives, and gay rights activists.

It’s not unusual for a Democratic President to get jeered in the City by the Bay.  In 1996, I covered a protest when Bill Clinton appeared at a fundraiser at Senator Diane Feinstein’s office – that was shortly after he signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which is still the law of the land.  See last week’s CL story on the gay march in Washington last weekend on why parts of the LGBT community aren’t happy with Obama.

If it’s Thursday, it must be time for another Bill Foster/Kathleen Ford debate.

That takes place today at the Business and Professional Women’s Candidates Forum.

Yesterday, the two tangled at the apex of the St. Pete political establishment, the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club at the St. Pete Yacht Club.    The candidates seem to be increasingly getting on each others nerves, which could be fun to watch in the waning weeks of the race to replace Rick Baker.

Maybe it’s because I’ve only seen the past couple of debates, but Foster is obviously growing weary of the references to dinosaurs and his Creationist beliefs.  Yesterday he said, “The fact that I believe in the Bible, I just can’t believe it’s now seen as a character flaw”.  That was his response to a question that a conspiracy minded attendee (or Ford fan) might believe was almost planted: That is, a woman who after hearing the former Councilman’s opening remarks, commented, “Why are people so afraid of you?”

As most observers know, the establishment in St. Pete is solidly behind Bill Foster.  Last month the current and several former Mayors and City Council members came out in to hold a big endorsement rally for him.  On Wednesday, Ford struggled to explain why even a fellow Democrat and colleague, Rene Flowers, is also supporting her opponent.

(It should be noted that the Pinellas Democratic Executive Committee is strong for Ford, and on Wednesday she received the backing of the regional AFL-CIO)

Tiger Bay traditionally gives out an award at the end of his meeting to the best questioner of the day.  Yesterday, it was distributed to a young man who asked Ford what was the meaning behind the toy dinosaurs being handed out at Monday night’s forum.    Again, another reference to the support of Intelligent Design in the schools.  Ford paused for a moment before responding that she has a sense of humor.

But she then seriously responded, saying that she respected Bill Foster’s religious beliefs, as well as all religious faiths.   But added, “But when we are talking about the future of St. Petersburg, we have to be very careful.”  It seems like these exchanges will continue.  It appears to be a vulnerability for Foster, yet Ford must be careful not to be appear anti-religious.

Ford also said in responding that she was a scientist, creating a bit of a buzz in the room that Foster exploited by saying, “I thought she was a nurse.  Now she’s a scientist. “  He added that he was insulted and wouldn’t apologize for his faith.

Ford later came back at Foster, saying in fact, she is a scientist.  So deal with it, Mr. Foster.

When it came to talkin’ baseball, Foster sounded more like Ford in saying he’s against corporate welfare.  Yet he mocked Ford on Monday night for using the phrase “Field of Schemes” when talking about sports teams holding up communities to build public stadiums, when in fact she was referencing a website devoted to such issues.

Although there has been much discussion in Pinellas County about the early voting and how that can affect campaigns, at Tiger Bay on Wednesday it seemed like the majority of those asked by Ford indicated by raising their hand that they are waiting to vote on Election Day, November 3rd.

It was only two weeks ago that the St. Petersburg City Council stunned many in St. Pete by refusing to grant permission to the owners of the BayWalk shopping center complex to vacate the public sidewalk in front of the complex.

Those owners had insisted that they could bring back retailers to the compex if they could be insured that there would be no protests on the sidewalk.

Critics called it blatantly anti free speech, and 4 Council members agreed.

The establishment in St. Pete, embodied by the editorial page of the St. Petersburg Times, disagreed, blasting the Gang of Four in an over the top editorial penned by the Editor of Editorials, Tim Nickens.

But last week Herb Polson reintroduced the measure, and today, sans public comment, the Council will do it all over again – that is, debate the pros and cons.

Why they are is not exactly certain.  So the only question is: Will at least one Councilmember flip flop?

The Times reports today that Mayor Baker and his staff has vowed to speak with the protestors and other members of the community before today’s re-vote.

But they didn’t do so.

The party starts again at 10 a.m. with a workshop on the issue, followed by the vote at 3 p.m.

