Crowley Political Report

Florida Republican says lets have firing squads - or toss them off a bridge

Sometimes Crowley Political Report worries that Florida is becoming the nation's largest lunatic-fringe state. Now, we have a Republican legislator who is introducing legislation to use firing squads to execute death row inmates.

This story was first reported by The Florida Current and you should click on over and give it a read.

State Rep. Brad Drake of Eucheeanna is frustrated with legal maneuvers over lethal injection. So Drake would like to replace lethal injections with firing squads of electrocution. Somebody is going to have to find Old Sparky.

"There shouldn't be anything controversial about a .45-caliber bullet. If it were up to me we would just throw them off the Sunshine Skyway bridge and be done with it," Drake told The Current.

Crowley Political Report would like to congratulate the voters of Brad Drake's district - you should be proud.

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Claude Kirk and his lost hat

By Brian E. Crowley

I ran into former Gov. Claude Kirk at a green market in West Palm Beach. I would bump in to him from time-to-time and he always seemed pleased, especially if there were folks nearby, when I called him Gov. Kirk.

He started to tell me about his lost hat.  But more on that in a bit.

Gov. Kirk's  death this week, at the age of 85, marks the passing of one of Florida's most flamboyant and underrated governors. In some ways, he was ahead of his time. He arrived in Tallahassee to take the oath of office n 1967 and the next four years were turbulent ones.

Gov. Kirk arrived determined to shake things up. He also dearly wanted to advance his own political career and took deep pleasure in being in the spotlight.

I didn't get to know Gov. Kirk until many years later. The early history of his governorship was harsh. But as time passed, historians and governors who succeed him began to recognize that Kirk had accomplished quite a bit during his four years in office.

He created the FDLE helping to break the hold of county sheriff's who sometimes abused their power. He helped usher in the new 1968 state Constitution - which had been penned by others - but would have had more difficult time without Kirk's help.  Few today understand just how sweeping the 1968 constitution was in changing how Floridians are governed today.

  Gov. Kirk created the first statewide environment effort and helped bring the 1968 Republican National Convention to Miami Beach where he dearly hoped Richard Nixon would pick him to be vice president.

Gov. Kirk opposed school busing at a time when such opposition was considered racist. When Florida teachers went on a statewide strike in 1968 he helped break the strike and more than 40 years later the teacher unions have still not fully recovered.

Gov. Kirk, because of the 1968 constitution, was the first governor eligible to run for a second consecutive term. But voters had enough and the first modern Republican to be elected governor lost to Democrat Reubin Askew.

Gov. Kirk would run again, even as a Democrat, but the campaigns were more about getting attention than winning.

 In 2006, Gov. Kirk and former governors, Askew, Bob Graham and the soon-to-leave office, Jeb Bush, got together at the University of Central Florida to talk to the students.

Jim Greer blames Florida Republican leaders for his downfall

Tampa television station WTSP is airing a two-part series on the downfall of former Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer.

Part 2 is the most interesting. The reporter, Mike Deeson, gives Greer free rein. If Greer was challenged about any of his assertions, viewers don't see it. Deeson also interviews Greer's wife, Lisa, Greer attorney Cheney Mason, and other Greer supporters.

An excerpt:

Oviedo, FL - Money, greed and political backstabbing appeared to have been commonplace in the Florida Republican Party's effort to oust former Chairman Jim Greer and undermine former Governor Charlie Crist's Senate bid.

Greer, who ended up in jail, has never talked about the inner workings of the Republican Party until now.

When 10 News asked Greer how this incident affected his life a year later, Greer choked up. He couldn't talk for more than 20 seconds and finally said, "Well, I can't get a job and I have no money to take care of my family because I have to give it all to my attorneys."

Greer says his problems began when he fired party fundraiser Meredith O'Rourke. O'Rourke was making $30,000 a month and a 10% commission on everything she brought in.

Greer says he underestimated her ties to the conservative wing of the party and influential lobbyists.

Joe Biden will speak to Florida Democrats

Florida Democratic Party chairman Rod Smith announced a few minutes ago that Vice President Joe Biden will attend the party's 2011 state convention.

