The breathless recitation of right-wing talking points and multiple excuses for skipping out on her job, recited as if her inner tape-recorder were stuck on high speed, could be viewed as a slightly unhinged monologue in the Mark Sanford vein.

Then again, a breathless recitation of right-wing talking points could be just the thing her base wants to hear, and you can already imagine the scenario that’s being shaped for future campaigns: “She couldn’t stand to take part anymore in big-government Obamanomics because she’s a maverick! She’s declaring her independence!”

Never mind that Alaska has been lapping up government welfare for years; suddenly when her erstwhile Democratic opponent was doing the doling out, the money was tainted. And no matter that she’s declaring her independence from a job the voters expected her to complete; she doesn’t play by those conventional rules, people!

See video of the conference after the break. Be sure to hang on for the basketball metaphors.

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Remember that water bill we were concerned about that would silence public input and made water permits easier to get (behind closed doors)? Environmentalists and editorial boards alike urged The Bent Over one to veto it. Well, on the heels of signing SB 360 and eliminating what little growth management laws we do did have, Governor Crist signed that water bill (SB 2080) making water and wetland permits easier to get and again disappointed us while putting yet another black mark on his environmental record. In his defense, he did ask them pretty please to continue to make their water permitting decisions in the open (while signing a bill that alleviated them from doing just that).

According to my research everyone in the House and Senate that voted on this voted in favor of it regardless of party affiliation.

Photo credit: Johnnyalive Flickr.com

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Oh boy, where to start on this Cone Ranch scheme proposal? Recall Ken Half-Truth Hagan’s half-baked proposal to sell Cone Ranch to private investors in order to “preserve it”? Apparently the Hillsborough County Commission chair all of a sudden became an environmentalist worrying about the future of this sensitive land and wants to do all he can to preserve it, emphasizing the wetlands on the property. You might also recall that ironically he was one of the very same Commissioners hell-bent on getting rid of the wetlands division of the EPC. Hey, people can change, right? Especially when those behind the idea are big-time Republican fundraisers, uh-huh. Come to think of it, that assault on the wetlands division by the majority of the County Commission was also widely thought to be the idea of a ………….big campaign contributor.

So, at Hagan’s request the County Commission appointed a panel to study this idea of selling off public land (already listed as preservation) to private buyers. Or was the panel set up to study what was best for Cone Ranch in general? Even some of the appointees were not clear on this, so at the first meeting on Monday this question was asked by one of the appointees to Edith Stewart. Yep, that Edith Stewart: the county’s top lobbyist was running the meeting. She referred the panel to the County Commission’s transcripts on the issue. That must be why she makes the big bucks (recall you pay her $136,094).

Earlier in that meeting these were Commissioner Hagan’s words to the panel:
THIS IS ABOUT DOING WHAT IS BEST FOR CONE
RANCH AND HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, IT IS NOT ABOUT
RUBBERSTAMPING FCEG’S IDEAS AND PERSPECTIVES,

Yet the county’s own website on the Cone Ranch advisory panel states this: On May 6, 2009 the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners created the Cone Ranch Environmental Advisory Panel to work with the County staff and with the Florida Conservation and Environmental Group (FCEG) and the Nature Conservancy to consider a proposal by FCEG and all of the issues and partnerships that are involved with Cone Ranch.

The transcripts from the most recent County Commission meeting on this issue indicate to me that this panel is supposed to be about doing what is best for Cone Ranch, not just evaluating the private proposal.

Several members of the panel asked some great questions as did the residents speaking during public comment. Mariella Smith, a local environmentalist and activist, did a fantastic job outlining a process for the panel, and you don’t pay her anything.

Remember when Commissioner Kevin Beckner (the voter’s cure for Brian Blair) asked FCEG to provide a written report during their first presentation? Well, here it is - they only produced a few pages. The public already had a list of questions longer than this report and the lack of substance certainly makes one question their legitimacy and intent. There is a cool flow chart showing which way the money will go though.

