The Political Whore

It’s hit two blogs already, so I thought I would briefly mention our change at film critic as we will be using a CL staff film critic instead of freelancer Lance Goldenberg. We’re getting beat up pretty badly in The Feed and Scribe Life:

 Yes, sure, the paper is likely to cite sound “financial” reasons for this decision. But, really, THIS from a publication that has regularly (and rightfully) taken local daily newspapers to task for the same type of decisions? Hmmmm.

Are the short-term savings really going to trump what CL will lose, over the long haul, in terms of its credibility as a reliable, authoritative source for quality arts and entertainment reporting?

Isn’t A/E reporting one of CL’s strengths?

I’m waiting to speak to our higher-ups about the change from Lance to a CL staff reviewer and will get you that info once I can.

UPDATE: Here’s what editor David Warner shared with the staff late today:

Dear CL Staff:
As some of you know, Lance Goldenberg will no longer be our weekly movie critic come September.
The news has been greeted with alarm in some quarters (including the St. Pete Times’ media blog). The concern is understandable. Lance has been a reliably expert voice on film in Tampa Bay for many years, one with an engaging writing style and a clear love for the medium.
However, Creative Loafing must deal with the fiscal realities that are facing everyone in the newspaper business. We have to find ways to economize while still bringing high-quality coverage to our readers.
As it happens, our recent expansion into Chicago and Washington, D.C. has accordingly expanded our access to talented writers and editors. Among them is J.R. Jones, an AAN award-winning, nationally recognized critic who has been the chief a film reviewer for the Chicago Reader for 11 years since 2002 and the chief reviewer since February. Like Lance, he has a strong, distinctive voice and a deep knowledge of film. Unlike Lance, who was a freelance reviewer throughout his time here, J.R. is a full-time staffer at the Reader, which means his reviews are available to other CL papers either free of charge or at a substantial reduction in expense.
We expect that with J.R.’s reviews, plus reviews by other CL critics and writers in Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington, we will be able to review more rather than fewer movies than we were able to do with one freelance writer.
In addition, we remain fiercely committed to reviewing and reporting on the local film scene and the many film festivals Creative Loafing has always covered in depth. Staff knowledge and enthusiasm for film is deep; please assure any readers or advertisers that this enthusiasm will continue unchanged. We as a paper believe in the importance of a thriving film scene to Tampa Bay’s cultural life.
We’re sorry that the relationship with Lance is coming to an end. But we’re excited about the new and expanded possibilities that have opened up to us.

Thanks for your understanding.
David

I was just looking at the daily stats on early voting from the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office and it appears that the shine has worn off of early voting.

In the first three days of early balloting in 2006, 5,491 people voted in Hillsborough. This year, the figure is  2,818. That is a drop of precisely 51.3 percent.

I’ve got a call in to the Supervisor’s office to see if they know why — beyond the fact that there aren’t many exciting races or fantastic candidates to vote for on this primary ballot.

UPDATE: Pinellas is low, as well. Just 386 early votes there so far.

FRIDAY UPDATE: Jennifer Marks at the Supervisor of Elections Office left me a voice mail just now, and she said a more accurate comparison would be the 2004 election, and that early voting totals are up over that year.

Barack Obama continues to ratchet up the heat on John McCain’s economic record, with this ad running across FLA (I saw it this morning) and key battleground states:

Let’s check in with our friends at Fox News. The first 2:30 of this clip are maddening, but then Alan Colmes (yeah, Colmes, really) flips the script on his conservative cohorts, leading to much stammering, yelling and Sean Hannity’s contention that McCain’s time as a POW gives him a free pass on marital infidelity.

• Only the French could negotiate a cease fire that allows one side to continue attacking.
• Who will the U.S. be backing, Russia or Georgia? The Russians would like to know.
• More Fox News: Bill Kristol says Colin Powell is going to endorse Barack Obama and speak at the convention. Powell immediately denies everything. It’s a real shame you can’t believe anything broadcast on Fox News, as this one is juicy.
• Bring on the books about the presidential candidates — and by “candidates” we mean Obama.
• Folks, please be careful when shaking hands with Cindy McCain. She’s fragile.
• The”Colbert Bump” gets the research paper treatment.
• Tarantino’s latest has critics up in arms, and he hasn’t even started shooting yet.
• Julia Child was a frickin’ spy!