Rush Limbaugh is getting more pushback in his purported bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams.  The Commish, Roger Goodell, a good corporate man if there ever was one, didn’t sound too enthusiastic about the possibility of the man with talent on loan from god being part of a group that buys its way into the National Football League.

As we recounted yesterday, several players and the head of the Players Association have already responded critically to the possibility of Limbaugh becoming part of the league.

Most of the articles written in the media in the past few days go back to Rush’s previous brush with the league, when ESPN hired him as a commentator for the 2003 season.  He lasted less than half a season after claiming that Philly QB Donovan McNabb was never really that good of a player, but more a wish fulfillment of “politically correct” white reporters.

But it shouldn’t take others to observe that the NFL players — who are the game — are 65% black, and Limbaugh has made racially divisive statements about blacks his entire career.  Who could forget his enthusiastic playing of the song “Barack, the Magic Negro” in 2008?

Indianapolis owner Jim Irsey said yesterday that he couldn’t consider voting for Limbaugh.  He  remarked:

”When there are comments that have been made that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive … our words do damage, and it’s something that we don’t need.”

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White is in the news in both local dailies this morning.

The Tampa Tribune reports on a relationship that some people have wondered about for a while — that is, the fact that the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission, or PTC, which is chaired by White, has been paying Vic DiMaio to be its lobbyist in Tallahassee the past couple of years.

DiMaio is White’s campaign manager.

Reporter Mike Salinero details how DiMaio was on the verge of being let go by the PTC earlier this year, simply because it had been determined that the agency couldn’t afford a full-time lobbyist.

Instead, DiMaio and White announced that they had reduced Victor’s salary from $60 K to $36K.  The story goes on to report that when it was determined in 2007 by White that the agency needed a ‘player’ in Tallahassee, PTC member and  Tampa City Councilman Tom Scott suggested the agency could use Hillsborough’s fulltime lobbyist Edith Stewart.  That didn’t happen.

Despite White’s recent troubles in the courtroom, he’s still doing okay in campaign fundraising.  The St. Pete Times reports that White pulled in more than $9,000 more than the amount raised by his chief rival in his re-election campaign next year, former State Senator Les Miller.

Local political observers have viewed the White/Miller race even before White’s recent legal problems as potentially one of the more competitive in 2010.  Who knows how the Alyssa Ogden affair affects it at all?  There are certainly some in the community who believe (like the Commissioner himself) that White got a raw deal in court, but whether that translates to strong support next year is (obviously) uncertain.

Meanwhile, the Hillsborough County Commission’s rejection of a homeless Tent City is making national news, with a story in today’s NY Times co-written by former CL (back when it was the Weekly Planet) reporter Lynn Waddell.

The story depicts some of the critics of the plan as being pretty cold-hearted.

Four commissioners — Al Higginbotham, Kevin White, Mark Sharpe and Ken Hagen — voted to deny the re-zoning.

The impression Mr. Higginbotham and opponents created was that of a lawless shantytown where the homeless would benefit from programs paid for with tax money — an idea many saw as unfair. As Mr. Woosely’s stepfather, William Aguiar, put it: “I’ve gotten by. If I can manage that, so can anybody else.”

And then there’s this:

Linda Hinson, 61, a retiree in East Lake, said defeat of the camp plan meant “I don’t have to go out and get a gun.” She declared that there were already enough shelters.

The St. Pete Times editorializes this morning that:

The four commissioners who killed this project as inadequate have a responsibility now to suggest other options. And they better be prepared to go it alone without much help. The county jerked Catholic Charities around for a year, and now there is nothing to show for it. What charity in this recession can waste its time and resources on such a fickle partner?

The board surprised some observers earlier this year when they strongly endorsed the concept.  Then their Zoning Hearing Master reversed himself on the matter as well.

But the opponents were noisy and well-organized.  Also alarmist.  It would have taken guts to go up against those folks yesterday, but that wasn’t in the cards.

A variety of South Florida news sources are reporting that South Florida  Democratic Representative Robert Wexler, one of the state’s most beloved liberals, will announce today that he is stepping down from his seat to become director of a Mid East think tank called the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.