Mike Merrill, Utilities and Commerce Administrator for the county, spoke to the panel during their first meeting and he seemed to be trying to steer the audience from believing this was public land by saying it was owned by a business (the water utility). Um, who supports that, Mike? Uh-huh. If this wasn’t public property then why does the Board of County Commissioner (elected by the taxpayers) have the final say on it?  Why did they appoint a panel?

Here is the kicker, kids: the Cone Ranch is NOT FOR SALE. You heard me: NOT FOR SALE. Mr. Paul Vanderploog, Director of Water Resource Services, also spoke to the advisory panel during Monday’s meeting and he states this in his presentation when he said:
CONE RANCH IS NOT
ACTIVELY BEING OFFERED FOR SALE BY THE ENTERPRISE.

Huh?

So let me get this straight. Here we have a whole panel of volunteers, an army of staff working on this (which I believe is on the taxpayer’s dime), yet the Cone Ranch is NOT FOR SALE. Was it in danger of being developed into big bad subdivisions and commercial centers as FCEG threatened during a presentation to the County Commission? Considering it is on the Comprehensive Plan as preservation, I hardly think so. The County Commission itself would have had to approve any changes to our Comp Plan to get the land use of this ranch changed and as bad as the gang of Five Four is, I am guessing even they know that changing preservation land to residential or commercial would be political suicide. As I watched this advisory panel meeting unfold with the staff trying to explain all the bond covenants and all the other strings attached to the land, it was hard to believe it would ever be in danger of true development unless the county say……………. sold it?

Turns out the Nature Conservancy (part of the group pushing this proposal) ALREADY has an interest in the Cone Ranch. It is listed as a non-terminable unilateral interest. So they appear to already be charged with protecting the Cone Ranch (and also appear to be on the receiving end of funds according to that flow chart if the sale goes through). Anybody else think that is a conflict of interest? Maybe the County uses the Ray Sansom theory regarding conflicts of interests or maybe it is the Ken Hagan theory?

SWIFTMUD is listed as a terminable interest in the property and yet two of their representatives sit on the technical committee for the advisory panel. One of the advisory panel appointees is also a board member of SWIFTMUD and the Chairwoman of that advisory panel is a former Chair of the Swiftmud board. Hmmm, that doesn’t seem all that objective to me.

The obvious question to me is did we really need a panel to study a buy-out proposal for a property that is NOT FOR SALE in order to preserve what is already listed as PRESERVATION land? As I listen to our County Commission cry over decreased tax revenues and upcoming budget cuts (meanwhile their County Administrator is serving up double digit raises to people like Edith Stewart) I wonder how they can justify staff time and taxpayer money to even study this? Maybe Hagan is paying for it?

Balm Civic Association President Marcella Osteen got the final word in this WMNF interview. Her comment about looking at the proposal “with a jaundiced eye” says it all, and she goes on to say that “I would think that any investor is exactly what it says: investor. They’re looking to – let me think about it – make money? So I would be skeptical — anybody that comes in here to buy [Cone Ranch] with dollars would not be looking to make money. And just out of the goodness of their heart to restore it, I don’t think so.”  In case I haven’t said it lately, Thank You Marcella! Considering the past deeds of that County Commission as a whole (excluding Commissioners Ferlita, Beckner and usually Sharpe) forgive us if we don’t trust the rest of you. Just since I have been paying attention they have approved major subdivisions out in BFE, they have launched constant environmental attacks and their staff bald-faced lied to me about a toll road over my house (and you wonder why I have so much fun writing these?)

What can you do? You can contact your County Commissioners regarding Cone Ranch here. Be sure to start with Chairman Ken Half Truth Hagan since he is not only spearheading this project it looks like he is now the first contact point to all of the Commissioners according to George Niemann’s recent article. You can see the documents associated with this production and check for the next meeting on the county’s website. Some of the opposition even have their own Facebook page against this sale which also has updates on it.