Sad day in Tampa Bay journalism; longtime St. Pete Times reporter Tom Zucco is taking the buyout offer and leaving the business news section, according to the Talking Biz News blog.

Here’s the dish from former Timesman Chris Roush:

The business news desks at two of Florida’s best newspapers — the St. Petersburg Times and the Palm Beach Post — are seeing their staffs sliced due to buyouts and other moves.

At the Times, business writer Tom Zucco, whose main assignment is writing about insurance, is taking the buyout offer. (Talking Biz News previously reported that personal finance editor Helen Huntley had also taken the buyout.) Zucco has been at the paper for more than two decades, and previously held spots as a sports writer, sports columnist and a feature writer for the Floridian section.

“I have no plans to tell my wife,” says Zucco, who is known for his wit. “I will leave for work at the same time I always do. But instead of the Times, I will go to the local diner, barber shop and cigar store. That should take me to 5 p.m., when it will be time for the three-block commute home. She never asked much about what I do anyway. I could easily make it to 65, which is 10 years from now. I have no plans other than that. Which is both foolish and thrilling.”

The Times previously lost two business reporting positions due to downsizing. Scott Barancik was let go and Maddie Bora was assigned to a bureau in north Tampa as a general assignment reporter, but rather than go there, she quit at the end of her maternity leave.

Barancik is trying to get a new business up and running as a tip sheet on court actions in the Tampa Bay area. Meanwhile, Scott Long, who was business news editor, left on his own accord to launch a new business at http://www.anteupmagazine.com/.

Business editor Robert Trigaux will step down from that spot and return to writing a column three times a week. Deputy business editor Jeff Harrington is in the running to replace him.

The good news for the remaining business reporters — Mark Albright, Steve Huettel, Asjylyn Loder and Jim Thorner plus Trigaux as columnist — will have more than enough work covering the Tampa Bay business community.

Kris Hundley just transferred last week to a new assignment doing investigative reporting, so she’ll still be at the Times, but not under the business news department.

My latest column from the print edition of CL is up on the interwebs and here is a taste as I vow not only to write about problems but offer solutions:

PROBLEM: Politicians flipping and flopping. Barack Obama was for a 16-month troop withdrawal in Iraq; now he’s against it. John McCain was for immigration reform; now, not so much. Charlie Crist was against offshore drilling; now, with the vice presidential selection on the line, he’s Florida’s top roughneck.

Let’s be reasonable. There’s room for positions to change and ideas to evolve. But the election-year contortions going on now are beyond the pale.

SOLUTION: Issues lock-in. When you apply for a mortgage, your interest rate is locked in for a period of time. The bank can’t change it. Same for candidates under my new campaign rule. Candidates who publicly profess a position during their party’s primary cannot change their stance during the general election — even if we know they could just screw us over and change their minds once they are elected. They are fined $100,000 by the FEC for every time they violate their issue lock-in.

Read the whole thing here.

With 83 days until the election, NBC’s great Chuck Todd breaks down the electoral math.

• War over. Or is it?
  
• Shouldn’t somebody be paying attention to John McCain?
• And can we stop paying attention to Joe Lieberman already?
• Corporate income tax? What corporate income tax?
• St. Pete cop cleared in the shooting of Javon Dawson.
• Michael Phelps keeps on winning gold.
• Best Buy inks deal to start hawking iPhones starting on Sept. 7.
• One pissed off waiter sounds off.

Trey Traviesa, a staunch anti-abortion advocate and education leader in the House, will abandon his re-election effort to focus on his business, according to House leaders.

Here’s the official announcement that went out late yesterday afternoon:

State Representative Trey Traviesa Decides Not to Seek Re-Election

TAMPA — Although heavily favored to win reelection to the Florida House of Representatives, State Representative Trey Traviesa (R-Tampa) will ask the Florida Division of Elections to withdraw his name as a candidate for House District 56. The Hillsborough County Republican Party is expected to select a nominee to replace Traviesa on the November ballot.

