We knew it would be painful, here in Northeast Florida, to read the comments following a news story about Republican voter fraud.
After it was revealed that Palm Beach County, Fla. prosecutors began investigating Strategic Allied Consulting, one of many names for a “voting consultant” firm run by one man and paid $3.1 million so far by the Republican National Committee to register (Republican) voters, the Republican Party of Florida dumped the firm.
Which leads us to this story on a Jacksonville TV news website, and the colorful comments that followed. The last names were removed to protect the stupid. But one of word of advice: before you attempt to correct someone else’s spelling, make sure your own is at least in the ballpark.
Number of young minority voters who will be disenfranchised in the general election under Florida’s photo ID law, according to a study by the University of Chicago and Washington University. Florida already disenfranchised more voters, for a variety of reasons, in 2010 than did any other state.
Number of felons who have completed their sentences or been paroled and had their voting rights restored in Florida under Gov. Rick Scott (R/Tea) in 2011. By contrast, in 2007 when Charlie Crist (R/NPA) was governor, 38,871 former felons were allowed to vote again. The Florida Parole Commission has a current backlog of 21,197 applications even as a study by FPC showed that ex-felons whose civil rights are restored are less likely to re-offend.
— Pres. Obama, coming out of the closet about his affection for former Gov. Charlie Crist at a fundraiser in Tampa, site of the recent 2012 GOP convention. Crist went down in flames in his race for U.S. Senate against Marco Rubio as he switched from Republican to no party affiliation, married a New York socialite amid rumors that he is gay, and was dogged by a photograph of a clearly platonic shoulder hug with the president shortly after Obama was elected. Crist is said to be contemplating running for his old office of governor in 2014, but this time as a Democrat.
Florida Republicans are redefining the word “dirty” in the phrase “dirty politics.” Their latest trick is intended to keep Democrats away from the polls — voluntarily.
Mailers were sent to Democrats calling out candidates, like state Sen. Audrey Gibson, for not being progressive enough — especially for working or compromising with Republicans — and the pieces appear to come from fellow Democrats.
“Progressives” is run by a group of Republican operatives who are using mailers designed to look like they are from a Democratic-leaning group to attack Democrats across the state…
Guess who wins if Democrats stay home?
The group is chaired by Alachua County Republican Party Chairman Stafford Jones, who runs several other fund-raising groups that pay for political advertisements. It shares an address with the law firm of Richard Coates, general counsel for the Republican Party of Florida…
Response to an Orlando Sentinel poll asking whether Floridians would vote for Rick Scott or Charlie Crist for governor if the election were held today. Among those listed for whom people would also vote instead of Scott were all the Looney Tunes and Disney characters, the Cookie Monster, Casey Anthony, former Pres. Bill “Big Dog” Clinton, former Gov. Lawton Chiles (deceased), “anyone,” a stick, a rock, a ham sandwich, and a broken egg.
Remember when Christian Coalition founder and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson said the American Civil Liberties Union, feminists, blacks, and gays were responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks? Or when he said that Hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans as God’s answer to those who were pro-choice? How about when he said a Haitian earthquake was the result of a deal early Haitians made with the devil?
It looks like Florida, which Pat previously predicted would feel God’s wrath over Disneyworld’s annual “Gay Days” park admission, is finally getting its due. When Pat warned us in 1998, he turned out to be wrong, and the hurricane he thought was coming to Disney instead turned north to Virginia and smote the state that the 700 Club calls headquarters.
Now it looks like God is pissed again, and what is, as of this writing, Tropical Storm Isaac (but which will likely become Hurricane Isaac) is set to hit as Florida opens itself to the pit of inequity that is the Republican National Convention.
Consider how Republicans have recently earned God’s anger. […]
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), explaining on NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show why there is no need for NPR to get public funding. About 5.5% of Americans subscribe to satellite radio at a cost of from $10 to $20 per month, according to recent Nielsen figures. NPR supporters acknowledge that most rural areas of the country would not have access to the news and information currently available on public radio without government support.
Unfortunately, as an elected official character deformation that is totally fabricated can occur like this and there is not much I can do.
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R-Fla.), emailing a supporter and blaming the media for recent allegations that she was having a lesbian affair with her travel aide. We think Carroll meant, “character defamation,” but then, we thought she was straight.
After a term with Gov. Charlie Crist, you’d think Floridians would be used to rumors of gay goings-on in the governor’s suite. But even normally unflappable Floridians are reeling at the news that Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R) might be…How did that one really rude web site put it? Oh yeah, a “carpet muncher.”
Carroll, 52, a former Navy veteran born in Trinidad and married mother of three, including Miami Dolphins player Nolan Carroll, is known as an ultra social conservative, pushing abstinence-only education, among other favorite rightwing initiatives. She’s also had to explain shifting income reporting (her net worth has varied depending on whether she was filling out tax returns or applying for low-income minority business set-asides), how she made speeding tickets in her former legislative district disappear without paying any fines, and how she rented an office whose location would have shown eligibility to bid for additional female-owned business set-asides, except it was already occupied by a private detective.
Report: ‘When she entered the office, she found the Lieutenant Governor and her Travel Aide, Beatriz Ramos, in what can only be described as a compromising position’
Carroll, like her boss, Gov. Rick Scott, also has a reputation for dealing harshly with perceived enemies. Scott, for example, recently tried unsuccessfully to have three judges that he considered liberal prosecuted for improper election filings because they had their paperwork notarized by a state worker, a practice so common no one realized it was verboten.
Carroll took it even further with a former aide, having her arrested for disclosing to the press a conversation recorded in the lieutenant governor’s office. The practice of taping visitors and colleagues was said to be routine under Carroll, but the aide, Carletha Cole, shared the recording with a newspaper. The tape confirmed the chaos and dysfunction alleged in Carroll’s office.
But the arrest and resulting investigation might have consequences Carroll never envisioned, like allegations of an affair with her female travel aide, Beatriz Ramos.
In the diplomatic ranks, trained professionals toil,
To keep the peace and tamp down foreign turmoil.
But for Greek ambassador,
Trump picked an artful dodger —
The grifting, drunken blackmailer Kimberly Guilfoyle.
A record number of women are running for state legislative seats this November, more than two-thirds of whom are Democrats, reports Florida Phoenix. Across the 46 states with legislative seats on the ballot, a total of 3,824 women are running — up from 2022’s previous record of 3,621 women candidates, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Women make up 35.5% of all state legislative candidates this cycle. Currently, women hold about one-third of state legislative seats across the country — a record level of representation but nowhere near parity.
“Prediction markets about the 2026 midterm elections have surpassed $1.4 billion in trading volume as Election Day fast approaches,” CNN reports. “This year has seen massive growth in the prediction industry, where people can bet on real-world events like sports, entertainment and the weather. While small-scale election markets have been around for a while, they gained traction before the 2024 presidential election and have seen huge numbers for the 2026 midterms.”
G. Elliot Morris: “Low-knowledge 2024 voters say they backed Trump by 8 points, according to our poll. Today they give him a net job approval of ?27, a 35-point shift. Compare that to Trump’s approval rating among voters who got both questions right: These voters backed Harris by 1 point and now give Trump a net ?24 approval, a 23-point shift. … Low-information voters have moved against Trump at a higher rate than high-information voters, by 12 points.”
President Donald ?Trump’s approval rating fell to a record low as Americans worried about high gasoline prices and appeared ready to punish his Republican Party in the November 3 congressional elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday. Some 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s ?performance in office, down a percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in ?either of his presidential terms, the four-day poll showed.
KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”