In a statement, Smith said:

Our state is at a crossroads and Democrats are more determined than ever to fight. With 29 crucial electoral votes, Florida is one of the most important swing states in the country.

With your help, we will re-elect President Obama, Senator Nelson and send more Democrats fighting for middle class families to Congress to join our Democratic Delegation. This year's State Convention is exactly what we need to harness our collective enthusiasm and focus on electing Democrats in 2012.

The convention is Oct 28-30, at Disney Worlds' Contemporary Resort.  The convention website is here.

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Can Florida voters fall in love with Rick Scott?

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has the worst poll numbers of any governor in the nation.  His dismal 29 percent favorability rating has climbed to a mere 35 percent in a new Quinnipiac poll.

Scott has taken notice.

Despite repeatedly telling folks that he does not read newspapers or polls, Scott is clearly paying close attention to both.

In recent weeks, Scott has reshuffled his staff bringing on Tallahassee insider Steve McNamara as his chief-of-staff.  And, as Crowley Political Report and others have noted, Scott is making a greater effort to mingle with the folks.

Scott clearly has is work cut out for him.

According to Quinnipiac, "Florida voters say 45 – 34 percent that they do not like Scott as a person.  This is the highest ‘dislike’ seen in any state surveyed by Quinnipiac University this year.  Voters tend to like their governor, even when they disapprove of the job he or she is doing.  Florida voters like President Barack Obama as a person 69 – 18 percent, but disapprove 51 – 44 percent of the job he is doing, as reported yesterday."

In other findings:

Voters dislike his policies 54 – 34 percent;

Voters disapprove 57 – 32 percent of his handling of the state budget;

42 percent say budget cuts went too far, as 20 percent say not far enough and 25 percent say the cuts are about right;

Voters say 39 – 26 percent that spending cuts in the budget will hurt, rather than help, the Florida economy;

Voters say 51 – 33 percent that the new state budget is unfair to them.

Scott has his work cut out for him. Can he pull it off?

Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,417 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.  Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The survey was conduct from July 27 to Aug 2.

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Rick Scott tosses aside the velvet rope

Last February, Crowley Political Report wrote about the appearance of the velvet rope.

This was a very bad sign. The staff of Florida Gov. Rick Scott decided they wanted to use a velvet rope to bring more decorum to the Tallahassee press corps.

Here's part of what we said then:

Good lord, there is going to be a lot of strain between the Tallahassee press corps and the newly minted administration of Gov. Rick Scott.

Blame it on the velvet rope.

Brian Burgess, the communications director for Scott, informed the press corps that the time-honored scrum of reporters surrounding the governor for a few final questions at the end of a press conference would be no more.

The kids must stay in their seats until Gov. Scott leaves the room. And there will be no crossing of the velvet rope.

In the great scheme of things it is no big deal. The scrum was often painfully silly and it was not as if suddenly governors were answering questions they refused to answer at the podium.

Still, while it added a bit of decorum to press conferences, the move needlessly annoyed the press corps which is already deeply suspect of the Scott administration.

The velvet ropes quickly disappeared but things still got worse from there. Much worse. Over the months, the Scott administration was often aloof and hostile - and not just with the media.

Now, with Scott's popularity in the tank, the governor has made some important changes.

And they are more than welcome.

Under the direction of his new chief-of-staff, Steve McNamara, Scott's office is much more open. Just in the last couple of weeks, Scott's office has:

 * Reduced the once onerous pricetag for public records making it less expensive for the media and citizens to obtain public records.

 * Invited reporters, for the first time since becoming governor, to spend time with him in his office in a relaxed give-and-take that seemed to work for everyone.

 * Announced that he will do his own series of Bob Graham style "workdays" that will allow Scott to do the jobs of Florida workers. This was an invaluable tool for Graham that gave him  a deep understanding about how issues affected ordinary Floridians.

 * Agreed to visit newspaper editorial boards to discuss issues.

While it appears that the credit for this change in attitude should go to McNamara, it would be unfair not to give credit to Scott.

The governor clearly came to understand that his method of doing business in Tallahassee was not working. He made significant changes in his leadership team and brought on McNamara who has a deep understanding for how Tallahassee operates.

