Crowley Political Report

First, some shocking news - Donald Trump has told a fib.

During a television interview with a New York station this week, Trump offered a vivid recollection about how he learned that his military draft number was so high that he would not be drafted.

“I actually got lucky because I had a very high draft number. I’ll never forget, that was an amazing period of time in my life. I was going to the Wharton School of Finance, and I was watching as they did the draft numbers and I got a very, very high number and those numbers never got up to.”

As delightful as that tale sounds - it is not true.

Trump was 18 when he graduated from New York Military Academy - where he was a "star athlete" in 1964.  According to The Smoking Gun Trump registerd with the draft and was 1A - prime military material.

Trump entered college and while there are some variations to his draft status he maintains a college deferment until he leaves school in 1968.

So what about that story he tells about watching them assign his draft number?

Didn't happen.

In 1968, there were no draft numbers. Draft numbers were started in December 1969.

So for 18 months, Trump should have been in the pool of draft eligible young men. Trump was no longer in college. He was working for his wealthy father's real estate firm.

Crowley Political Report is unaware of the "real estate worker" draft exemption.

Instead, the "star athlete" got a medical deferment - 4F.

Which raises a number of questions? What was wrong with Trump? Is he cured? Is he medically fit to serve as this nation's commander-in-chief?

Clearly, we need to see Trump's deferment papers. America needs to know Trump's medical status in 1968.

After all, Trump himself believes that one's status in life needs to be verified.

So Donald, shows us your papers before the birthers start going after you.

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Marco Rubio may be the most valuable player in the 2012 Florida GOP primary for U.S. Senate.

Rubio's endorsement could turn out to be more valuable than that of former Gov. Jeb Bush or Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Rubio has been a U.S. Senator for about four months - long enough for conservatives like Rush Limbaugh to swoon over the idea of a Rubio presidency.

And the fact is that despite Jeb Bush's enormous popularity, the luster starts to fade when you have been out of office for more than four years and are showing no signs of getting back in the game.

And while a sitting governor can be a huge help, if Rick Scott's popularity doesn't begin to climb his endorsement may do more harm than good.

Which brings us back to Rubio - who will he endorse?

Haley Barbour's surprise decision to leave Sally Bradshaw at the political altar by dropping out of the 2012 presidential campaign leaves Florida wide open to the rest of the Republican field.

Bradshaw won't be lonely long. The jilted political bride will have no shortage of political suitors. Will Mitt Romney give her a call? Bradshaw helped his 2008 Florida campaign and many thought she would be back with him this time.

But when the governor of the "milk" state asked her to help his campaign, there was no way Bradshaw would pass up the opportunity to work for a fellow Mississippian.

Now Bradshaw is candidateless - but Crowley Political Report predicts she won't stay that way for long.

A look at Barbour's announcement follows:

Pursing his lips, leaning into his interviewer, Donald Trump exudes buffoonish power as he warns the world that he if is president of the United States oil prices will drop, labor markets will buckle to his will and America will strike fear in the hearts of anyone who dares defy him.

Trump spends a lot of time pretending that he would be the greatest commander-in-chief in American history.

Or as he would say - he would be "amazing."

What may really be amazing about the militaristic Donald Trump is that he may be a draft dodger.

Consider this from A&E Biography profile of Trump:

Donald Trump was an energetic, assertive child, and his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy at age 13, hoping the discipline of the school would channel his energy in a positive manner.

Trump did well at the academy, both socially and academically, rising to be a star athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964.

He entered Fordham University and then transferred to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1968 with a degree in economics.

 
 This is one odd presidential election cycle. It is hard to believe that Donald Trump has become a darling of the Tea Party.

There is nothing in Trump's background that would suggest he should be this popular with a family values, economically thrifty, Tea Party supporter.

Trump is on wife number three. His gaudy lifestyle certainly does not suggest thrift, and when he speaks about issues it is clear that it has been many years since he read a book.

And there could be no more unlikely political pairing than Donald Trump and Allen West?

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hasner is also attending the event.  

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.

Honestly, we would not make this up - according to The Hill, Glenn Beck said on his radio program today that he wants freshman Florida Congressman Allen West to top the 2012 Republican presidential ticket.

And who should be West's running mate - Beck would like that person to be Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.

West-Bachman.

Yup. You can read all about it here.

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Okay, let's admit it up front - one of the reasons this is mighty fine story is because it quotes Crowley Political Report.

Stop booing, you should read the story anyway. Brendan Farrington, a top notch political writer for the Associated Press Tallahassee Bureau takes an interesting look at how Twitter has become the new way for Florida Gov. Rick Scott's communications director, Brian Burgess, to debate issues with the Florida press corps.