My guess is that with elections coming up, the Commissioners will eventually cave to public will and sell this land to ELAPP (the county’s own land preservation program)  where it should be (but I bet they try to spin it to you and me like they are environmental heroes while doing it), so thanks to all those volunteering to go through the motions until then. Seems to me that if they really wanted to do the right thing they would leave the land as is and let ELAPP spend their money on less secure pieces of land that really are in danger of being developed. But this is Hillsborough County, where four of our current Commissioners think a pardoned ex-felon and ahem, campaign donor, was worthy of naming the Moral Courage award after. (For those of you keeping score, those current Commissioners are Hagan, White, Norman and Higginbotham.) So I guess there is no telling what they would do for these big-time potential donors. I hope the county is sincere in only wanting the best outcome for Cone Ranch, but how sad we can’t trust them at their word.

Stay tuned for another episode of Will The County Commission Successfully Be Able To Preserve PRESERVED Land?

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Now they have — in George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built The Yankee Empire, the laugh-out-loud biography by St. Petersburg author Peter Golenbock.

Golenbock’s prior written collaborations with Yankee greats Billy Martin, Graig Nettles and Sparky Lyle provide him unique historical background on Steinbrenner and the 36-year-long Yankee soap opera. In fact, Lyle has been quoted as saying that his intense dislike for Steinbrenner was the “inspiration” for his collaboration with Golenbock on the 1979 bestselling book The Bronx Zoo.

Without George Steinbrenner there would be no A-Rod, no Jeter, and Vinny LeCavalier would be working in the off-season painting houses to make ends meet. But was he a brilliant tactician who carefully plotted his ascent in pro sports?  Hardly. But he was a good showman, and it is this quality — combined with an inability to envision failure and a penchant for suspending rules and reality — that Golenbock says was the real reason he was able to build the most valuable sports franchise in the world, becoming a cultural icon in the process (not to mention a running joke on Seinfeld).

From Golenbock's book: Steinbrenner vs. Costanza in an episode of "Seinfeld."

Steinbrenner’s middle name is Michael, but Machiavelli might have been more appropriate. Among the revelations in the book: he once sold stock owned by his wife without her knowledge to keep his minor league basketball team afloat. At the time Joan Steinbrenner had begun divorce proceedings against George. The divorce filing was later rescinded and they remain married today.

That’s not to say that Steinbrenner doesn’t have a good heart when it comes to those less fortunate. Stories abound in the last chapter of the book about the softer side of George, whether he’s paying for a poor kid’s college tuition, helping the families of fallen police officers in Tampa and NYC, or rebuilding a ball field in a poor neighborhood.

But then again, he may be the only convicted (if later pardoned) felon to have a high school named in his honor. Golenbock recounts Steinbrenner’s participation in the Watergate scandal — the only time other than his two suspensions from baseball when the music finally stopped for George and there was no one left to clean up his mess. But even after pleading guilty to two felonies for funneling thousands of dollars to Nixon’s Committee to Re-elect the President — better known as CREEP — George didn’t serve a day in jail: Reagan pardoned him in 1989. Heck, a guy who jumps the turnstile at Yankee Stadium would receive a harsher punishment.

Some of the funniest stories in the book come from Steinbrenner’s days in Cleveland before he acquired the Yankees. It was no stroke of luck that young George avoided the cold and bullets of Korea and instead wound up running the sports program at an Ohio military base just miles from his family home. According to Golenbock, George’s special treatment was the direct result of a deal his father cut with the Air Force. But George being George almost killed the deal. He complained that the lights on the ball fields were substandard and attempted to get them replaced by the Army, but was told no money was available. So George went ahead and ordered the lights anyway while his base commander was away in Washington, telling the lighting company that he would pay for them if the Army didn’t. When the commander returned from his trip, he was surprised to find the base lit up like Runway 22R at JFK. Of course, Henry Steinbrenner came to his son’s rescue and the Air Force paid for the lights.

