Florida Megathread

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Being a charismatic idiot got Reagan two landslide victories.

But fortunately, Scott doesn't strike me as being charismatic! He's just an another tea partier who has destroyed Florida and tries to be seen as a moderate with his "teacher pay raise", even if he signed major budget cuts in education fews years ago...

You don't even live here. I do. Scott has hardly destroyed this state. Hell, from what I've seen, people are building once again. My Uncle is tearing down houses once again, and is getting more trucking runs (his other job) than before. My dad is getting more tenants (he rents storage space and parking to truckers). My other uncle has two jobs, but they were two jobs that didn’t exist three years ago. The sun is shining in this state, literally, and metaphorically.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Crist will easily win the Democratic nomination for Governor and win the general election in November.

   
Thanks for this detailed and thought provoking information. I wish I had such insight into the future.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Being a charismatic idiot got Reagan two landslide victories.

But fortunately, Scott doesn't strike me as being charismatic! He's just an another tea partier who has destroyed Florida and tries to be seen as a moderate with his "teacher pay raise", even if he signed major budget cuts in education fews years ago...

You don't even live here. I do. Scott has hardly destroyed this state. Hell, from what I've seen, people are building once again. My Uncle is tearing down houses once again, and is getting more trucking runs (his other job) than before. My dad is getting more tenants (he rents storage space and parking to truckers). My other uncle has two jobs, but they were two jobs that didn’t exist three years ago. The sun is shining in this state, literally, and metaphorically.

I'm not sure he's the man who has improved Florida, he's more a lucky man.

But he stays a ing bastard: just for 2012 he should be in jail.

And what did he do in 2012 that was illegal?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Being a charismatic idiot got Reagan two landslide victories.

But fortunately, Scott doesn't strike me as being charismatic! He's just an another tea partier who has destroyed Florida and tries to be seen as a moderate with his "teacher pay raise", even if he signed major budget cuts in education fews years ago...

You don't even live here. I do. Scott has hardly destroyed this state. Hell, from what I've seen, people are building once again. My Uncle is tearing down houses once again, and is getting more trucking runs (his other job) than before. My dad is getting more tenants (he rents storage space and parking to truckers). My other uncle has two jobs, but they were two jobs that didn’t exist three years ago. The sun is shining in this state, literally, and metaphorically.

I'm not sure he's the man who has improved Florida, he's more a lucky man.

But he stays a ing bastard: just for 2012 he should be in jail.

And what did he do in 2012 that was illegal?

Please, you know exactly what I mean.

No, not really. Elaborate.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I would call him a corrupt bastard if enough evidence existed for him to at least be investigated by the state, which to my knowledge, he hasn't.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I would call him a corrupt bastard if enough evidence existed for him to at least be investigated by the state, which to my knowledge, he hasn't.

Oh please, this is obvious, even more obvious than Aaron Schock being gay. Why would he have curtailed early voting?
Once again, I won't do my moralist "blablabla, you should be ashamed of yourself for supporting him blabla". I can understand that you prefer to vote for a corrupt bastard than for someone who strongly despises. But please, recognize he's a corrupt bastard, just for intellectual honesty.

You talk about intellectual honesty yet to offer no proof other than your opinion, which you believe is true because he is a "corrupt bastard."

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I would call him a corrupt bastard if enough evidence existed for him to at least be investigated by the state, which to my knowledge, he hasn't.

Oh please, this is obvious, even more obvious than Aaron Schock being gay. Why would he have curtailed early voting?
Once again, I won't do my moralist "blablabla, you should be ashamed of yourself for supporting him blabla". I can understand that you prefer to vote for a corrupt bastard than for someone who strongly despises. But please, recognize he's a corrupt bastard, just for intellectual honesty.

You talk about intellectual honesty yet to offer no proof other than your opinion, which you believe is true because he is a "corrupt bastard."

Because he has curtailed early voting, why wouldn't have he done that, if not for targeting minority voters? Why? Answer.

I am not inside Rick Scotts head. Are you? Do you have objective proof that he specifically did this to target minority voters? Did he say out loud "I'm gonna stop black people from voting?" Quit projecting motives and demanding every Scott supporter acknowledge your opinion as if it is fact.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Rubio: will Crist run on 8% unemployment, deficits and a collapsing economy?