There will always be a certain amout of stress between the media and elected officials. And no one should expect these changes not to be greeted with a bit of suspicion.

But it is a step in the right direction and Scott should get credit for being willing to make the necessary changes.

 

Rick Scott, Hamster Rage and the Chicago Artist

 
Let's begin with Crowley Political Report taking pride in the above artwork featuring Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Mike Bender of the St. Petersburg Times was part of a gaggle in Scott's office Monday when he noticed a copy of the drawing on the wall of Scott's new chief-of-staff, Steve McNamara. The drawing was done by Chicago-based artist and graphic designer Brian J. Crowley.

The younger version of the editor of Crowley Political Report is a highly talented artist as his drawing of Scott demonstrates.  He is also the author of Hamster Rage, a web comic with a rapidly growing audience. Learn more about the artist here.

We're told Scott's wife likes the drawing because it captures his eyes.

Indeed. Well if the Scotts would like to pay for a print - I think the artist would be interested.

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Florida Senate race looking for a frontrunner

 
Crowley Political Report drops off the grid for a few days and the next thing you know there is a shake-up in Florida's U.S. Senate race. Or was there?

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination with the feeble excuse that he just now discovered that running for statewide office while being senate president is very time-consuming.

Really?

Of course, that excuse is nonsense. There is lots of speculation that Haridopolos will soon be embroiled in the legal problems of ousted and arrested former state GOP chairman Jim Greer. He is scheduled to give a deposition in the case next month.

Whatever the real reason for Hariodopolos' hasty departure from the race, the fact is that he was very unlikely to win the nomination.   And while everyone, including Gov. Rick Scott, went through the motions of wishing Haridopolos a fond farewell from the race, seconds after he dropped out the scrambling for position began.

If you're anybody of importance in Florida GOP circles who supported Haridopolos,  your phone is already ringing with calls from former  substitute U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner.

Neither Hasner nor LeMieux have shown a commanding presence at this point.

Rick Scott's folks defend handling of public records

On Monday, Crowley Political Report told readers how the state of Alaska charged $725.97 for 24,000 pages of former Gov. Sarah Palin's email record while Florida Gov. Rick Scott's administration charged $784.84 for just 1,100 email records belonging to communications director Brian Burgess.

Our report has spawned a gread deal of reaction including this story today by New York Times Regional reporter Lloyd Dunkelberger. Crowley Political Report is quoted at length in the story questioning the administration's public records policy.

Since our report, Burgess has sent numerous emails telling Crowley Political Report that the administration is complying with the law.

Here's a sense of the administration's position as quoted in Dunkelberger's story:

Scott's aides said the more stringent public records policies are a response to the flood of public records requests that have hit the governor's office in its first six months.

And they said most requests are being handled in a timely manner.

"Since January, we've fulfilled 669 public record requests with an additional 74 in the process of being completed," said Scott spokeswoman Amy Graham. "This is more than any other administration after just six months in office, proving that we not only comply with public record laws, we exceed them."

....

Graham called the comparison of Palin's emails to those from Brian Burgess, Scott's communications director, unfair, because Palin's records were more accessible since they were segregated in a special email account.

In contrast, many of Burgess' government-related emails end up in his long-established private email account and the cost comes from having to sort out the public records from his personal messages, Graham said.

Sarah Palin's emails less valuable than Florida's

Please keep these numbers in mind as you continue reading - State of Florida: 1,100, $784.84.

State of Alaska: 24,000, $725.97.

You should be outraged. These are the prices each state charged recently for public records. To be precise, the Great State of Alaska charged $725.27 for 24,000 pages of emails by former Gov. Sarah Palin. The emails came in five boxes. Each box weighed 55 pounds.

Meanwhile, Florida charged $784.84 for 1,100 emails (not pages). And these precious emails were not those of Gov. Rick Scott. No, these were the public records of his communications director, Brian Burgess.

Let's repeat - Palin, 24,000 pages $725.97. Burgess, 1,100 emails $784.84.

Crowley Political Report would like to think that Burgess emails are more fascinating than Palin emails but we suspect not.

 

Teachers sue Florida, Cops want to help

 
Well this is gonna be ugly.