“When I began my career in public service, I promised myself that I would not become a politician – someone who allows public office to determine the direction of his life,” said Traviesa. “At half-time in my service in the House, I looked ahead to the next two years and realized that it would not be possible to maintain the pace I set during the past four years. While our constitution envisions a part-time, citizen Legislature, for those of us interested in mastering public policy issues and making important, lasting change, the House quickly becomes a full-time job. I have concluded that I will not be able to do the kind of job I expect of myself – the kind of job the people of Tampa Bay expect and deserve – while also fulfilling my paramount responsibilities as a husband and father, as the president of a growing health care business, and as an officer in the United States Navy Reserve. As a result, the only right decision is for me to step aside and allow someone else to serve the people of Tampa Bay.”

“It has been a privilege to put my heart and soul into my legislative work over the last four years. Until this year, I have been blessed to be able to bring my family with me to Tallahassee, and that they have shared this remarkable experience with me has enriched my service in the House. However, as my elementary school aged children grow and the business opportunities I pursue on their behalf expand, I must focus all my energies on these priorities and walk away.”

(Photo: House of Representatives/Mark Foley)

Read the rest of this entry »

For the second time this year the St. Petersburg Times editorial board has given a backhanded approval to a candidate with an anti-gay record. This time it’s Darryl Rouson, an incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat House member who has often enjoyed the newspaper’s largess.

As I wrote last week, Rouson is on record in a 2006 TV appearance as saying that being gay is “morally wrong” and opposing gay adoption. After taking some heat from gay rights activists last week, Rouson explained that he has changed his position, an evolution of thought in his mind.

In fact, the editorial recommendation didn’t seem to have much good to say about him:

As a member of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, Rouson was a leader in placing Amendment 5 on the November ballot. It would reduce school-related property taxes and open the door for a sales tax increase and the elimination of many sales tax exemptions. Other votes are more difficult to defend. On the commission, Rouson supported an amendment that would remove a constitutional ban on public money going to churches and religious organizations but opposed one to allow public money for private tuition vouchers. Curiously, he does not see the inconsistency.

The Times has always come to the aid of gays under attack, so it is surprising that Rouson’s editorial recommendation wasn’t the slightest bit tempered by a mention of his “evolving” stance on gay rights. Then again, neither was the recommendation for St. Pete City Council candidate Gershom Faulkner, who lost the race to Wengay Newton. While the newsside wrote about the gay controversy with Faulkner like this:

 Two state legislators have pulled their endorsement of City Council candidate Gershom Faulkner after he told a group of local gay and lesbian political activists that people choose to be gay.

Faulkner, a Democrat running for the nonpartisan council in District 7, said he could not support what he called a gay lifestyle because of his religious beliefs, according to those who attended the August meeting of the Pinellas Stonewall Democrats.

… it still didn’t mention the issue in its editorial recommendation.

When President Bush is anti-gay, the Times rebukes him editorially.  Hillsborough parents who want gay clubs pushed off campus get a smack. But establishment candidates in St. Pete who are anti-gay? Not so much.

Now, I played the race card in the title, and to be fair, you can be white and anti-gay and get a pass from the Times if the gay issue is not central to the campaign. Like the recent endorsement of the wildly anti-gay Brian Blair.  Yet I seem to recall at some point Blair being spanked for his anti-gayness editorially, even if I haven’t found a link yet for it. It seems much more acceptable for the politically correct Times to accept a bit of anti-gayness from black candidates, who play to an audience that is much more socially conservative than the MSM every acknowledges.

Bonus cut: The only mention on the editorial pages about Rouson’s stance(s) on gay rights is an op-ed piece by Bill Maxwell.

When is martial law permissible in the U.S.? For one Arkansas town, the answer is “right now!”

• McCain figures out the Interwebs enough to crib some talking points from Wikipedia.
• Russia rampages across Georgia as the West ponders how to stop the fighting.
• This week’s reason to hate Bush’s guts: The administration’s proposed rule changes gutting the Endangered Species Act.
• Oil goes down, stocks go up. See a pattern?
• There must be something in the water, other than the swimmers that is.
• The Boss to play the Super Bowl in Tampa.
• Hillsborough electric rates set to spike 40%.
• Spain’s basketball teams (male and female) need some sensitivity training.
• The Rays start dropping like flies.