Who?

Crist. He was the conservative Republican Governor of Florida who schemed to get on the McCain ticket in 2008.....

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The incumbents are way way out-raising and are out-polling their Democratic challengers. I'm pretty sure Putnam is safe as Ag Commish as he's allowed to have it, CFO Atwater has over a million in his war chest while his opponent is at something like $10,000 raised in total, he's safe too. The AG race is the only potentially interesting one, having two halfway-serious challengers, one being the House minority leader and the other being a former Secretary of the Department of Children and Families. Neither of them have really raised much money or done anything too spectacular though, and with the state's lean helping her I'd say the race is something like likely R.

I agree, though I think Bondi is more vunerable than you think, if the D's step up their fundraising a bit.

Let me set you straight now. Perry Thurston has literally no f[inks]ing chance on Gods green earth. Actually ask a Floridian about him: they will either laugh or ask "who?"

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Crist meets Lopez-Cantera.

That was kind of awkward.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Crist meets Lopez-Cantera.

That was kind of awkward.

#givemescott.

I thought it was pretty awesome. Crist just shut CLC down, and was pretty funny while doing so.

I thought Crist was trying to give CLC the Lyndon Johnson treatment, especially with the way he turned around and yelled "give me Scott." Seemed obnoxious to me.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What should be done with the Florida Democratic Party?

Burnt to the ground and merged into the Florida GOP of course! The left of the state party going off and joining some bizare Green Party like group that can't win. I want my future in campaign management to be easy down here .

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What should be done with the Florida Democratic Party?

Burnt to the ground

This part, at least, is accurate. Step one is to burn it to the ground. Burn the whole damn thing to the ground, including most (if not all) of current party leadership. Replace local leaders, replace state leaders, and replace elected officials - especially, for instance, some local DECs. A full-level cleansing by fire. The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem, and have had a problem since '92.

Step two is to refocus. Look, I want to target North Florida. I think the party should, in an ideal world, be able to win North Florida. But GOTV is a logistical nightmare. I'd rather put people in Broward than in the 14,000 square miles of North Florida - 8% the size and a hell of a lot easier to do GOTV in. It's also, finally, electorally irrelevant. Alex Sink could've seen a 20% swing in North Florida and still lost. Alternatively, she could've seen a 4% swing in Broward and Dade, and that'd be the same as 20% of that area. The FDP needs to refocus on South Florida - geographically smaller, growing, and more about GOTV among the base than convincing conservatives to back us. The FDP can win Dade, we can win Broward, and we should be targeting and Democratizing Orange, Pinellas, Seminole, etc. - counties where we have a voter registration edge that the FDP is failing at translating into electoral victories. Focus on state legislative seats there, make a difference there, and actually win the counties that matter.

Step 3 is better candidates, because who we've got now is nothing short of pathetic. There are 47 House seats that should be safely Democratic - carried by both Sink and Obama. We've got 44 seats in the legislature right now. There are 58 districts carried by either Sink or Obama, districts the Democrats should at least be competitive in. But the FDP just isn't being as competitive as it should be. Look at our 2014 candidates for statewide office - we couldn't find anyone better than a former bureaucrat from Ohio to run for CFO? I'd say something cynical about our Ag Commish candidate too, but I have no idea who he is. Except for Bob Butterworth and Alex Sink, we haven't had any statewide cabinet victories in this millennium, and only the AG races haven't been blowout Republican wins. We have no big-name candidates in FL-10 or FL-16, both very winnable seats, and don't even have anybody in FL-13, because the local Dem party decided to push aside a legitimate candidate in exchange for an ex-Republican from Tampa who'd never held elected office and graduated from a diploma mill. We especially need to start focusing on the young. In Florida, the Republican Party is the party of the young. Maybe not in votes, but certainly in elected officials. Will Weatherford, Marco Rubio, Adam Putnam, Anitere Flores, John Legg, Steve Crisafulli, Matt Gaetz - these are young people. And Democrats just aren't investing in their youth wings on anywhere near the level the Republicans are, even controlling for how moneyed the parties are. They've got a youth wing, and we just really don't have any sort of equivalent - maybe for putting together signs and licking envelopes, but not for investing in a new generation of leaders.