Crowley Political Report has talked about this issue in the past and you can find an example of the Twitter wars here.

Farrington takes a fresh look and also tells us what is happening in other state capitals around the country. Read his story here.

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Art by Patrick Crowley

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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Wow.....that was fast.

Crowley Political Report will have to check the records books but this may be the earliest that one candidate has attacked another in a Floirda U.S. Senate race.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner sent out an email - complete with video - blasting former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux.

Interestingly, Hasner doesn't mention his other rival for the Republican nomination, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

Here is the email. The video is after the email. Oh, and should we be surprised that the email turns into a request for a few bucks?

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.

BREAKING NEWS: Politico is reporting the Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been chosen by President Obama to lead the Democratic National Committee.

Sources told Politico that the Broward County Democrat was chosen because of "her strength as a fund-raiser and as a television messenger, and for her clout in the crucial swing state of Florida"

 
"The final choice  came down to her and former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, the sources said."

Her selection should cast aside any doubts that the Obama 2012 campaign is determined to win the Sunshine State. And it should be comforting news to Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson who has been targeted by the GOP for defeat in 2012.

A very liberal and outspoken Democrat, Wasserman Schultz, 44, was first elected to Congress in 2004. She quickly became an outspokenadvocate for a host of Democratic issues. She has also been a popular figure on cable news shows where she is not afraid to be combative.

In 2009, Wasserman Schultz announced that she was successfully battling breast cancer.

Born in Long Island, New York, She attended the University of Florida and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science in 1988 and with a Master’s Degree in 1990.

She is married to Steve Schultz and they have three children.

  
Conspiracy theorist Donald Trump will be the keynote speaker for the 3rd Annual Tax Day Tea Party in Boca Raton on April 16.

Which leads Crowley Political Report to wonder - does Trump know how to pronounce Raton?

There has been a disturbing trend of national commentators, news anchors and celebrities who mispronounce Boca Raton.

As former Boca mayor, Carol Hansen, used to say - "it is Ra tone, as in Al Capone."

It is not Boca Ra tan pronouced like flan.

This could be the first big test of Trump's presidential campaign.

We also hear his next stop is Area 51.

From the press release:

Apparently George LeMieux enjoyed being in the halls of the U.S. Senate.

LeMieux first annunced his campaign today by changing his Twitter avatar. Then came the email.

More later.

It is now later.

No one is really surprised that LeMieux entered the race. It will be his second political campaign having lost one in a bid to join the state legislature.

LeMieux is credited with masterminding the Charlie Crist campaign for governor but Lemieux abandoned Crist when the former Republican decided to be an independent candidate for governor.

The GOP money primary is now in full bloom with Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos already in the race and former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner in the wings.

Crowley Political Report is still expecting some yet-to-be-heard-from rich guy to enter the race next year.

Which of three candidates has the early lead?

For now, we'll give it to LeMieux by a hair.

Gosh those folks in South Carolina are a cranky bunch.

They are having a fit over the fact that Florida Republicans are still planning to have their 2012 presidential primary in January.

So now South Carolina Republicans are demanding that the RNC yank the 2012 national convention out of Tampa.

Iowa has joined South Carolina in an effort to force Florida Republicans to back down.

Karen Floyd, chairman of South Carolina Republican Party says that if Florida refuse to move its primary to March or later,  than the convention should be moved to Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Missouri, Michigan or North Carolina.

"I do not make any of these suggestions lightly, or with the notion that this idea will not be met with considerable resistance," Floyd writes to fellow RNC committee folks.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will join the Obama Administration as a special "education envoy" several sources have told Crowley Political Report.

Bush has been a leading advocate of education reform and many of his ideas have been adopted by the Obama administration.

An announcement is expected early next week.

"This is an opportunity for Jeb to show Obama how education reform should be done," said Sally Tilley, a Bush confidant.

Apparently, Bush received a call from Obama in the wee hours of the morning earlier this week seeking help to revive his education proposals.

Some insiders began to speculate that the move could be a prelude to an Obama/Bush ticket in 2012.

"It would be a shocking combination to many voters" said GOP strategist Chris Maddow.

The move would also disrupt the GOP primaries and raise serious questions if any Republican candidate could defeat the Obama/Bush ticket.

Some GOP party leaders suggest that the best move might be to offer the nomination to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul with the understanding that he would lose but it might prepare him for a 2016 run.

That scenario would become problematic if a successful Obama/Bush administration positioned the former Florida governor to run in 2016 an independent or the head of a new third party of Obama/Bush Demublicans.