The Political Whore

Angela Rouson stepped into the Creative Loafing recording studio this week to discuss her campaign for St. Petersburg City Council in District 5, against fellow newcomers Steve Kornell and retired police officer Joe Smith. Yes, she’s the wife of powerhouse (and controversial) African American politician Darryl Rouson; but she came off as her own person — bright, articulate, well-informed and passionate — in her recent Suncoast Tiger Bay Club event, and she likewise was engaging in this interview.

I asked her if she felt that St. Pete cops were being “reined in” and not fighting crime to the fullest of their ability, and she said:

I’ve talked with the sheriff, Sheriff Coats, I’ve talked with Chief Harmon (and done ride-alongs with both agencies), and the general consensus is there is some of that. And there is also a lack of resources to be able to address issues, because if you are going to take down, for example, a drug house, you need more than one officer on the beat. I think they are being held back to some extent, but I think resources play into that as well.

Is there a racial political component to the police being held back?

I can’t really answer that question. But what I can say is there is no rational reason for not addressing the crime. …As a member of City Council I’m going to work to make sure that the mayor works with the chief of police to be more aggressive in addressing the issues.

I also asked her — given her husband’s controversial anti-gay statement that being gay was “morally wrong” (he later apologized for saying it) — if she would participate in St. Pete Pride and about her stance on domestic partner benefits. Hear her answers after the jump in the full podcast:

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Brian Blair: the political action figure, fighting for the rights of parents everywhere

You knew this was coming: Brian Blair has started his comeback bid after being cleared of child-abuse charges in a fight with his sons, even as he also fights elections law charges in connection with checks he accepted during his failed 2008 campaign.

Blair, in an exclusive sit-down with News Channel 8 set to air tonight at 11, said:

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By George Niemann
PoHo contributor and R-LAND and UCAN activist

It looks like Commissioner Ken Hagan has decided to become the first point of contact for all county residents with problems.

As you may recall, Wayne Garcia reported that Hagan (District 2) has been distributing fliers in District 1 in what the Hillsborough County Commission chairman calls a public service gesture.  As it turns out, the distribution of these fliers is heralding a new method of operation for the county,  which is the brainchild of Hagan. During these hard economic times, Hagan has decided to singlehandedly re-engineer the way the county does business.

Interestingly enough, the flier says that Hagan wants to know about any issues that county residents have. He also encourages everyone to contact him saying, “Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can ever be of service.” Well, I decided to ask the commissioner if he really meant that. Is he going to work on anyone’s issue, regardless of which district they’re in? Does that mean that he intends to be the first point of contact for all of the districts??? I got some surprising answers when I called his office.

I spoke with Hagan’s senior aide, Rich Reidy by telephone on Monday. Reidy emphatically supports his boss’s idea of being the first point of contact for any inquiries, on a countywide basis. Here’s how Reidy responded to my questions: Read the rest of this entry »

It sure doesn’t seem like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee knows that Bartow Congressman Adam Putnam won’t be around to take the heat in 2010.

The DCCC announced a new robocall, e-mail and text message camnpaign aimed at hurting 12 Republicans who were prominent in voting against the Obama stimulus plan.

DailyKos says:

Here’s an example of the automated calls that will be running:

Hello, I’m calling on behalf of House Democrats with an important message about the economy.

Did you know Congressman Thad McCotter voted against President Obama’s economic recovery plan, endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? McCotter’s empty rhetoric can’t hide that he voted to raise the AMT tax on 22 million middle class Americans and against the largest tax cut in history.

Call McCotter at 734-632-0314 to ask why he voted to raise taxes on middle class families.

Check out Recovery For America to learn more.

On the list of the dirty dozen is Putnam, who has already announced he is leaving his congressional office to run for the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture.

Now, of course the DCCC knows that Putnam is going bye-bye; it is already trying to field good candidates to run for that seat. But still, running the robocalls in either an attempt to sway his votes over the next year and a half or as punishment for his future political ambitions seems to waste precious campaign dollars.

It won’t be incumbent Republican Mel Martinez, who shocked the establishment today with his announcement that he will be a one-term wonder:

The Senate is the only federal office carrying a six-year term, so a decision about whether to run for re-election is one that my family and I have carefully considered over the past year. It was a question that came to mind as I wrote my book – causing me to reflect on the path I’ve chosen, and to think about, with love and gratitude, those who’ve traveled with me.

The inescapable truth, for me, is that the call to public service is strong, but the call to home, family and lifelong friends is even stronger.

So today, with deep love for this country and with sincere gratitude to the people who placed their trust in me, I announce that I will not run for reelection to the United States Senate.