WTF?!?

Yes, you read it correctly: both daily newspapers have endorsed Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair in the GOP primary coming up on Aug. 26. This seems to be the main reason the Trib likes him:

When he first joined the board, Blair seemed uncomfortable, often reading from a prepared statement that seemed to have been prepared by someone else. But as he learned the issues, Blair found his voice. He never misses a meeting and clearly loves the job.

And this seems to be the main reason why the Times gave him the nod:

 Since winning election in 2004, Brian Blair has championed silly issues, peddled paranoia and marched to the command of the building industry.But at least Blair shows some respect for the office he holds. … Blair has stopped some wasteful county spending. He is active in the community. The 51-year-old former business owner at least acts on his beliefs and puts his record on the table, as opposed to merely showing up at election time for publicity.

Blair has an opponent in the Republican primary, Don Kruse, but you have to wonder, how bad does this guy have to be to lose both newspaper endorsements to Blair? Or how lost are the newspapers?

The latest Obama ad takes the gloves off and whacks John McCain around the head for being a celebrity in his own right:

Olympic fever and the dull days of August have slowed real news to a trickle. Sports Illustrated has a list of the 25 best sports videos (that contain no actual sports) on YouTube. Here is #1. (Warning: Not for the kids.)

• While the world watched the Olympics, war broke out in Eastern Europe.
• Incidentally, if you missed Friday night’s incredible Opening Ceremonies, they can be seen here.
• Lieberman on McCain’s short list, proving past performance is not a vetting factor.
• Who the hell is Robert McGovern, and what the hell does he have to do with the Edwards mess?
• Be the first to know Obama’s V.P. choice.
• The U.S. poised for an economic recovery?
• R.I.P. Issac Hayes, R.I.P. Bernie Mac, R.I.P. Whaley’s Market.
• The Rays break the team record for wins in a season.

Move On goes after McCain with an ad reminiscent of the Jim Davis “empty chair” ads that helped deliver Florida to Crist in 2006. Enjoy, and have a good weekend, everyone.

• The stimulus checks are gone and retailers are staring into the abyss.
• Bill Clinton gets quality face time at the convention.
• Parents beware: Drug testing you kids could lead to their death!
• Speaking of Mary Jane, half of Tampa just got arrested in a major drug sting that saw the cops nab over a ton of weed.
• Anybody heard anything about this “Olympics” thing?
• You might want to avoid drinking this woman’s beer.
• Bin Laden’s evil, terrorist-mastermind driver will remain behind bars forever until a few months from now.
• Love on the set of Morning Joe? (With disturbing Scarborough sniffing video.)

Now that No. 4 is officially not coming to the Tampa Bay Bucs, let’s take a quick look at just exactly how we came to think such a thing was in the works anyway. Because throughout this “story,” there was never any solid sourcing done, especially by the Tampa Trib-Newschannel 8-tbo.com nexus.

Consider this from the morning’s account on TBO, annoucing Favre’s Jets deal:

Though the Bucs were once believed to be the favorites to land quarterback Brett Favre … [emphasis added]

Who once believed that?  The story doesn’t say. It, in fact, uses the waffle-word “believed” on four occasions, believing what the Bucs may have offered for Favre, believing what the Jets did offer for the QB, etc.

Even as the trade was being completed with the Jets, the Trib’s sports reporters were posting up a video of themselves circle-jerking about the notion that Favre could be coming here. Ira Kaufman says, “I expect Favre in pewter.”  That vid drew stinging responses within two hours of its posting last night, as shown in these two comments:

Posted by  Steve,  on 08/06  at  11:54 PM

So much for that report, Trib. Jay Glazer of FOX Sports just trumped you with the story about Favre traded to the JETS … not the BUCS.

Hey clowns … still think he’s coming to Tampa?

Posted by  James Thomas, Seminole on 08/06  at  11:45 PM

Well said James, Cory and Steve.

The Tampa Tribune is a laughing stock.

We all knew Cummings and Kaufman were a couple of dueches but now the whole country gets a taste of the sour puss we’ve feed all this time now.