There are plenty of willing candidates in the Palm Beach/Broward area who want to replace Wexler — but the author of “Fire Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) In the Contact Sport of Congress” will be missed.

For many observers nationally, Wexler became known as a ferocious supporter of Bill Clinton during the impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives in 1998.  For those who thought Congress was making a huge mistake, his voice (along with a few others, like Barney Frank) articulated the thoughts that this was partisanship run seriously amok.

Wexler also stood out early last year as one of the most prominent Democrats to support Barack Obama in his uphill battle to try to win Florida in the presidential election.  He also was considered a key ally in allaying the fears of some Jewish organizations that Obama would not be good for Israel (and despite much blather in the media, Obama is still faring well with that demographic).

Wexler is also good friends with Charlie Crist.  That alliance has been a source of frustration among some Palm Beach County Republicans, who wish Crist would have campaigned for Wexler’s opponent in his congressional campaign last year.

Governor Crist will need to call for a special election to replace Wexler.

Senators on the Finance Committee in Washington are continuing to pontificate about the bill coming out of the Max Baucus led group,but the big news before the final vote this afternoon is that Maine Republican Olympia Snowe has voted for the bill.

However, she warned Democrats on the Committee that she reserves the right to vote against the legislation once it comes to the Senate floor.  As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said on many occasions, the bill that comes out of the Baucus Committee may not be the bill that ultimately reaches the Senate floor.

Snowe’s support is critical. Not necessarily because supporters of health care reform will need her vote (though to pass, they definitely will) now, but because as the raging moderate that she is, this could provide cover for Senate Democrats who are arguably more conservative than she is (such as Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, Arkansas’s Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, among others).

In today’s podcast:

• Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner wants to clear the record on his Kevin White motion from last week, which did not support Rose Ferlita’s call to sue White to try to recoup some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars the County owes due to White’s transgressions.

• CFO Alex Sink on ex-felons’ civil rights: She wants to take some of them back

• Limbaugh wants the St. Louis Rams: TBO commenters just want to bash Al Sharpton

• You’ll never believe who’s against the tent city in Hillsborough

Download the report here.

Also:

Last night Bill Foster and Kathleen Ford battled it out on a debate televised live by BayNews9.  I’ll talk about this more tomorrow, as the two will be engaging in another debate on Wednesday afternoon.

And last, but certainly not least, the Senate Finance Committee will take their vote today on the health care bill coming out of the Max Baucus led group.  This comes the day after the industry group, AHIP – America’s Health Insurance Plans, released a 26 page analysis conducted by PricewaterhouseCooopers, which said that premiums would cost more under the Finance Committee legislation than under the current system.

The White House and Democrats are outraged, but in fact, as several political commentators have been saying, this almost insures that the much vaunted public option will end making it into the final legislation.  Why not?  If the Baucus bill won’t bring down costs (which , along with trying to insure more people, has been the driving goal of the Obama administration during this whole debate), then the public option is really needed, supporters can now argue.

The Florida Cabinet was scheduled to meet this morning to discuss ex-felons’ civil rights.  However, it wasn’t about restoring their rights, but possibly taking some away.

The effort is being led by Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who has responded with alacrity to an audit that determined the  Florida Parole Commission restored the rights to 13 people who shouldn’t have had them restored.

It’s a move that the Democrat Sink is leading, and one that her fellow Cabinet members, all Republicans, have been behind.

When does a leading Democrat take a law-and-order stand like this one? When she’s running for governor, that’s when.

Commissioner Kevin Beckner has written a letter that was published in this morning’s St. Petersburg Times regarding the Kevin White sexual harassment lawsuit.

Beckner takes exception to a Times editorial written last week:

This editorial incorrectly implies that I, as well as some of my colleagues, believe that Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White should not be held financially responsible for the costs to the taxpayer for his indiscretions. If you watch the Oct. 7 County Commission meeting or review the transcripts, it is very clear that my colleagues and I are in unanimous agreement that Commissioner White should be held accountable for his actions and participate in reimbursing the taxpayers for related costs.