(full text after the jump)

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Martinez’s fundraising had lagged, hurt by a probe into his 2004 campaign.

And until Martinez made his surprising announcement, it wasn’t going to be Florida CFO Alex Sink, either. Sink had signaled to numerous reporters that she was taking a pass on the 2010 Senate race in favor of sitting tight as the highest-ranking elected Democrat in the state. But in the aftermath of Martinez’s surprise, Sink is rethinking the race, according to March on Politics:

Suddenly, after Sen. Mel Martinez’s announcement that he won’t run for re-election, Alex Sink’s staff is retracting her leaked plans to forgo the Senate race. “I spoke too soon—there’s not going to be an announcement today,” a Sink spokeswoman said.

Unnamed sources close to Sink had spread the word among reporters this morning that she would run for re-election to her chief financial officer seat in 2010 rather than seek the Martinez Senate seat. A formal announcement would be coming before lunchtime, they said.

Best guess: The Martinez pull-out puts Sink back into it, since she has been looking for either an open Senate seat or Governor’s race for her next jump up. But she won’t be alone in the primary. Expect lots of other Democrats to take a look, including former state House Minority Leader Dan Gelber and South Florida state Sen. Dave Aronberg.

On the GOP side, it will be a free-for-all, with Attorney General Bill McCollum clearly coveting the return trip to Washington that he tried to win in 2004. The deep GOP bench could also find players such as former House Speaker Marco Rubio and Sen. Dan Webster. More to come on this speculation, and that’s all it is for now.

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Throughout modern political history, just about every time there has been an epic dirty trick played, Roger Stone was nearby. Who tipped the cops about Eliot Spitzer frequenting hookers? Stone. Who got a hand in Nixon’s dirty tricks? Stone. Close to Lee Atwater? Stone. The Michelle Obama “whitey” tape rumors? Stone. Bumrushing the Miami-Dade County 2000 presidential recount, halting it and catapulting George W. Bush to the White House? Stone. The alleged Charlie Crist sex tape? Stone again.

Here’s my favorite all-time description of Stone, from Jeffrey Toobin in The New Yorker earlier this year:

While the Republican Party usually claims Ronald Reagan as its inspiration, Stone represents the less discussed but still vigorous legacy of Richard Nixon, whose politics reflected a curious admixture of anti-Communism, social moderation, and tactical thuggery. Stone believes that Nixonian hardball, more than sunny Reaganism, is John McCain’s only hope for the Presidency.

Now, The Daily Beast’s Bejamin Sarlin has an interview with Stone in which the GOP operative says he is sorry for his role in pushing FLA over to the W column:

“There have been many times I’ve regretted it,” Stone told me over pizza at Grand Central Station. “When I look at those double-page New York Times spreads of all the individual pictures of people who have been killed [in Iraq], I got to think, ‘Maybe there wouldn’t have been a war if I hadn’t gone to Miami-Dade. Maybe there hadn’t have been, in my view, an unjustified war if Bush hadn’t become president.’ It’s very disturbing to me.”

Stone voted for Bush in 2004 as well (“John Kerry was an elitist buffoon”) but he pulled no punches in his assessment of the last eight years. Stone’s own political philosophy is libertarian, and he says it conflicts with Bush’s penchant for expanded executive power.

“I think across the board he’s led the party to its current position, which means losing both houses of congress and now the White House,” Stone said. “How can you be conservative and justify wiretapping people without a warrant? We’re supposed to be the party of personal freedom and civil liberties. Big brother listening in on your phone calls—I got a problem with that.”

Ya think, Roger?

Today’s data mining of FEC reports takes us to Congressional 10, which covers some of St. Petersburg and the Pinellas beaches up to about Clearwater. Incumbent Republican C.W. Bill Young had lots of money to play with, raising $907,000.

Young likes to spend much of his money with well-known local consultants. Rocky Pennington’s Direct Mail Systems was paid $102,000 for printing, design and mailing services; Jack Hebert’s Mallard Group got $13,000 for brochures and online work.

More than just consultants did OK by Young. The Tampa Bay Rays got $7,500 for a luxury box rental for a fundraiser. The Hilton Carillon Hotel was paid $40,000 for a fund-raising event. The Pinellas County Republican Party got a solid $10K donation from the congressman. And Clear Channel Outdoor, a billboard company, was paid $42,000 so that Young’s message could beam down from on high into cars traveling the highways of the district.