The Florida Education Association is telling Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature that they are breaking the law by forcing teachers to contribute 3 percent of their pay to pay for their pensions.

So, of course, the FEA is going to court to stop what it calls an illegal "pay cut" for Florida's teachers.

Whether it is a "contribution" to their future pensions, or a "paycut," many teachers are unhappy. And they are not alone, the Florida Police Benevolent Association filed a motion to join the teacher suit.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and GOP legislative leaders believe that the state is doing the right thing by requiring state employees to contribute to their pension fund.

Most Florida voters agree. They see little reason why public employees should not pay something for their own retirement plans.

Is Rick Scott helping Obama win Florida in 2012?

Crowley Political Report is not sure whether to admire Florida Gov. Rick Scott for sticking to his beliefs about state government or to simply note that once again Scott and his team remain clueless about what Floridians really want.

We'll go with clueless.

The latest Quinnipiac Poll suggests that most Floridians agree.  Rick Scott has managed to squander what little support he had on election-day 2010. In little more than six months, Scott's approval rating has sunk to 29 percent.

That May number is even worse than Scott's already dismal April poll numbers which showed that just 35 percent of Florida voters approved of Scott's job performance.

This is great news for the Obama administration. If Scott's numbers continue to remain abysmally low, he could pull down the Republican Party in Florida.

Republicans are not likely to win the White House without winning Florida's 29 electoral votes. The GOP should be looking at the Sunshine State with great anticipation - after all, the 2010 election gave the party the governor's mansion, all three cabinet seats and veto-proof majorities in the state House and Senate.

But the face of the party is Scott. And right now it is not a very pretty face.

Of course, that begs a larger question - Is Rick Scott really a Republican?

Rick Scott, Agenda 21 and the United Nations

You may not be concerned about Agenda 21 but Florida Gov. Rick Scott is not going to let it happen in the Sunshine State.

It is an odd but revealing tidbit about Scott, a Republican who still remains little known to most Floridians.

Crowley Political Report listened to an interview that Scott gave Matt Bruce host of the Sarasota radio program The Captain's America. Bruce's website describes the program as a "member of the American TEA Party Movement."

It was a fairly routine question and answer session between Scott and Bruce when Bruce asked this question:

A lot of people are concerned about this UN Agenda 21, sustainable development they don't understand it, lot of people don't even know what it is. We do have it in Sarasota County with what is called the 2050 plan, it is spotty to say the least around Florida. What do you know about this sir?

Without missing a beat, Scott replied:

I know it's not good for Florida and so I'm going to make sure we're not giving someone else the power to figure out our destiny. I'm focused on our rights as an individual state. I don't believe the federal government should be telling us what to do and clearly the UN should not be dictating how we build our state.

Bruce ended the segment with:

Oh yeah, this is what people don't understand this is the UN telling us what to do with our property and with our own lands.

Okay, Crowley Political Report was compelled to do a bit of research to find out  - what in the world is Agenda 21?

Just how much trouble is Rick Scott in?

Should we be worried about Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott? You have to be in a heap a trouble to ask your mom to bail you out.

Crowley Political Report has been closely following Florida governors since 1979. This is the first time a governor has called his mom and asked her to tell Floridians that he is doing a good job.

This is just odd behavior.

It's a little like a grown man bringing his mom to the office to tell his boss that he's a swell worker and should have a raise.

So why would you ask your mother to make a 38-second internet ad declaring you a "good boy" just days after the end of your first legislative session?

It would appear this is Scott's way of  going to Poll Depot to purchase better poll numbers.  This is what Scott does. Cranky with Obama's health care plan? - dip into your checking account and start you own anti-Obama care organization.

Wanna be governor? - use the big debit card. Ditto the private jet. And now, it appears that Scott wants to buy some friends.

And what does that tell us about Scott and his advisors? That they have a very cynical view of Floridians.

Here is Esther Scott speaking about her son (note: she does not live in Florida). (Note 2 - some have grumbled about the ad being shot in the governor's mansion in Tallahassee - who cares, really?)

Art by Patrick Crowley

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Florida legislature can't decide 2012 presidential primary date

Apparently too busy to worry about little things like the date for next year's presidential primary - Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon wants to create a 10-person committee to figure it all out.