You may recall last week that Commissioner Rose Ferlita’s motion to have the county sue White died when the board deadlocked at three votes apiece.

Beckner followed with a substitute motion to table further discussions until the county learns how much (if any) of the debts owed could be covered by their liability insurance program.  (His motion also failed when it tied at 3 votes apiece as well.)

The county was told last week that it has another eight months to decide on whether or not they do want to sue Commissioner White.

As he said last week during the board’s meeting on the topic, Beckner writes that: Read the rest of this entry »

St. Petersburg based House Democrat Rick Kriseman has just announced he is filing legislation for the 2010 session that would require a special election in the event of a vacancy in the U.S. Senate, as just happened in late August after Mel Martinez stunningly announced he did not want to return to Washington following the summer recess.

Governor Crist had the sole power based on state law to chose his successor, and ultimately disappointed many in the state GOP when he chose his former aide, George LeMieux to fill the seat until January of 2011.

In his press release issued today (and on his website), Representative Kriseman writes that, “the recent past has proven that the appointment process is flawed, allowing for too much cronyism.  The people should decide, not one person.”

The selection of replacing U.S. Senators has become a big issue in the past year, after Illinois’ Rod Blagojevich got into a bit of trouble on some federal wiretaps discussing who might be the person to replace Barack Obama in the Senate.

Then you had the situation in Massachusetts, where the Democratic led Legislature changed a law 5 years ago to deny their then GOP Governor, Mitt Romney, from being able to select a replacement, if John Kerry were to move on to the position he was aspiring to.  Then in the wake of the late Ted Kennedy’s death (actually before that),  many of those same Legislators joined Kennedy in calling for law to be changed, concerned about one less Democrat able to vote for health care reform.  That, and the fact that with a Democratic Governor (Deval Patrick), there was no suspense about which political party he would choose from.

In the current issue of CL,  we reported on the National Equality March, which took place in Washington D.C. yesterday.

On Saturday night, President Obama addressed the Human Rights Campaign,  the nation’s largest gay rights group, where he said he has urged Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and to pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act.

But a fellow Democrat who presumably Mr. Obama was referring to said on Sunday that he wasn’t ready to repeal DOMA.

Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey told CNN’s John King that “”I’ve said in the past I don’t think that’s the way to go. We can move forward on a lot of measures, but I’m not sure there’s the support yet for that.”

Meanwhile, speaking at Sunday’s event in D.C. was Tobias Packer, who is affiliated with Equality Florida and who was interviewed for our piece.

Listed below are his  comments:

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Gelber and Dave Aronberg are two prominent South Florida Democrats in the state Senate.

Originally, Gelber announced he was running for the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in 2010, where he certainly would have been engaged in a tough battle against Congressman Kendrick Meek.

But when Charlie Crist got into the Senate race on the GOP side, Gelber bailed, and announced he’d be running for Attorney General, a position he is certainly qualified for, based on his work as an Assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami.

A slight problem for state Democrats who prefer an uncontested Primary was that Senator Aronberg had already announced his candidacy.  He too, has impressive credentials for the gig, having worked under the last Democrat to hold the state wide position, Bob Butterworth.

In their first formal debate Sunday morning at Disney’s Yacht Club Convention Center, Aronberg milked his association with Butterworth throughout the hour long forum, prompting one Gelber advisor to mutter to press row if Butterworth was actually on the ballot.

The two colleagues stressed throughout their discussion how they were friends and would not engage in the politics of personal destruction, but Aronberg did end the bonhomie when he accused Gelber of distorting his stance on private school vouchers, saying, “I’m used to running in tough races.  Republicans have spent over a million and a half dollars attacking my record.  But I’ve never had a Democrat distort my record. ..I’ve NEVER voted to increase the voucher system.”

(The Palm Beach Post reported that Aronberg DID vote this past year for a bill to continue an existing program of tax credits to businesses that contribute to programs providing vouchers to low-income students. Aronberg told the Post after the debate that the bill neither created nor expanded vouchers.)

Being Attorney General means being the state’s top law enforcement officer, which means these Democrats certainly want to prove their toughness.  They did that when discussing child predators.  Both referenced the situation that exists in Miami at the Julia Tuttle Causeway, which over the past two years has become a colony for homeless sexual predators.

