Category: Florida

For all the references to Charlie Crist being an “opportunist,” an ideological chameleon and a serial flop-flipping, flip-flopper, his biggest electoral negative in a 2014 square-off  against Scott is likely none of the above. His weathervane politics are still eminently spinable: He’s a thoroughly nice, affable guy who can “evolve” to do what’s best for Florida. Besides, instances of pols changing parties and positions were not exactly unheard of before Crist.

However, you don’t have to be a Dem, a GOPster or an Independent to have felt betrayed in 2010. When Florida was being hammered by the most trying economic times in memory, Crist had conflicting priorities. Had he stepped up instead of stepping down, there never would have been a Gov. Scott. That was the upshot when “For the Career” trumped “For the People.”

In a non-presidential, off-year election that typically skews to grass roots voters, that could be problematic for a pro-Crist turnout. But there’s no denying, of course, the volume of anti-Scott sentiment in the mix. And imagine the campaign optics: charm-offensive guy vs. offensive guy.

We all understand political sign language.  Part of it comes with the pragmatic, party-insider territory. From calculated, safe, nuanced praise to boldly complimentary shout outs. Context dictates. So, when State Sen. Tom Lee answered queries by confirming that he was, indeed, on the short list of Rick Scott’s lieutenant-governor candidates, it might have been expected that he would choose the former form of polite, pro forma acknowledgment.

He chose, however the latter.

“I do consider it a great honor,” gushed Lee, a reasonable Republican who wouldn’t look good in a tri-corner hat, “and I do admire the governor and what he’s accomplished politically in our state.”

Frankly, a “yes,” would have been, however disappointing, sufficient.

Speaking of the lieutenant-governor search, Scott’s chief of staff Adam Hollingsworth has said the governor is not looking for a demographic token. This time the search is for a true “steward of the governor’s vision and character.”

Question: Is that even possible? Moreover, if Scott is successful in such a search, isn’t that kind of scary?

When it comes to polls, I’m a skeptic unless I know the sampling and the precise wording of questions. And sometimes knowing that only confirms the skepticism when I see the results. Case in point: According to a recent poll by the well-regarded folks at Quinnipiac University, Floridians support–60-34–a state law saying a person who feels threatened may use deadly force to fight back even if he could safely retreat instead.

This, of course, is a reference to Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law. In fact, it sounds not unlike an extension of the defending-your-“castle” rationale. It’s hardly unexpected that a majority of castle-dwelling Floridians would be supportive.

Just asking, but I wonder what results would be yielded if respondents were asked: “Would you support a law saying an armed person who initiates a confrontation and, as a consequence, feels threatened, may use deadly force to legally fight back instead of safely retreating?”

Get ready for those Kabuki dance references that will surface next year when recently re-elected New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comes calling on the Sunshine State. That the Time magazine cover subject will be heading our way is a given.

Christie is the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Officially, he’ll be traveling the country in 2014 on behalf of the 22 GOP governors up for re-election. Unofficially, he’ll be reconnoitering the 2016 presidential-campaign terrain and stockpiling political IOUs.

As it turns out, three incumbents that warrant visits from the RGA chairman are the governors of Iowa, South Carolina and Florida. Christie, of course, is a Republican whose trump card is bipartisan appeal and non-Tea Party electability. So it will bear watching how he handles the Rick Scott dynamic. Can you say optics from hell? In retrospect, Scott and King Juan Carlos will have never looked so simpatico.

Will there be schedule “conflicts” (now being scheduled as we speak)? Or will Christie take one for Big Tent Team GOP, play down the polarizing, unpopular governor’s anti-Obama shtick and perfume the incumbent pig with arm’s length, non-tactile, disingenuous praise?

Once again, the First Amendment is in the news. And, no, we’re not even talking about ongoing ramifications of the Citizens United case that has made the wholesale selling of politics and politicians easier and seamier.

*In Hernando County, a fourth-grade teacher turned the Pledge of Allegiance into force-fed patriotism farce. She apparently couldn’t abide a student, his Jehovah’s Witness status notwithstanding, not participating. She also apparently had little frame of reference for the law that for decades has upheld the constitutional right of public school students to not be coerced into saying the Pledge or saluting the flag. Outrageous that this would still be an issue in 2013.

