Sorry Charlie Crist, you may yet face fight from Alex Sink

TAMPA — Alex Sink barely lost the 2010 governor's race to Rick Scott and as she weighs whether to take him on again, there is no shortage of armchair shrinks speculating about her thinking:

• The sudden death in December of her husband, former gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride, was too big a blow for her to run another grueling campaign without him.

• Sink wants to run because she needs to throw herself into something big and all-consuming after McBride's death.

• She resents all the attention on lifelong-Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist and is intent on being courted for as long as possible.

• She resents Crist so much, his expected candidacy would ensure she jumps in.

"Don't waste your time," Sink said Tuesday in a 45-minute interview with the Tampa Bay Times. "You're going to talk to people and they'll tell you I'm definitely running or that I'm definitely not. That's only because I'm not subtle enough to be giving little hints out there."

Sink will decide by Sept. 1, but she sounded anything like a retired politician merely intent on keeping her name in the mix. She spoke angrily about the direction of the state under Gov. Scott — "I mean, pick a day. Read the newspaper. This governor's incompetent" — and nearly as revolted by the prospect of Crist as the Democratic nominee.

"A disaster" is how she described the possibility....

Dems form committee to take on Rick Scott

A coalition of Democratic groups, including the Democratic Governors Association, the Florida Democratic party, and labor groups, have formed a political committee, Florida For All, to take on Gov. Rick Scott. With a Democratic primary for governor likely, the idea is get started on the general election target target well before the nominee is chosen late next summer.

It's still in early stages, but we hear pollster Dave Beattie and media consultant Rich Davis - alums of the Alex Sink campaign (who presumably would have to find a new team if she runs for governor again) are working with the committee, along with Democratic consultant Ken Morley. The filing lists Carlos Odio, an alum of the Obama White House political office, as chairman of the committee....

Less colorfully, Rick Scott mimics Rick Perry's job poaching message: We're cheap

Tampa Bay Times Business columnist Robert Trigaux:

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has embarked on a job-poaching spree, sending letters aimed at luring companies from seven states with higher taxes. The only problem is Scott's strategy mimics on the cheap what Texas Gov. Rick Perry is doing in person and with more advertising panache.

While Scott was at the Paris Air Show on Monday pitching low-tax l'amour to woo aerospace jobs to Florida, Perry launched a five-day tour of New York, Connecticut and nearby states to entice businesses to the Lone Star State....

This day in Crist-ory - Drill, baby, drill

The Florida GOP's latest installment:

Winner and loser of the week in Fla politics

Winner of the week: Lenny Curry. The Florida GOP Chairman and his communications team have had a lot of fun lately, creatively ridiculing state Democratic leaders over unforced errors. From refusing the grant Nan Rich five minutes to speak at their JJ dinner to attacking the Florida House leader to considering a plan to sanction Democratic legislators who vote their conscience, Democrats hardly look like a fine-tuned machine poised for a big comeback in 2014....

D's blast Rouson as Fla House Dem leader

News Service of Florida:

HOLLYWOOD, Fla., June 15, 2013.......On a day when the Florida Democratic Party gathered to showcase its united drive to unseat Gov. Rick Scott, House Democrats held a caucus meeting that instead highlighted the concerns some members have with the leadership style of Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg.

Rouson, who was chosen to lead House Democrats after the 2014 elections following a contentious contest with Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, is currently trying to increase the party's size in the House. But his style of doing so came under withering criticism Saturday from two members who said they were unhappy with Rouson....

Growth in minority vote helping Democrats

Part of what makes Florida such a fascinating state for politics is its ever-changing electorate, and few people do a better job crunching the numbers than Democratic consultant Steve Schale in Tallahassee.

On his website, www. steven schale.com, he has a new look at the trends with striking numbers:...

AP: Gov's office knew about controversial Citizens Insurance deal

AP: Florida Gov. Rick Scott - and other top state officials - quickly distanced themselves last month from a controversial deal approved by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to shift thousands of homeowner policies to a start-up insurance company.