Peter Golenbock at Yankee Stadium.

Steinbrenner’s toughest critic in the book is cable executive Leo Hindery, who created the YES network for Steinbrenner. The YES Network, which telecasts Yankee games and programming, is valued at over $2 billion. It ensures that the Yankees will continue to be able to afford high-priced free agents for the foreseeable future. Hindrey lets George have it with both barrels, including telling Golenbock that Steinbrenner’s daughters are the brains of the family (but George will never allow women to run the team), and that the minority owners, who own 40 percent of the Yankees, haven’t made a nickel in 30 years due to Steinbrenner’s profligate spending on players and his family.

Many interesting personal tidbits come to light in this book.  Among them:
• Steinbrenner was raised a Christian Scientist.
• He made up a story that he played pro football for the NY Giants in an effort to land a college football coaching job after graduating from Williams.
• He didn’t really understand the rules of baseball when he first became the Yankee owner, as evidenced by his tirade against a scorekeeper who failed to award the Yankees a run on a play where the third out was made.
• He stormed the field during a Hillsborough Community College baseball game at the Yankees complex, threatening to stop the game because the Yankee groundskeeper had the HCC team play on the wrong field. (Yes, a greenskeeper was fired.)
• He announced that Yankees manager Dick Howser, who had won 103 games the prior season, was stepping down to take advantage of a lucrative real estate opportunity in Florida. Howser’s lucrative real estate opportunity turned out to be George paying off his home mortgage in exchange for his resignation.
• And Golenbock puts into print what most people have been whispering for the past five years — that Steinbrenner is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
This book confirms two things.
There is only one George Steinbrenner. And the world would be a lot less entertaining without him.

Scott Farrell hosts The Farrell Files on the 10Connects Morning News. He’s also a contributor to Wayne Garcia’s Creative Loafing blog, The Political Whore.

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The sailor, August Provost, kept his private life quiet for the most part, but trusted that his friends knew, according to an interview with his partner in the San Diego Union-Tribune. His family had encouraged him to report the harassment to a supervisor. It’s not clear whether he did, or whether he even could have; admitting that he’d been harassed could have led to admission that he was gay, which is grounds for dismissal from the Navy. In an online article for San Diego’s Gay and Lesbian Times, the chair of the San Diego Human Relations Commission, openly gay City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez (pictured right), refers to sources on the base that say the harassment was in fact gay-related and that Provost had been facing a possible discharge based on his sexual orientation.

Murray-Ramirez says there was a long delay between the murder and public release of information, noting that U.S. Congressman Bob Filner was on the base Tuesday and was not informed of the murder. The Human Relations Commission is calling for an investigation into whether this was a hate crime. Meanwhile, a “person of interest” is being held in custody. Read the full text of the Union-Tribune story after the break.

By Kristina Davis

Union-Tribune Staff Writer

Originally published 11:59 p.m. July 1, 2009, updated 8:30 a.m., July 2, 2009

CAMP PENDLETON — A person was being held in connection with the suspected homicide of a 29-year-old sailor who was found in a Camp Pendleton guard shack, Navy officials said yesterday.

The body of Seaman August Provost of Houston was discovered about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday on the western edge of the base, said Doug Sayers, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest.

An autopsy was completed yesterday, but authorities were waiting for results of toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.

A “person of interest” was being held in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. No charges have been filed.

The death has local gay activists calling for an investigation into whether Provost was slain because of his sexual orientation. “We’re definitely monitoring this, and trust and hope the military will investigate this in the professional way it should,” said Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of San Diego’s Human Rights Commission.

Murray-Ramirez said he had asked two San Diego members of Congress, Reps. Susan Davis and Bob Filner, to make official inquiries with the military.

Provost’s partner, Kaether Cordero, said Provost was openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part.

“People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero said from Houston. “He didn’t care that they knew. He trusted them.”