Perhaps another pledge is now in order. A pledge for all teachers to show empathy, common sense and understanding of First Amendment implications of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Sobering that such awareness–in effect, an extension of professional conduct principles–can’t be universally assumed in the 21st century.

*Call it a modern-day Napoleonic Code. It’s the mug shot publishing industry, another unforeseen consequence of living in the online era. These are privately-run websites that publish arrest information. It’s sourced from the public record.

Only problem, as cited by the attorney for a Largo plaintiff suing a number of websites, is that it might be a tad misleading on occasion. Notably when charges are dropped, for whatever reason–including flagrant non-guilt. But the mug shot, alas, lives on like an electronic stalker. Unless, increasingly, a fee is paid to have it removed.

“In this country, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” points out Kenneth Turkel, the attorney for a website-suing Largo client. “The mug shot is an appearance of criminal activity that may not be true.” The other side, of course, sees First Amendment “protected speech” under assault.

Anyone else miss simpler times for “innocent until proven guilty” and the good fight for “protected speech”?

First things first. I won’t be voting to re-elect Rick Scott next year. Not unless the only other name on the ballot is Putin or Strangelove.

Nan Rich or Charlie Crist will have to do. Not first-round draft picks, but they’ll do. Rich, of course, has been running for a year–and still has no money, no name recognition and no chance. Crist, 57, will be the nominee unless Bill Nelson changes course, announces he’s only in for one term and names a certain ex-mayor of Tampa as his lieutenant-governor-upgrade running mate. Crist has access to money and has plenty of name recognition–although the latter is a razor-sharp, double-edged political sword.

Former Gov. Charlie “For the People” Crist’s biggest hurdle in returning to Tallahassee is not his track record as a serial candidate, his reputation for being an ideological chameleon or his past incarnations as No Party Affiliation and a Republican–a pro-life, pro-gun “Reagan Republican” at that. Nor is it his chronic “flop-flipping,” to borrow a line from Al Gore.

No, Crist’s biggest issue–and it can transcend the party-affiliated as well as independents–is having stepped down when he should have stepped up. When the state of Florida was experiencing the most trying economic times in memory, its governor had conflicting career priorities. Republican ads are already referring to how he “abandoned” the Sunshine State in 2010. In an era of unconscionable political hyperbole, that doesn’t qualify. He did.

“For the career” trumped “For the People.” That’s the one that will likely matter most. That’s the one that most easily resonates with all voters. That’s the one that could put a governor, pun intended, on turnout. Republicans remember a quisling. Dems perceive a Republican-lite opportunist. Independents see the man who made it possible for there to even be a Gov. Scott. In an election that will be determined by turnout, that could be huge.

But there’s also this.

Scott rode the Republican wave in 2010. In a post-government shutdown era, this could barely be a wavelet. Last time, more Republicans (7 percent) than Democrats voted. For the past few years, anti-Scott sentiment–as underscored time and again in polls–has been proven potent. He is as unpopular a governor as there is in the country. Moreover, Crist’s endorsement and campaigning for President Obama last time could gin up the black vote into a difference maker.

Last time Scott faced off against an inept campaigner in Alex Sink. No one expects that out of the politically savvy, personally likable Crist. Imagine the optics: charm-offensive guy vs. offensive guy.

And while the big-bucks Scott machine will lambast Crist with ads that will sting, Crist could reply in kind. There are few political ads that would be more devastating than a continuous loop of Scott’s weasely deposition from hell on that Medicare-fraud case. This is Florida, Medicare fraud should mean more than a flip-flopping rep.

Speaking of, where there’s flip-flopping, there’s also the spin and parsing of “flexibility” and “adaptability.” Crist can evolve with the times, it will be asserted, which doesn’t have to be a character flaw. Tea Party ideologues, however, can’t–although some wink-and-nod moves (ostensible teacher-salary hikes, Medicaid-acceptance protocol) are strategic givens.

And never under- or -overestimate the electorate. It will be up to the Crist campaign to remind Floridians that it isn’t fair to blame Crist for Florida being bludgeoned by the Great Recession. Nor is it fair to accord Scott credit for Florida’s participation in the national recovery. Not when Scott, for example, duplicitously (ask Paula Dockery) turned down the money, jobs and growth-potential inherent in megalopolis-connecting, high-speed rail between Orlando and Tampa. Not when he failed to lift a lobbying finger (ask House Speaker “Won’t” Weatherford) in favor of federal Medicaid-aid acceptance.