These flakes should both be fired as well as the editor.

And on the 11 p.m. Newschannel 8 telecast last night, before the Jets deal hit the news wires, one viewer tells me the anchors were touting the number of hits that tbo.com was getting on its Favre coverage.

That followed this from yesterday’s TBO coverage early Wednesday:

LAKE BUENA VISTA – His feelings seemingly too hurt to return to the Green Bay Packers, iconic quarterback Brett Favre was close to finalizing an agreement Tuesday that could make him a Buccaneer as soon as today.

A deal between the two teams was nearing completion after Favre had substantive talks with the Bucs, a source close to the negotiations said.

Today, we come to find out that is hooey. The Times reports:

General manager Bruce Allen said the Bucs never made an offer for quarterback Brett Favre because the Green Bay Packers refused to trade him to an NFC team.

Allen acknowledged that the Bucs did receive permission to talk to Favre, but said they were one of 18 teams that were granted that right.

“”There was no negotiations,” Allen said. “There was never any substantive talk about what they would take to trade him. So all of that was speculation. From the beginning, I think it was clear it was a bad situation in Green Bay and they had to deal with it any way they could.

“Green Bay never told us what they were even interested in trading him for,” Allen said.

Here’s how TBO justified the hype: trade rumors were “fueled” by the absence of the Bucs GM from training camp earlier this week and the fact that backup Brian Griese was given the day off as well. He was rumored to be trade bait. And, of course, there was Jon Gruden’s refusal to comment on the whole mess, which, of course, was taken as a confirmation:

Also fueling speculation was the Bucs continued refusal to quell the Favre-to-Tampa rumors. Coach Jon Gruden even went so far as to say early last week that a proclamation of that nature would be “unfair to Brett Favre.”

The Times, in contrast, consistently played the “possibility” that Favre could become a Buc more appropriately. The story of Favre not coming wasn’t even featured high atop tampabay.com; it occupied one of the rotating images well down the screen.

I know, I know, I am Monday morning quarterbacking (pun intended), but this is sloppy and hyped journalism from the company that is “Pewter Partners” with the Bucs, whose sports reporters appear alongside football players in TV commercials pimping the team and the newspaper’s coverage. So a lack of objectivity and distance from the story isn’t surprising at all. Just embarrassing as hell.

Call it political envy. Call it racism. Call it stereotyping. Call it the truth.

No matter what angle you take on the latest allegations against Hillsborough County Commission Kevin White — that he accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions with the promise that he would vote for land deals for the swindler who arranged them — you have to acknowledge that rumors of White’s darker side of politics have swirled for years. Maybe it was the expensive suits he wore. Or the sexual harassment complaint he faces. Or his ties to the late GOP power broker Ralph Hughes.

Giving White more than the benefit of the doubt and putting rumors aside as rumors, however, this is a very tough bit of bad PR for him to defend against. A convicted swindler, Matthew Cox, agrees to cooperate with the feds to get a break on his sentence and gives up White. He says he funneled lots of money to White (not illegal) and later reimbursed some of the straw contributors out of his own money (possibly without White’s knowledge and, as the Kuhn case illustrates, probably not even illegal). Cox was on the lam on federal charges before he could ever put a zoning case in front of White, so there was no quid pro quo that can be proven. Cox certainly didn’t wear a wire at that time.

The only issue raised in the story that could end up in legal troubles for White is the allegation that Cox gave him $7,000 in cash after one election. How do you prove that happened? Cash?? Unless White were dumb enough (allegedly) to accept the money and put it into his personal checking account.

White is reckless about his fundraising. He provided the lead to my “Money Men” investigation about local power brokers when, while giving me an interview for a campaign story, we were interrupted by an associate of Tampa lawyer and lobbyist Steve Anderson, who handed White an envelope bearing a check from one of Anderson’s corporate clients. There aren’t too many politicians out there who will knowingly schedule the delivery of a campaign check from a lobbyist at the same time and place they are giving a media interview. At best, it’s chutzpah. At worst, stupidity.