Provost had recently complained to family members about a person who was harassing him, so they advised him to tell his supervisor, said his sister, Akalia Provost of Houston.

“He’s the type that if someone comes at him, he walks away. He never stands and argues,” she said. “He didn’t deserve anything but a good life.”

Provost was assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 at Camp Pendleton. He had completed three years of college before joining the Navy in March 2008 to help finance his education, and was studying to become an architectural engineer.

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Florida, of course!

But not Disney World — he’s been living in Fantasyland for too long already. No, the Palm Beach Post reports that he will be joining his wife tomorrow, no doubt with tail between legs, at her family’s place in a gated community called Loblolly Bay in Hobe Sound.

And you were dreading your family’s July 4th get-together. Who needs fireworks?

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This Old House scoured the United States, and for the first time, Canada, to find unique, tight-knit neighborhoods for their second annual search for the best old-house neighborhoods. These places might not be on your radar, but deserve to be, according to the magazine’s editors.

This Old House magazine (pg. 48) and thisoldhouse.com feature 51 great spots that fit the criteria of old-house neighborhoods – architectural diversity, craftsmanship of the homes, and the preservation momentum in the area as well as neighborhood amenities including walkability, safety and community. With the help of PreservationDirectory.com, neighborhood groups, real estate agents, and preservation societies, This Old House compiled their list of the best places to track down, fix up, and fall head over heels for.

The Best Old-House Neighborhoods are:

ALABAMA
Capitol Heights, Montgomery

ALASKA
Ketchikan

ARIZONA
West University, Tucson

ARKANSAS
Eureka Springs

CALIFORNIA
Temescal, Oakland

COLORADO
The North Side District, Pueblo

CONNECTICUT
Old Wethersfield

DELAWARE
Smyrna

FLORIDA
Seminole Heights, Tampa

GEORGIA
Newnan

HAWAII
Lanai

IDAHO
Weiser

ILLINOIS
Elgin

INDIANA
Woodruff Place

IOWA
Guttenberg

KANSAS
Leavenworth

KENTUCKY
Covington

LOUISIANA
Lower Garden District, New Orleans

MAINE
Douglas Park, Brunswick

MARYLAND
Lauraville, Baltimore

MASSACHUSETTS
The Highlands, Fall River

MICHIGAN
The Vine Neighborhood, Kalamazoo

MINNESOTA
Morgan Park, Duluth

MISSISSIPPI
Poplar Springs Historic District, Meridian

MISSOURI
The Southmoreland Neighborhood, Kansas City

MONTANA
Hi Bug Neighborhood, Red Lodge

NEBRASKA
The Dundee Neighborhood, Omaha

NEVADA
Virginia City

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Hopkinton

NEW JERSEY
Atlantic Highlands

NEW MEXICO
Huning Highlands, Albuquerque

NEW YORK
Richmond Hill, Queens

NORTH CAROLINA
East Durham

NORTH DAKOTA
Southside Historic District, Fargo

OHIO
College Hill, Cincinnati

OKLAHOMA
Guthrie

OREGON
Boise, Portland

PENNSYLVANIA
Beaver

RHODE ISLAND
Quality Hill, Pawtucket

SOUTH CAROLINA
Georgetown

SOUTH DAKOTA
Central Residential Historic District, Brookings

TENNESSEE
Fayetteville

TEXAS
Houston Heights, Houston

UTAH
Sugar House neighborhood, Salt Lake City

VERMONT
The Hill Section, Burlington

VIRGINIA
Church Hill, Richmond

WASHINGTON
Barge-Chestnut Neighborhood, Yakima

WEST VIRGINIA
Wheeling

WISCONSIN
Brewer’s Hill, Milwaukee

WYOMING
South Wolcott District, Casper

CANADA
St. Patrick’s Ward, Guelph, Ontario

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If you’re Brian Blair (mug shot at right), nothin’ much but some bad publicity, apparently. Check out these reports from Fox NewsRadio, and after the break, TBO.com, in which an assistant state attorney characterizes the incident as “discipline.” UPDATE: The St. Petersburg Times goes into further detail on the case and the reasons for the charges being dropped, referring to a memo from Assistant State Attorney Rita Peters that indicates Blair “took more punches than he gave.” (That would explain his condition in the mug shot).