It doesn’t help Florida, a net tax-donor state, that its governor is still running against Barack Obama. This time it should cost him. Yes, Charlie Crist has baggage, to be sure, but Rick Scott has his own carousel.

For the next year it will be game on. National pundits will be all over the landscape. It could devolve quickly. Money will play a big part. Are these candidates “for the people” or “for sale”?

The take of former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, a refreshing model of political deportment, is ominous. “I’m only making one prediction,” says the former four-time mayor. “It will be the nastiest campaign you’ve ever seen. It will be ugly.”

Much was understandably made of the election of Amanda Murphy, a Democrat, winning that special election to replace moderate Republican Mike Fasano in west Pasco’s Florida House District 36. It’s a swing district that the Republican Party worked hard (fundraising) to keep–and thwart any incipient Democratic momentum in the direction of a political reset button. Murphy’s 305-vote win over Bill Gunter, aided in no small way by Fasano’s endorsement, can be seen as a refutation of Republican ideological priorities–most notably the refusal to expand Medicaid aid–and a personal rebuke to House Speaker “Won’t” Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

But more context is needed. The turnout was less than 20 percent. Four out of five eligible District 36 voters were not motivated enough by the message-sending opportunity to even vote. Alas, that is still the ultimate message–and not a harbinger for meaningful inroads into the Republicans’ 75-45 advantage in the Florida House.

Look for the name Leonard Moecklin to become increasingly prominent in Florida-Cuba scenarios. He recently gave a well-received presentation to the Manatee Port Authority board on preparing for post-embargo trade.

“We just can’t wait for everyone to die off,” he underscored in reference to the usual exile-community suspects who thwart normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Moecklin has a vested interest in prompting pro-activity. He’s executive vice president and a founding partner of Havana Ferry Partners LLC, which would be well positioned in a post-embargo, open-travel world. Moecklin is also the former vice president of Colorado-based Miller Farms Exports, who helped the Clinton Administration with the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Exchange Act.

Think Mike Fasano or Mark Sharpe. Hell, think Nelson Rockefeller. Republicans who could go right of center without disappearing off the spectrum. Now they seem like endangered species. They’re called “RINOs,” Republicans in name only, and other such unflattering political labels–including “moderates.”

Well, one of those “moderate” Republicans not swooned over by the increasingly Teed-Off Party is Paula Dockery. The Lakeland resident was a fixture in the Florida Legislature for 15 years before being term limited out of the Senate last year. She had gained a reputation for being outspoken–as well as someone who favored gut instinct over knee-jerk ideology. That she is a GOPster revered by environmentalists speaks volumes. She’s the author of the Florida Forever bill and could bedeck a few walls with plaques and awards ranging from The Nature Conservancy and Coastal Conservation Society to the Florida Wildlife Association and the Sierra Club.

She’s a political commentator in her current incarnation–writing statewide political editorials, talking to groups such as the Tiger Bay Club of Tampa and dropping in for guest appearances on WEDU’s “Florida This Week” political roundtable with Rob Lorei. By all accounts, she’s still good copy.

She’s a Florida Gators- and NASCAR-loving, fiscal conservative who doesn’t believe in outsized and intrusive government. For example, she’s against government “picking winners and losers” with incentive packages to recruit businesses. On the other hand, she’s against prison privatization and didn’t agree with turning down high-speed rail or Medicaid expansion dollars.

Her feisty sound bites were much in evidence at a recent Tiger Bay gathering.

Dockery, 52, said she represents the “silent majority” of the Republican Party, a party increasingly identified with stentorian, polarizing partisans–and Washington gridlock. She has a deep distrust of “obstructionists,” she stressed, and those unwilling to work across the aisle. No surprise that when asked by Audubon of Florida News what her “proudest accomplishment” was in her last legislative session, she answered: “Stopping bad legislative policy from passing.”

Dockery is clearly unhappy with the governing bar set so low. She’s also frustrated that she’s considered too “moderate” on issues as diverse as parent trigger, voter purges and immigration.

“I just don’t know what has happened to my party,” she lamented. “There are Republicans who feel disenfranchised within their own party.”