If Kevin White is dirty, he should go to jail. And God knows there is enough smoke out there to believe that there must be a fire. But if (and it’s a big if) he is innocent of crimes, he is certainly guilty of taking money from just about anybody out there with a greasy reputation and an agenda to pursue that isn’t always in the public interest. For a former cop, White certainly has no radar whatsoever about the motives of the people who are funding his races.

Or, more likely, he just chooses to ignore it.

Obama clarifies and defends his energy policy proposals in this contentious interview in Nevada with Jon Ralston.

• Bruce Ivins e-mail indicates he was maybe kind of a loon, so it’s certain he perpetrated a solo biological weapons attack on liberal members of our government and the media (though the e-mails never mention anything close to that). Case closed.
• Bush slams China’s human rights record — in the most gentle way possible, of course.
• “Sure I’ll plead guilty to murder, But I gotta have the Colonel and Papa John as witnesses.”
• Hillsborough to spend $50 million on park maintainence and a scaled down version of Jim Norman’s field of dreams.
• How to: stockpile cheap(er) gas.
• Headline of the week: “I’m a breastfeeding fiend.”
• Favre goes to the Jets. Get your Jeff Garcia jerseys here.
• Case closed in the death of Heath Ledger.

Just got off a conference call set up by the Campaign for America’s Future, a progressive strategy group, that outlines the launching of its Economic War Room. The distribution center for progressive economic messages will send out daily e-mails with message points and polling data once both national conventions are done, co-director Robert Borosage said.

The bottom line: The Democratic message on the economy was falling flat because it was all about criticism without giving solutions. Voters didn’t disagree with the criticism of the GOP and the Bush Administration, pollster Celinda Lake said; but any five or six people sitting around a dining room table would have come up with those same criticisms. Voters want to hear how we can get out of this mess.

“A critique of the economy doesn’t win; a populist and focused solution wins in polling,” Lake said. The economy “is a powerful issue out there. The voters, if anything, want to hear more about it.”

(Her thoughts were echoed in an AARP poll released today.)

Drew Westen, Emory psychologist and “The Political Brain” author, added that the framing of the message matters, with populist and even progressive themes testing well in the campaign’s polling. “It matters a great deal how you talk about the economy,” he said. “It’s not about the rich vs. the poor;. It’s about the special interests vs. the rest of us.”

Westen provided a fascinating breakdown on why John McCain is winning the energy-message battle with Barack Obama, despite the fact that the Democratic economic platform tests better with voters. Republicans understand much better than Democrats, he said, that voters think in nonlinear and subconscious ways. Connecting rising gas prices with the solution of new offshore drilling works because the mind instantly recognizes that we need to drill to get more oil. Making the case that offshore drilling will take 10 years to have an impact on prices and will only lower them by an estimated 3 percent takes more thought and is less intuitive. So even if people hear that counter-message 1,000 times, they still make the positive connection between “drilling” and “more oil,” and “more oil” and “lower prices.”

The Barack Obama campaign is embracing gas pumps across our nation in a spasm of “It’s energy prices, stupid.”

First,  the campaign will fan out its prodigious volunteer base to hang out at various service stations across the Sunshine State, as the campaign tells it:

Obama supporters in Florida will talk to motorists TODAY at eight gas stations across the state about Senator Obama’s New Energy for America plan that will lessen our dependence on foreign oil, give American families an immediate energy rebate of $1000 to deal with soaring gas prices, and create five million new green jobs. Elected officials will be on hand to show their support.

The elected officials will also be on hand to run inside the gas station’s convenience store to purchase Ho-Ho’s, Ding Dongs and ciggies for motorists who say they are undecided. I myself prefer the Zingers with the fake pink coloring, covered with nasty shredded coconut. I just hope I can get my congressperson to grab me one.

The campaign is also purchasing time atop gas pump TVs to air its current anti-McCain ad on energy:

Some deft footwork by Obama in Ohio yesterday. Someone in the crowd heckles, and Obama has the person lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

• Ron Suskind’s new book sends the White House into a tizzy.
• Paris strikes back!
  
• Favre about to become a Buccaneer?
• Did the FBI stalk Anthrax scientist Bruce Ivins to death?
• South Tampa’s Whaley’s Market to close shop on Sunday.
• A good day on Wall Street.
• MIT claims game-changing breakthrough on solar power.
• Kevin Smith’s latest squeaks out an R.