Really. A 10-person committee. Apparently the 120 members of the House and the 40 members of the Senate are not capable of handling this chore.

The question is really a simple one - Should Florida move the primary to March to comply with Republican National Committee rules or leave the primary on Jan 31, as now required by state law?

Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada always have a hissy fit if any state crowds their calendar.  This argument has nothing to do with politics - it is all about the economy. The political tourism economy in the four self-annointed presidential king making states.

The threat to Florida is that the state will lose delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention which is to be held in Tampa.

This is really no threat at all. The GOP nominee will not go out of his/her way to alienate a state that will be vital to their chance of winning the White House.

There really is nothing at stake here for Florida. And even less reason for Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos to call for a committee.

Let the other states sort it out for themselves.

 

 

Rick Scott says you shouldn't be surprised

In a lengthy video interview with the Wall Street Journal, Florida Gov. Rick Scott offers many of the same answers he gives to most questions.

Asked if he has taken on too much in the legislative session, Scott says, "no."

A few other quotes:

"I'm not going to say I'm going to do some of it (his ideas)  this year and I'm going to do some of it next year."

"If you do the right thing, the right think will happen."

"I told people what I was going to do. No one is surprised."

Here's the interview:

 

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott's marketing crisis

Last night on Twitter, Crowley Political Report asked this question - Rick Scott's public support is tanking - so how does the CEO explain such poor customer satisfaction?

When Gov. Scott campaigned he offered himself as an experienced businessman who would bring sound business practices to the art of governing.

Apparently, that concept did not include successful marketing which is a bit of a surprise considering how well his marketing team did in getting him elected.

Scott made it clear shortly after becoming governor that the first job of a new CEO is to "get control of the checkbook."

But while Florida's 45th governor is busy getting control of the checkbook, slashing dollars and people, and looking for wholesale revamping of government agencies - he is doing a lousy job of public relations and marketing.

Florida's longest war - merit pay for teachers

 
The late LeRoy Collins (pictured above) is considered by many to be one of Florida's finest governors. He became governor in Jan. 1955 and left office in Jan. 1961.

One of his ideas while governor was to push for a merit pay plan for teachers complete with methods to determine the quality of teachers.

The issue of merit pay, teacher testing, teacher evaluations and all the other stuff that the folks in Tallahassee today think they just discovered is very old news.

In fact, after doing a little research Crowley Political Report, found that merit pay issues have been pushed by one governor or another since at least 1957.

Jimmy Buffett goes to the Tallahassee press corps skits

 

Word is that Florida Gov. Rick Scott is not exactly embracing the 56th sometimes annual Tallahassee Press Corps skits that will be going on tonight.

There was a time when some members of the press corps worried that the governor was getting too involved in the skits.

That governor was Bob Graham who put on elaborate counter-programming that often eclipsed the best efforts of the press corps.

In 1985, Graham brought along Jimmy Buffett and the two sang a duet - well Buffet sang, Graham did make a sound that would not described as singing in many cultures.

In his final skit in 1986, Graham declared himself "governor for life" and marched in with the entire FAMU Marching 100.

 

Really, Gov. Scott be a sport. As Crowley Political Report noted in a previous post - there's a perfect character for you to play.

And it might help you avoid this from the press corps.

 

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Is Rick Scott's wife going to profit from his health care policies?

Palm Beach Post reporter Stacey Singer has raised some interesting questions about Florida  Gov. Rick Scott's financial relationship with Solantic - the urgent care firm that became a hot topic during the election.

From Singer's story:

Solantic co-founder Karen Bowling says Scott has taken steps to distance himself from the chain. He stopped regular business calls with her after he was elected.

"I don't talk to him anymore. Not since November. Really not much since April," Bowling said.

Scott left the privately held company's board of directors in January 2010, during his campaign.

But the most important step the governor must take to avoid a conflict of interest, some ethics experts say, is to divest his Solantic interests.

In January, Scott did transfer his Solantic stock - to his wife.

Singer does a good job of exploring the conflict-of-interest question in her story.

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Art by Patrick Crowley