Democratic challenger Bob Hackworth had less money to dole out, just $148,000. Alabama-based pollster Anzalone Liszt Reserach got $17,500. St. Petersburg Democratic general consultant Gregory Wilson’s Politicus/Parsons-Wilson was paid nearly $30,000 for consulting, printing and a variety of other campaign services. La.-based consultant Steve Verzwyvelt, Jr. was paid $17,500 to manage the race.

It’s November 6, 2008 in Hillsborough: Do you know who your county commissioner is?

No, you don’t. And that’s exactly what Kevin Beckner’s campaign manager, Mitch Kates, predicted. He’s currently slightly ahead of incumbent Brian Blair, who has yet to concede as early votes are still being counted.

Check out Kates’ prescient concerns from this video, shot at 10:30 p.m. on Election Night at Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City:

Coverage from throughout Florida’s media. Top line is that Mike Alstott, former Buc running back, introduced John McCain:

Palm Beach Post: John McCain made his final pitch for Florida’s crucial 27 electoral votes here this morning, then planned to hit six other states today in a bid to pull off a come-from-behind presidential victory.

“The pundits may not know it, the Democrats may not know it, but the Mac is back,” a raspy-voiced McCain told a crowd of more than 1,000 outside Raymond James Stadium.

McCain was introduced by Gov. Charlie Crist and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Allstot. He was interrupted at one point by competing chants of “Nobama, Nobama” and “U.S.A., U.S.A.”

Orlando Sentinel: A defiant John McCain made one final plea to Florida voters this morning, imploring supporters at a boisterous rally here to ignore polls suggesting the election may be out of reach and turn out to vote Tuesday.

Nothing is inevitable,” McCain told the cheering and chanting throng of about 1,000 outside Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. “We never hide from history. We make history!”

Resurrecting the slogan that carried him through his improbable, come-from-behind run to the Republican nomination during the primaries, McCain told the crowd, “The pundits may not know it, the Democrats may not know it, but the Mac is back!”

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As reported in The Hill, the latest ad up in South Florida markets by incumbent Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart shows video of former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez opening a can of whoop-ass on a much smaller man during a protest in the heavily Latino city.

I echo the sentiment here that this kind of political speech is not cool. From a recent Sarah Palin private fundraising event:

via Wake Up America

Wake Up America decries the lack of MSM coverage of such hate speech against McCain-Palin and offers the above photo, which it said was e-mailed to the blog. The shot is fuzzy and taken by a camera phone. As for a lack of MSM coverage, I found it confirmed on ABC’s political blog and reported in the Politico.

It turns out that the duds are being sold online at a blog called Crucial Brutal. Here’s the model shot from the online store:

For sale: gender hate speech

There were good-size protests for Palin’s private fundraiser that day at a Philly hotel. Here’s the raw video (nausea warning: don’t watch this if you are feeling queasy, as the amateur cameraperson can’t hold the shot still for 2 seconds at a time):

And finally, I know just where you people are going in the comments so let me head you off at the pass: Just because John McCain has used the word cunt in the past doesn’t make it OK for you to use it now in reference to a woman politician.

Given the staff layoffs and today’s announcement that his chief political strategist and campaign manager have resigned, can a shift in McCain’s view on the Iraq War be far behind?

“Having just returned from Iraq on a fact-finding mission, I believe the war is lost and we must leave as soon as possible, starting in one hour,” McCain will say. “And we should build a really big fence to keep Mexicans out. And we should enlist citizens to drive carloads and truckloads of illegals back to where they came from. And we should …”

It’s a big night in Tampa Bay for Democratic politics and those addicted to it.

First, $15 will get you a chance to hear from John Edwards, whose presidential campaign is running in third place in Florida and nationally. Edwards is speaking at the Saunders Pavilion at the Lowry Park Zoo on Sligh Avenue in Tampa.  The “Small Change for Big Change” grassroots event has a 7 p.m. start time.

For those with even less small change than that, you can meet presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich on the west side of BayWalk in downtown St. Pete from  8:4-9:30 p.m., which coincides with the opening night in Tampa Bay for Michael Moore’s Sicko.

Local Progressive Democrats for America activists will also be on hand, touting John Conyers’ HB 676 national health insurance legislation.

“It’s a tragedy that we have poorer health care in this country than Cuba,” Pinellas PDA chairman Mike Fox said in a news release.  “It’s sad to see that a movie like this is needed, but it’s great to see Moore do such an outstanding job.”

I know I morning roundup’ed this already, but it is just too good and too enlightening about presidential candidate Mike Gravel to let it get away without putting the video right here and daring you, YES, daring you to watch it and draw your own conclusions. Is he on message?