The Political Whore

A stunning admission, if completely unsurprising to anybody who has run campaigns in any African-American community in this state: The way to get coverage in black-owned media is to pay for it.

That was the direct message to Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party, from a group of African-American media execs over the weekend:

“At the end of the day, it’s about money. If you buy advertising, you’re more likely to get coverage,” said Johnny Hunter, president of the Florida Association of Black Owned Media and publisher of Sarasota’s Tempo News.

That according to coverage of the meeting in the Orlando Sentinel. Greer’s response?

Greer promised that the party would stop ignoring black media. He said that mainstream newspapers such as the Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Tribune and Tallahassee Democrat cover the party’s issues regardless of whether they advertise, but the party chairman nevertheless seemed willing to accept the quid-pro-quo arrangement.

“When I hear that when we advertise, the paper will be more likely to disseminate Republican issues, am I hearing right?” Greer asked. “I don’t understand the legitimacy of disseminating information and having a tie-in to revenue — but I get it.”

By Mitch Perry
PoHo contributor
Mitch Perry is the anchor of the WMNF Evening News on 88.5 FM community radio

Last week, Lakeland State Senator Paula Dockery said she was seriously contemplating
a run for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010.

Apparently, she didn’t get the edict that party Chairman Jim Greer issued recently that all good Republicans should get behind Attorney General Bill McCollum’s candidacy.

But as far as Republican consultant (and soon to be PoHo contributor) Chris Ingram  is concerned, Dockery’s possible entrance into the race is a good thing.

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The year really DID seem to go by fast …

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Headlines after the jump:

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Greer, still flogging an improbable shot at the RNC chairmanship, writes in a guest column in Politico:

This election cycle marks the toughest political environment for Republicans since Watergate. Yet on Nov. 4, Florida emerged as a Republican stronghold in a nation swept by Democrat victories. Though Sen. John McCain was outspent in Florida by tens of millions, our Republican team’s impressive ground game made it possible to come within just two and a half points of winning Florida for McCain.

It was a perfect environment for Democrats in Florida. The nation wanted change. Florida Democrats were awash in cash and staff, with a never-before-seen-ground game. Yet the Florida Democrat Party defeated not one – not a single one – of our Republican incumbents in the Florida House and Senate. In Miami, an area Barack Obama carried, Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart both fended off credible, well-funded, DCCC-backed candidates. Republicans also picked up Congressional District 16 seat with Tom Rooney.

In addition to voting to maintain overwhelming Republican majorities in the state House and Senate, Floridians voted to cut taxes, define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and oppose tax increases for community colleges. Once again, voters here illustrated that Florida is still a red state where conservative values like growing the economy and cutting taxes are important to voters.

Why was Florida so successful when the majority of the nation fell into Democrat hands? The answer is simple: we’ve replaced divisive partisan rhetoric with common-sense solutions.

WTF? I recall covering the entire election and I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear one single “common-sense solution” from any candidate in either party. And Florida Republicans were just as partisan as they have always been with their rhetoric.

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