TAMPA, Fla., (970 WFLA) - The Hillsborough State Attorneys office said it will not file child abuse charges against former Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair.

The State Attorneys Office won’t comment, but said prosecutors will not pursue the case against Blair.

Blair was arrested on Father’s Day.  He was charged with hitting his two teenaged sons.  There were no serious injuries.

After the break, the story from TBO.com:

TAMPA — The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office won’t prosecute Brian Blair on child abuse charges.

Blair was arrested on Father’s Day after a confrontation involving his two sons.

In a memorandum, Assistant State Attorney Rita Peters characterized the scuffle between Blair and his 17-year-old son Brett as “discipline,” given the history between the two.

When Bradley Blair, the younger son, called 911, he told dispatchers that his brother had “gone crazy,” the memo said.

Peters wrote that Brett Blair was more aggressive and hit his father more than his father hit him. Brian Blair’s injuries appeared to be defensive, she wrote.

There were inconsistencies in witness statements about who punched whom, she wrote.

Deputies initially arrested Blair on felony child abuse charges, after Brett Blair told deputies his father grabbed him, punched him in the face and put him in a choke hold, the Sheriff’s Office report said. He then grabbed younger son Bradley by the throat and punched him, the report said.

As he left jail last month, Blair called the arrest “a real, I guess, unfortunate situation. It’s a misunderstanding that could have been prevented.”

“I have over 7,000 hours mentoring children, and the last thing I’d ever do is hurt a kid,” Blair said at the time. “Sometimes, the hardest kids to mentor are your own.”

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By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor

As we remember Stonewall and the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, the progressive community is understandably frustrated with the pace of our administration in bringing about real change.

They have a point.

Enough already with the military’s ridiculous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

And it’s about time we legalize gay marriage.

Yet after the stunning parades this weekend and the first official recognition of the movement by a sitting working US President, I’m filled with more hope than ever before.

Which is why I didn’t allow my blood pressure to rise when WFLA/News Channel 8 aired an “it would be disturbing if it weren’t so silly” documentary infomercial Saturday night about wicked gays trying to silence Christians. I urged my fellow libs to take deep breaths and see this program for what it was — a spoiled brat stomping his feet and holding his breath in the hopes of getting attention and that last piece of cake.

“Their world is ending, Mary,” I said with a giggle. “It’s falling down around them and they can’t do a thing to stop it. Let’s not be so reactionary. Pass the Sangria and shut the fuck up. I want to hear what these freakshows have to say so I can make fun of them later.”

My calls for calm were roundly ignored. Equality Florida and St. Pete Pride urged boycotts and asked supporters to write letters, send emails, and make phone calls (oh my) designed to make it all go away.

And yet the show went off without a hitch.

Either News Channel 8 wasn’t impressed or paradegoers were too busy using their mouths and hands for other pursuits.

It was, after all, a Saturday night.

But a few of my gays started screaming and using the c-word.

And that’s when I put my motherfucking foot down.

We should be extremely concerned when we start behaving like the tyrannical fundies we rail against. And the whole, “Would it be all right to allow Holocaust deniers to broadcast a program on Rosh Hashanah?” smacks of intellectual desperation.

Come on, we can do better than succumb to a lazy metaphor.

Let’s get angry about the lies the radical right spews under their crosses and from behind their Bibles. Absolutely, let’s laugh among ourselves about how funny it is that their movement is dying and true equality is within reach. Let’s counter illogical arguments with reasoned debate and religious mumbo-jumbo with good old-fashioned wisdom.