Worth mentioning that the Democratic Mayor of Alachua just endorsed Rick Scott as I was typing the above. Ugh.

First of all, this post (like all of your posts regarding anything) was awesome.

When I worked on the campaign in 2012, the staff was entirely under 30. The entire FL-GOP's base of operatives are all between 25-40, it seems. I don't know if the Democratic Party is made up of mostly young operatives, but the candidate who we were running against had an older staff (all in their forties and fifties, it appeared). They definitely need to tap into this pool of knowledge coming out of FSU-literally, every person I worked with on that campaign either graduated from FSU, or were students at FSU (besides  a few out of state interns). I am going to apply to the school myself, as its prime location in the capital naturally makes it the Mecca of Florida political strategists.

I am sure the FLDP could recruit some young people there, and they could also make a greater effort to reach high school students in the hopes of driving them into the political science program (I get the feeling that the political science classes at FSU are dominantly Republican, but I base that off of anecdotal evidence). Younger politicians are in short supply for the FL-Dems. Joe Abruzzo, who represents the Senate district just north of me, is a rare example of a younger Democrat in the legislature. When I think of the FLDP’s legislative bench, I immediately picture Gwen Margolis, Nan Rich, or Eleanor Sobel. On the national level, you do have Patrick Murphy, but he isn’t going to be running for Agriculture Commissioner of CFO in his lifetime-I suspect he has his eyes on the Senate already.

You’re totally right about South Florida as well, and if the FLDP actually began to focus heavily down here, the FL-GOP would be in trouble. In Palm Beach County, the GOP is shrinking day by day. Independents now outnumber Republicans in South Florida. The meetings of the PBC GOP’s executive committee are even older than the Democratic caucus in the legislature . Most of the young Republicans I worked with on the campaign are all from north Florida, in particular the Tallahassee area. But down here, there are very few active young Republicans. We don’t even have a Teenaged Republicans group in the area anymore-I have been thinking about joining the FAU college Republicans to stay involved. This is an area that can swing the state due to the sizeable population, and with areas like Tampa, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville, can probably turn Florida atlas red if the Florida Democrats read your post and take your advice.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

So when does Crist plan on advertising? He seems to be making the Romney mistake of letting his opponent have the airwaves to himself for a long period of time. It might not end up mattering in the end since Scott is so toxic, but it seems like a severe miscalculation.

So far I have seen one Crist bumpersticker and a thousand Scott attack ads that are ripping him to shreds. Other than that, you'd have no idea he was running.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Thought I posted this here last week, I guess I didn't.

Crist criticized for vague Obama answers at National Action Network

You must be logged in to read this quote.

When you've been impeached by Congress for taking bribes and committing perjury, you do don't call Barack Obama...or maybe you do.  Alcee Hastings would know

Alcee Hastings? I call him Congressman Golden Sink .

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

At least the RPOF is current.

So are both main parties in Florida just awful at what they do?

Are you kidding? That is a really, really good one. It sends the message home to the average apolitical, undecided voter that Crist is only here to advance himself (as is Scott, but he at least hides it).

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Are you kidding? That is a really, really good one. It sends the message home to the average apolitical, undecided voter that Crist is only here to advance himself (as is Scott, but he at least hides it).

"If you vote for Charlie Crist, you'll get 4 great years and 2 championship rings. Charlie Crist is one of the best in the league."

"But then after four years he will run off to a lesser place (Cleveland and Washington)."

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Are you kidding? That is a really, really good one. It sends the message home to the average apolitical, undecided voter that Crist is only here to advance himself (as is Scott, but he at least hides it).

"If you vote for Charlie Crist, you'll get 4 great years and 2 championship rings. Charlie Crist is one of the best in the league."

"But then after four years he will run off to a lesser place (Cleveland and Washington)."

"And you still got a great four years." It's just not a well-thought-out ad.

As a side note, the Crist campaign is up with their first TV ad, Sunshine. Attention whoring, but I'm at around 20 seconds on the right in the blue shirt.

Dude, thats awesome!! How did you know that is you or that you were being filmed? And I thought I was the sh*t when I was used in Allen West file footage on the least watched local news channel in my area .