Aronberg said he couldn’t imagine a “less safe situation than having an army of homeless, angry sex offenders roaming the streets. This is dangerous.  This is putting everybody at risk,” he said.

Gelber was equally uncharitable, saying he recently checked out the camp, “because they all claim to be ‘Romeo-and- Juliet’ cases”(that is a teenager over 18 having sex with somebody under 18).  “Almost every single one  of them was a 40 or 50 year old guy who has done something absolutely unspeakable to a child under the age of 11.  That’s who they are.”

The candidates also different on using cameras on traffic signals to detect red light runners.  Gelber supports such a bill, which failed to get through the Legislature this past year but is expected to be revisited in 2010.  Aronberg said he had some civil liberties issues about using them.

Speaking as they were at the State Democratic Party’s Conference, the inevitable ‘red meat’ was delivered throughout the hour long session, moderated by USF’s Susan McManus.  Gelber began in his opening statement by listing a variety of state woes, and who deserves that blame, saying, “We have the worst high school graduation rate, the highest mortgage foreclosure rate, 4 million without health care, we have one of the worst crime rates”.  He then paused before laying the blame on Republicans who have dominated state government over the past decade, adding, “They have driven this state into a ditch.  And just like any responsible parent, it’s time for us to say, your driving privileges have been suspended – hand over they keys.”

Aronberg said one difference between the two major political parties was that the GOP is motivated by hate, but Democrats are motivated by passion.  He also stressed how much he wants the position, blasting the current previous AG’s (Bill McCollum and Charlie Crist) as using the job as a temporary station before moving on to greater pastures.

Several Democrats interview by CL before the debate said they liked both men and were uncertain who they would support come Primary time late next summer.    As they cracked on Republicans for showing a lack of civility in politics, it will be interesting to see as the stakes get higher whether these two high caliber politicos will be able to maintain their cool in the coming year.

The Florida Democratic Party hosted its annual state conference over the weekend at a Disney resort in Lake Buena Vista.  This reporter was there for some of the events, including a debate between Dan Gelber and Dave Aronberg, the aspiring candidates to be the Party’s nominee for Attorney General next year.  I’ll be writing a separate post on that later today.

Saturday, the conference was filled with speeches from some of the party’s leaders, including the woman that so many Dems have their hopes on for next year to be the next governor, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.  In her address Saturday night, she lit into her possible GOP opponent next year, Bill McCollum, saying, “”A career politician like Bill McCollum only talks about jobs and growth, but a leader like me creates jobs and growth. McCollum pretends to have all the answers, a leader asks the right questions.  He puts on a performance. A leader demands performance. He measures results by the polls he takes, I measure results by the progress we make.”

Download the report here.

That’s quite possibly the strongest rhetoric employed so far by the CFO in her campaign against the current Attorney General, but if you can’t get the grass roots of your party faithful up and cheering at your state party’s convention, when can you?

I didn’t arrive at the Conference until around noon on Saturday, which meant I missed appearances by Senator Bill Nelson and Congressman Alan Grayson, who has, pardon the cliche, become a rock star with Florida Democrats after having said Republicans want sick people to “die quickly” two weeks ago.

On Saturday, he said the GOP should be called “The Selfish Party,” and the 2,000 or so delegates in the hall ate it up.

Saturday morning Senator Bill Nelson addressed the crowd, and there were many in the audience who got up when he spoke, calling out “health care now! “  In the Senate Finance Committee, of which he is a member, Nelson did vote on an amendment sponsored by New York Senator Charles Schumer, and on Saturday he told the delegates and others in attendance that “I have heard you loud and clear” on the issue.  Nelson’s Committee votes on their bill tomorrow.

As a Quinnipiac Poll released last month revealed, Florida Democrats are solidly behind a government-sponsored public health care option in any bill that ultimately comes out of the Congress this year, so it’s perhaps no surprise Nelson is getting with the program.

Yet the Democrats’ potential standard-bearer, gubernatorial candidate Sink, still has not expressed her opinion on the matter.

Read the rest of this entry »