The folks over at the Tampa Bay Community Network sent word of two new episodes of Speak Up Presents that will be airing in the next two weeks. Each program lasts an hour and focuses on an amendment that will be appearing on the November ballot.

Listing from Pam Garron at TBCN:

Speak Up Presents: Marriage Amendment
Tuesday, August 12 @ 1PM on Verizon 30, Bright House Network 950 and Comcast 20
Friday, August 15 @ 12 PM on Verizon 36 and BHN 949

Speak Up Presents: Mayor Ballot Initiative (on again, off again, on again?)
Saturday, August 16 @ 12 PM on Verizon 30, BHN 950 and Comcast 20
Monday, August 18 @ 1 PM on Verizon 36 and BHN 949

And another recently produced episode that you might be interested in:

Speak Up Presents: Immigration
Wednesday, August 13 @ 12 PM on Verizon 36 and BHN 949
Monday, August 18 @ 11 PM on Verizon 30, BHN 950 and Comcast 20

And I thought it was James Garner?!?

John McCain’s latest campaign ad is up, titled “Broken,” and it portrays the presumptive Republican nominee as the last, best hope for fixing Washington’s problems:

Of course, I could point out the irony (?) of being the Washington insider in the race who is trying to pretend he is the change agent. But I won’t.

Nearly 200 people showed up for Sunday night’s GLBTA Democratic Caucus of Hillsborough County, an evening of blues, booze and politics at Skipper’s Smokehouse. Some in the crowd were decked out in homemade Barack Obama T-shirts and SayNo2 stickers, urging people to vote against the anti-gay marriage Amendment 2 referendum in November.

The event, titled “The Times They-Are-A-Changin’,” featured live music from blues acts Soul2Earth, Rebekah Pulley & the Reluctant Prophets and Roppongi’s Ace, while participants mingled with candidates and checked out Hillsborough’s new voting machines.

An Obama campaigner chats with members of the crowd who stuck around despite a thunderstorm (photo by Amelia Harnish)

“We wanted people to come in and have some fun and talk politics,” said Sally Phillips, president of the GLBTA Caucus. “Our efforts for this are focused on getting out the vote… and to make sure that everyone knows the Democratic Party is here. “

Among the candidates roaming Skipper’s outdoor bar area were GLBTA Caucus member and endorsee Kevin Beckner, who spoke between sets about the need for Hillsborough County to come together to address “quality of life issues” such as transportation. Beckner is running for the countywide seat on the Hillsborough County Commission now held by Republican Brian Blair.

CFO Alex Sink, Florida’s highest ranking Democrat, and her husband, former governor candidate Bill McBride, also attended. Sink spoke only for a few minutes, but the crowd was pleased with her support. “There is change in the air,” she announced to numerous cheers and whistles.

Faced with growing attention from human rights groups that had been circulating a video of him calling homosexuality “morally wrong,” state Rep. Darryl Rouson last night apologized for his earlier stance, taken when he was a Republican lawyer and not an incumbent Democratic state representative in a primary fight to keep his job.

According to tampabay.com:

“Sometimes we become educated and evolve,” he said during a St. Petersburg NAACP candidate forum. “I have evolved.”

As the debate over “The Surge” continues, here’s a look at Baghdad from a journalist who actually lives there.

• Obama flip-flops on offshore oil drilling.
• Inflation on the uptick.
• A new book claims the Bush administration faked evidence against Iraq in advance of the war.
• Republican voter numbers in decline. 
• Supermarket chains wheel and deal to stay competitive.
• Anybody seen about 120,000 gorillas?
• Morgan Freeman gets banged up in a serious car accident. Fortunately, doctors think he’ll be available for the next Batman movie.
• Jazz is for loners.

Gay and lesbian activists are circulating this video clip of a (then-Republican, now-Democratic) Darryl Rouson defending Florida’s prohibition against gay couples adopting children from the state foster care system. He raises the specter of psychological damage to kids who have same-sex parents and calls homosexuality “morally wrong:”

Rouson was not in office at the time of this Florida This Week taping; he is now the incumbent state representative in District 55, being challenged in the primary by Charles McKenzie.