If we try to shut them up, their rallying cry becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Who needs that? Haters are like roaches, running for cover when the light of knowledge and truth shines upon them.

I prefer they stay in the light. It’s easier to aim the bug spray.

And besides, Mary, that’s how we’ll win.

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

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His candidacy has been called “quixotic” as he flies into the face of a Republican challenger who likely will be Charlie Crist, but Kendrick Meek is strongly confident in his ability to force Floridians to examine the real record of their favorite, white-haired governor.

Meek is a rising star in the Democratic Party, finding himself with a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after just four terms in office. Helps to have a progressive voting record and agenda. It probably also doesn’t hurt when your mom served on the House Appropriations Committee with (now Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, as Congresswoman Carrie Meek did.

He’s largely untested (he won his seat in Congress unopposed after his mother retired so close to the qualifying deadline that nobody could mount a real challenge to her son) but he’s shown great energy and won a good deal of the hearts and minds in the Florida Democratic Party, so much so that a few major challengers have stepped aside rather than force an expensive primary race with him.

Meek was in Tampa today and stopped by the Creative Loafing offices. We talked about how to pay for health care reform, whether the stimulus is working, his role in forcing smaller class sizes in public schools and his famous 2000 showdown with then-Gov. Jeb Bush over the dismantling of affirmative action in the state, which resulted in a 26-hour sit-in at the lobby of the Governor’s Office after Bush refused to meet with him and another lawmaker.

He also had this to say when I asked him why he is so confident he can beat Crist:

Meek: Well, first of all, I am running for the people of the state of Florida, and the governor happens to be a candidate in the race. That’s the way I look at it. It’s hard for me to have you see what I see, throughout the state of Florida, I see a very strong will and the desire of the people of the state of Florida to better their community and their state. I offer myself as a member of the House of Representatives from a safe district where I can be a member of Congress for a very, very long time. My grandchildren could see me be a member of Congress, because I work hard on behalf of not only my district but also the state of Florida.

When the election day rolls around, titles will not be on the ballot, only the name and the track record. This is a very historic campaign, because there hasn’t been a statewide elected official that has qualified by petition, that’s 112, 476 signatures. It’s important that we qualify that way so we can hear the stories of Florida. Just because I’ve been … in public service 15 years, that doesn’t necessarily mean I understand all of the issues and know what’s going on in the homes of every Floridian. But I can tell you in the 57 counties of the 67 counties that have turned in petitions to help place my name on the ballot, it is already made me a better candidate and eventually will make me a better senator. That experience will allow us to rise up from the primary experience into a general election, and as we start to look at the issues that are facing Florida, as we start to look at who will be in the majority and who will be in the minority in Washington, D.C., I think one of the bigger questions for this entire Senate race will be: Governor, you’re the most powerful elected official in the state of Florida, politically. You could sign a piece of paper and change the outlook for Floridians. You’re relinquishing that and that position in the majority in Tallahassee, [where] you have the House and the Senate supermajorities that are there, you could help us. But you have opted to run for the US Senate, going to a legislative mode from an executive mode to then serve in the minority in the US Senate, and you’re saying that you’re doing all of this for us. And in many minds of Floridians, I believe, that goes against good common sense and logic, if you’re doing it for the people. So there has to be something a little different there, and he’s going to have to explain that, more than I have to explain why I am running for the US Senate as a member of the House of Representatives. My intentions are pure.

My track record has been one of helping people, helping small business, and and being a fighter on behalf of the poeple that I represent. And I want to represent all of Florida, and that’s the reason that I got into this race first. That’s the reason I am qualifying by petition. And that’s the reason we will continue to build this grass-roots campaign throughout the state. And when I’m elected, God willing, I want to be one of the best senators Florida has ever seen as it relates to constituent service, as it relates to giving a strong voice for Florida and in the US Senate, and I’m very excited about the response that we’ve seen thus far.

We’re a year and a half before the election, and there’s a lot of ground to cover.

To listen to the entire podcast, Download here.

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