But emails show that the Scott administration and other officials knew in advance about the unique deal that calls for Citizens, the state-backed insurance giant, to pay $52 million to Heritage Property Insurance and Casualty to absorb 60,000 policies.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that a lobbyist representing Heritage had met with a top Scott aide to discuss the transaction. The Scott administration acknowledged that the meeting happened in late March - roughly two months before the Citizens board approved the deal.

Scott's chief of staff Adam Hollingsworth insisted in a statement that no one in the Scott administration took a position before Citizens approved the transaction, known as a "take-out," on May 22.

More here...

Video: Dems hit Rick Scott on Dreamers veto

The Florida Democratic Party released a video today highlighting its plans to try and highlight Rick Scott's veto of a bill that would have allowed undocumented immigrants with Deferred Action status to obtain Florida Drivers licenses.

This day in Crist-ory

Been off the grid for a couple weeks, but I've come to enjoy my daily emails from the Florida GOP ridiculing Charlie Crist for allegedly flip-flopping on long-held positions now that he's a Democrat.

I'm not so sure they're effective, but still worth reading and posting for the benefit of political junkies interested in the daily messaging by the Florida GOP (Whose communications shop, btw, has done a terrific job lately exploiting bone-headed Democratic moves (like not allowing Nan Rich to speak at this weekend's JJ dinner and an Orwellian/small tent party proposal by Florida House Democrats enabling the sanctioning of members who stray from official caucus positions)....

Winner and loser of the week in Fla politics

Nothing but winners this week

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Sugar industry. U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio for the second year in a row voted to preserve the federal sugar quota program that ensures consumers pay higher prices for cereals, candies and a host of other sugar products. We probably shouldn't be surprised by Democrat Nelson, who last year received more than $71,000 in campaign contributions from the sugar industry - more than any other member of Congress, according to Maplight.org. But Republican Rubio holds himself up as a devout free marketer who thunders against government "picking winners and losers."...

Gaetz worries about Gov. Rick Scott hurting other Republicans

As the 2014 election cycle approaches, a lot of prospective Republican candidates are nervously watching Gov. Rick Scott's low poll numbers, knowing that their campaigns could well be dragged down — or lifted up — by the fellow at the top of the ticket.
 
Count Florida Senate President Don Gaetz among those worried about Scott's prospects.
 
"There is a growing concern among many people who run for office at the local level or the legislative level that we want to have a strong top of the ticket,'' Gaetz, R-Niceville, said in a Political Connections interview airing today on Bay News 9. "All of us are together on that ticket. We hope he does well, but I think it's going to be an uphill battle."
 
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, joined Gaetz for the extended Political Connections interview airing at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. and declared himself bullish on Scott's re-election, given the improving economy.
 
Weatherford's staunch opposition to accepting billions of dollars in federal money to expand health insurance to low-income Floridians helped kill the prospects for any compromise. Scott, a formerly fierce opponent of the Affordable Care Act, supported accepting the federal money, but has faced questions about how hard he pushed legislators on the issue.
 
"The governor never called me one time to ask me to expand Medicaid," Weatherford said.
 
Asked about Scott's engagement in the legislative process, Gaetz praised his chief of staff, Adam Hollingsworth, but said Scott preferred not to meet with the Senate president because such meetings would be open to the press.
 
"There were times when I wish we could have met but there apparently wasn't a desire on the part of the governor to have a public meeting," said Gaetz. "We knew where the governor was, but I would say he probably was less engaged than, say, a Jeb Bush was. When Jeb Bush was governor there was no hesitation and no question about where he stood and who was the leader."...

Florida Republicans' 2014 prospects nervous about top of ticket

As the 2014 election cycle approaches, a lot of prospective Republican candidates are nervously watching Gov. Rick Scott's low poll numbers, knowing that their campaigns could well be dragged down — or lifted up — by the fellow at the top of the ticket.

Count Florida Senate President Don Gaetz among those worried about Scott's prospects.

"There is a growing concern among many people who run for office at the local level or the legislative level that we want to have a strong top of the ticket,'' Gaetz, R-Niceville, said in a Political Connections interview airing today on Bay News 9. "All of us are together on that ticket. We hope he does well, but I think it's going to be an uphill battle."...