Nadine Smith of Equality Florida sent out the link to her supporters, and others forwarded it on today in advance of Rouson’s appearance at an NAACP forum tonight, which is expected to draw many from the gay community to question him about his take on the subject.

Sarasota’s favorite 2008 campaign rematch — incumbent Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan vs. Democrat Christine Jennings — now ranks up there with the likes of the Elizabeth Dole and John Sununu races as a target for progressive Democrats to take down Republicans. EMILY’s List, a powerful pro-choice funding machine, has long kept this one on its members radar screens but today sent out another fundraising appeal, putting the Sarasota race.

Here’s how they characterized it:

U.S. House, Florida – District 13 – Christine Jennings
Republican to defeat: Vern Buchanan

A far-right congressman with ethical issues, Vern Buchanan voted against federal funding for stem cell research and against setting a timetable for bringing troops home from Iraq. And he has reiterated his extreme opposition to abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. Buchanan continues to make headlines with his ethical and legal problems resulting from past campaigns, jilted franchises, defaulted loans, and unpaid taxes.

In 2006, after weeks of dispute, Jennings lost by just 369 votes to Buchanan. Between Buchanan’s right-wing record and Jennings’ bipartisan appeal, this district is ripe for takeover. Jennings must raise $3.5 million to oust Buchanan.

Buchanan’s legal problems arise once again just on cue as a former employee filed a lawsuit against him in the past week.

… in the Veep Sweepstakes, apparently. The St. Pete Times deduces (”It’s elementary, my dear Watson”) that John McCain isn’t serious about choosing Chain-Gang Charlie as his vice presidential nominee because the public records needed to vett such a candidacy haven’t been requested from state government.

Things are looking so bad, in fact, that Florida Democrats are even calling out McCain, nee, begging the cranky old man to choose Crist. This from Florida Politics:

 C’mon Johnnie, I challenge you to go with the empty suit.

How about the fact that McCain isn’t even running ads in Florida yet? Does that mean he doesn’t put this state in his top-tier concerns? Or that he plans to choose Crist and therefore won’t need those ads anyway? The Gov’s popularity rating is below 50 percent in one poll, and so it remains to be seen if the only thing that Crist had going for him — the ability to deliver FLA — is still viable.

Bonus cut: download the Wisconsin Advertising Project’s report on campaign ad spending, including data for Florida, in .pdf format.

No great suprises in the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s endorsements for the upcoming Aug. 26 primary election. They’re less interesting in the primary than they are in the general, when the R’s and D’s match up. Here they are anyway:

Tampa Bay Candidates: Marlene O’Toole (House District 42), Phillip Walker (House District 64) and John Wood (House District 65).

Tampa Bay Incumbents: Senator Mike Fasano (Senate District 11), Senator Paula Dockery (Senate District 15), Senator J.D. Alexander (Senate District 17), Senator Michael Bennett (Senate District 21), Representative Robert Schenck (House District 44), Representative Thomas Anderson (House District 45), Representative John Legg (House District 46), Representative Peter Nehr (House District 48), Representative Ed Hooper (House District 50), Representative Janet Long (House District 51), Representative Rick Kriseman (House District 53), Representative Jim Frishe (House District 54), Representative Trey Traviesa (House District 56), Representative Faye Culp (House District 57), Representative Michael Scionti (House District 58), Representative Betty Reed (House District 59), Representative Will Weatherford (House District 61), Representative Rich Glorioso (House District 62), Representative Seth McKeel (House District 63), Representative Baxter Troutman (House District 66), Representative Ron Reagan (House District 67), Representative Keith Fitzgerald (House District 69), Representative Doug Holder (House District 70) and Representative Paige Kreegel (House District 72).

In parts south, the Chamber endorses:

Southwest Florida Candidates: Representative Garrett Richter (Senate District 37) and Tom Grady (House District 76).

Southwest Florida Incumbents: Representative Paige Kreegel (House District 72), Representative Nick Thompson (House District 73), Representative Gary Aubuchon (House District 74), Representative Trudi Williams (House District 75), Representative Denise Grimsley (House District 77) and Representative Matt Hudson (House District 101).