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Rick Scott has refused to show up at the debate because there was a fan on stage.

Edit: he's now on stage. Impressive performance - committing a gaffe before even opening his mouth. Seven minutes of debate time spent on fangate.

That was the biggest finksup I've ever seen. Scott's flailing bad.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Dominating.

I can't even begin to defend Scott on that move. That was just bad. Really, really bad.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Scott really, really screwed up. He should have come up, apologized for the delay, and then make a snarky comment about Charlie not being able to stand the heat. It would have been great. Instead...this happened.

Rick Scott has refused to show up at the debate because there was a fan on stage.

What kind of fan are we talking about?

Yep. Over a little fan more or less like that.

LOL, looks like the criminal isn't thinking straight. He must be scared of the eminent thrashing that awaits him in 20 short days. Criminals do not get through Checkpoint Charlie!

He got thrashed. I'll give you that. But then again, Romney thrashed Obama only to lose two more debates. So Scott *still* can overcome this. But this is going to haunt him until the very end.

Fatal mistake in such a close race, I'm predicting a 49-45 win for Crist.

Shut up.

At least we know Crist won the debate

And maybe the election. I am changing my prediction from 49.9% Scott/49.5ish Crist to 50-49% Crist to Scott. This was dreadful.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Dominating.

I can't even begin to defend Scott on that move. That was just bad. Really, really bad.

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and edit my predictions. Stuff like this matters in close races, that clip is gonna get played over and over again (rightfully so).

It isn't over yet, but...this was just...ugh.

While Scott shouldn't have thrown a hissy fit, let's not lose sight of the fact that diva Charlie needed a fan at his legs.

He always does that.

It's his trademark, but if the agreement-which the moderators insisted upon keep in mind-was followed, the fan would have been removed. Charlie was a douche to begin with, but he got the reaction he wanted. Props to Charlie for a smart, borderline Nixonian move.

While Scott shouldn't have thrown a hissy fit, let's not lose sight of the fact that diva Charlie needed a fan at his legs.

I don't know why Voldemort was worried about the fan. It's not like it could've ruined his hair.

Orangeman needs to keep cool. He can't stand the heat.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Scott will have so many nice welts after his impeding spanking.

Your not funny. And trust me, I'm not butthurt. Lief and IceSpear are bringing a smile to my face (an awkward, ugh type of smile, but a smile none the less), but your just a bandwagon idiot. Try stealing some new jokes. Perhaps "dominating?"

While Scott shouldn't have thrown a hissy fit, let's not lose sight of the fact that diva Charlie needed a fan at his legs.

He always does that.

So he's a diva all the time. Great.

It was 90 degrees with 93% humidity where the debate was today. Dude sweats. Get over it. Y'all, like Charlie, need to chill

Correct and last time I checked, no one else that had to deal with the heat demanded a small electric fan. It's not a huge deal but it's still so damn diva-ish.

The moderators tried to get him to remove the fan. He argued. They had bigger fish to fry with Scott's hissy fit, but Charlie should have removed the damn fan. He would have embarrased Scott even more had he done so.

And yeah, Orangeman is a huge diva. I have a relative who dated him back in the early 1990s who can attest to the fact (yes, I know this is empirical snarkiness from me, but that is what the whole post debate point of this thread has been anyway).

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Is the relative that dated Crist a man?

No, a woman who he never once even kissed over eight months. They might have been engaged IIRC. She is a distant relative, but her mother (my great-aunt) would know. Just a stupid little story that doesn't detract from what happened tonight outside of my own butt-hurtery.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

It isn't over yet, but...this was just...ugh.

"Privately, Republicans/Rick Scott loyalists are telling me the moment he didn't go onstage over fangate was the moment he lost the election." - Marc Caputo

I'm not calling it yet, but this is definitely a couple points - more than Sink '10 phonegate level.

It's his trademark, but if the agreement-which the moderators insisted upon keep in mind-was followed, the fan would have been removed. Charlie was a douche to begin with, but he got the reaction he wanted. Props to Charlie for a smart, borderline Nixonian move.

Phonegate was in the commercial break. It was bad, but it was largely ignored. This was very, very, very public. Scott needs to come back hard at the next debate, or he has lost. Your 100% right (and so is Caputo).