So much material, so little space. Here goes:
The Republican presidential candidates are long gone (for now), but in their wake this much was evident:
* Florida matters. Does it ever. And, yes, it was well worth nose-thumbing the RNC to move up the primary. It’s where the country’s most representative battleground state belongs. Just ask Mitt Romney. Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina were seen for what they are: regionally and demographically skewed audience warm-ups for a prime-time event.
* Thanks, Super PACs. However constitutionally confounding and repellent for the democratic process, they were largely responsible for a political stimulus package of more than $20 million in TV ads in Florida. The Tampa Bay market, the biggest and most politically determinative in the state, benefited the most.
* Balmy, January Florida was on constant display. Palm treed backdrops for the national media were gratis, ad hoc commercials no chamber of commerce could afford. Fox News Channel talk-show host Bret Baier, who did his “Special Report” show from Harbour Island last week, summed it up succinctly. “I could do primaries in Florida all the time!” gushed the weather-smitten Baier.
* Florida, we were reminded by local and national media, has a “closed” primary. Only registered Republicans can vote. Note the connotation of exclusion. But shouldn’t this be a non-issue? Who else should be weighing in on a party’s primary candidates other than party members? Should those who are not affiliated, presumably because their values and priorities are not addressed by the party in question, be permitted to weigh in? Moreover, this can–and has in “open” primary states–lead to non-party members voting an agenda to gin up the numbers of a candidate ostensibly benefiting the other party. There’s already enough subplots.
* In GOP We Trust: It’s practically de rigueur for conservative candidates to make the political pilgrimage to the Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz. But, no, they don’t deliver speeches inside nor do they get a bully pulpit endorsement. What they do get is the next best thing: Implied support for their conservative views and access to the Tampa area’s biggest church with the largest congregation, one that can easily morph into the sectarian version of a political rally. And one that will draw free media hordes. Call it what you will, but partisan politics is played religiously at Idlewild Baptist.
* Three words that should make even Newt Gingrich supporters cringe: First Lady Callista.
* Gov. Rick Scott was at neither of the Florida debates. Likely Republican establishment response: “Thanks. And could you arrange a late August vacation or maybe a trade mission?”