The GOP needs to regain “common sense,” she emphasized. “This birtherism and name-calling is so frustrating to me. There’s so much misinformation spread. You don’t threaten to shut down government over an issue. Whether you like Obamacare or not, it’s the law of the land. It’s exceeded all legal challenges. Rather than try to stop it, why not try in good faith to sit down and change it? Shutting down the government is a ridiculous strategy for Republicans.

“We need to be more tolerant of others’ views,” underscored Dockery. “A lot of Republicans long for the days of Ronald Reagan, the adult in the room. I mean Jeb Bush a RINO?”

And then she pivoted to address all that she didn’t agree on with Gov. Rick Scott–from Florida Polytechnic to pay-to-play politics involved in the Sarasota rowing park funding. And, yes, she is the same Paula Dockery who was briefly considered as Scott’s running mate. Now he’s more like a running sore to Dockery. She saw the duplicitous underbelly of the erstwhile political “outsider” during the general election.

To add additional context: Dockery had been an early player in the 2010 gubernatorial primary until it became apparent that the playing field was tilted the wrong way. Bill McCollum virtually invited competition, to be sure, but Scott was a different story, explained Dockery. He wasn’t just an outsider in an anti-incumbent year. It was dauntingly apparent, she recalled, that “He has money, and I don’t.” End of Dockery campaign.

Scott, however, actually asked Dockery if she would be his “go-to” person on key issues. And they, indeed, talked periodically, although Dockery admits “I’m not good at holding my tongue.”  High-speed rail, to say the least, was a major matter. As well as a relationship tipping point.

At one point, said Dockery, Scott told her that he had decided that he was going to take the high-speed rail money. “Two weeks later he held a press conference and announced he was sending the money back,” she said. “No heads up. Everything he said about why he was rejecting it was factually incorrect. … To add insult to injury, he allowed SunRail.”

In effect, Dockery, who keeps saying she has “no political aspirations,” has gone from “go to” to gone. Candidly, she’s as perplexed as she is piqued.

“I see a lot of Republicans and Democrats and Independents who are not satisfied with their governor,” she noted. “He had the ability to be independent. That’s the real head-scratcher.”

Dockery Outtakes

* “If Republicans lose the U.S. Congress, then that’s when things will change.”

* “Ted Cruz: such a dangerous person.”

* “Chris Christie: He’s so popular. Why? He’s actually exercising some common sense.”

* “I don’t think Jeb’s going to outgrow his legacy.”

* “I’m proud of Marco Rubio for his immigration stand.”

* “I can’t see a scenario by which I would stand by a Scott administration. … I’d like to see an Independent get in.”

* “If I were to leave the (Republican) party, I would become a NPA (No Party Affiliation). It’s about picking the right person–not voting the party line.”

It’s downright admirable that Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford is going out of his way to take a principled stand against a blatant case of arbitrary separation of church and state. Specifically, he takes issue with Pasco Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning, who has told county football coaches they shouldn’t be praying with their teams. More legalistically speaking, Browning said it’s inappropriate for adults to initiate, lead or participate in prayer with students while working in their “official duties.” Something about school district policy and the U.S. Constitution.

Weatherford found that unacceptable and cited the Legislature’s passage last year of the “inspirational messages” law that allowed districts to permit policies allowing students to offer inspirational messages, including prayers, at school functions. But the bill, while inclusive in spirit, actually precluded school personnel from leading such prayers. Weatherford has called the ban on coach-led praying “un-American” and said, if necessary: “I will work on a bill for it next year.”

Two points.

First, this remains an ongoing, dicey, nuance-laden area of the law. Actually, it’s more about tradition. Let’s get real. How many prayer advocates would vouch for the Deity’s priorities including high school football?  Friday Night Lights are that luminous? And, frankly, how many would want to be privy to the upshot of a coach-led prayer before a big game? I’ve been around them in a previous incarnation. It’s basically this: “Thank you, Jesus. Now let’s go out and kick some ass.”

Frankly, it would make more sense to go secular and just invoke the sentiments of Grantland Rice: “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, he writes–not that you won or lost–but how you played the Game.”

Second, Weatherford should be more concerned with his separation of priorities.

To date, he’s given no indication that he would get out in front and do the right thing when it comes to Internet sales taxes, Medicaid expansion, Stand Your Ground repeal and texting-while-driving as a primary offense. Ironically, that would really be worth praying for.