Miami News Blog

Daily Kos/Research 2000 just released their latest Florida poll, and there are a lot of interesting little poll number factoids to be pulled. Riptide tends to have some smart readers, so we won't recap the entire poll, but instead let's mine some of our favorite nuggets.

The Senate Race:

Republican Primary:

• Charlie Crist now only leads Marco Rubio by 10 points!
• 73% of Republicans who think President Obama was born in America would vote for Crist, only 16% would vote for Rubio. These are your mostly sane, non-Limbaugh loving Republicans.
• Marco Rubio wins amongst Republicans who don't believe Obama was born in the US, or aren't sure. These are your birthers and tea party "activists" 
• Unfortunately for Crist, only 35% of Florida Republicans believe, for sure, that Obama was born in the United States (WTF PEOPLE?)

General Election:

• Charlie Crist would still sweep the floor with Kendrick Meek, 50-33%
• However, in South Florida, Meek would win 48%-41%, the only region in the state he carries against Crist.
• Kendrick Meek has a 38%-30% over Rubio in a hypothetical matchup. Rubio is polling better amongst white people, but only by 1%. Meek would actually do better amongst Hispanics by 13%. 

Hot Hypothetical Three-Way Action:

• So what would happen if Charlie Crist ran as an independent against both Rubio and Meek? Crist: 32% Meek: 31% Rubio:27%

​Sarah Palin will be in Florida as part of her Going Rogue book tour next Tuesday (but only the "Real America" parts of Florida, so sadly she won't make it down South), but will she drop off an endorsement in the Senate race while she's here? 

She suggests, meanwhile, that there might be encouraging news coming Marco Rubio's way. She says she's had a chance to look at the Crist-Rubio race "just on the surface." But she adds, "I'm just being asked about it really in the last week or two, so I'll dig more into it. I'll find out what the guys are holding in terms of positions and see where maybe I can help."

Marco Rubio has already said he would love to have Palin's endorsement, and earlier in the interview Palin says, "What I love about the Republican party is how we invite -- or at least we should be inviting -- healthy competition in our primaries."

​You know a candidate is really serious about painting himself as a hardcore conservative when he tries to place himself to the right of Right Wing Deity Ronald Reagan. But that's exactly what Marco Rubio did today, by declaring that the Gipper's support of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was a bad move. "In 1986 Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to 3 million people. You know what happened, in addition to becoming 11 million a decade later? There were people trying to enter the country legally, who had done the paperwork, who were here legally, who were going through the process, who claimed, all of a sudden, 'No, no no no , I'm illegal.' Because it was easier to do the amnesty program than it was to do the legal process," Rubio told a  Martin County Republican Womens Federated meeting today, according to the Palm Beach Post.

"I think [Reagan] did it for the right reasons, but I think it ended up working the wrong way," he continued.

"The video shows Marco Rubio speaking in Spanish, then has a clip of Barack Obama referring to Marco Rubio as a Cuban, then says no way "WE" can trust Rubio. Really? Because he's Cuban? Really?," writes Erikson.

​Just days after sending out a fiery letter calling for the resignation of Florida Democratic Party chair Karen Thurman -- a letter that made liberal use of his word processor's bold and underline features -- Miami-Dade Democratic chairman BJ Chiszar has been given the boot. 

Back in the 1970s, while working on George McGovern's doomed presidential bid in Texas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Taylor Branch shared a room with two driven young Yalies named Bill and Hillary Clinton. 

via Wikimedia Commons

​When the man from Hope won the White House in '92, Clinton invited Branch -- in secret, even from his top advisors -- to record interviews with him.

Eight years of furtive taping led to this year's 700-page The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President (Simon & Schuster, $35). The book sketches a behind-the-scenes portrait of the most powerful man on Earth.

Branch will speak about the project on Saturday at the Miami Book Fair. The talk, scheduled at noon in the Chapman Conference Center, is free but does require a ticket.

 "This is a unique book because it's not meant to be a historical evaluation. I was just too close to Bill for that," Branch says.

Instead, The Clinton Tapes fills in the blanks behind the biggest moments of Clinton's presidency as they happened. 

For instance, after Castro shot down Cuban-American pilots during the Brothers to the Rescue crisis in 1994, Branch writes, Clinton threatened Fidel Castro with military retaliation. "He was really starting to dip his toes in the water on loosening the embargo before that, but Fidel put him in a spot where he had no choice but to back out," Branch says today.

Click through for a full Q&A with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Parting the Waters: America in the King Years."

Just weeks after much too much of Florida's political establishment and media took a dumb Crist/Rubio remix of an old YouTube meme way too seriously, there's another stupid YouTube video that certain journalists, it seems, are forcibly trying to turn into a controversy. 

​Marco Rubio says he would love to get Sarah Palin's endorsement in his race against Charlie Crist for the Senate. 

Asked if he would welcome the support of former GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Rubio offers an unqualified yes, adding that "I can't think of anything her and I disagree with off the top of my head."

There's no doubt Orlando-area Rep. Alan Grayson pisses Republicans off (and probably takes glee in it), but it's not good news when his top GOP challenger is also pissing off Republicans.Armando Gutierrez Jr., a Miami native and son of local political mover and shaker Armando Gutierrez, moved to Orlando last month to take on Grayson in the 2010 election. Problem is, he's not exactly playing nice with local GOP leaders, according to The Hill. 
Twenty-eight-year-old Gutierrez has been aggresively seeking endorsements using his family ties. After a number of local names declined to seek the Republican nomination, Gutierrez stepped in. Although he has few strong ties to the area, he cites the fact that he's done business in the area for six years. 

A couple months ago, the City of Miami's budget was about as well-balanced as Gary Busey on PCP.

​The Commission, Mayor Manny Diaz and the city's three unions staged a vicious tug-of-war over who would feel the most pain in plugging a $118 million hole.

But as Tomas Regalado prepares to take over Diaz's seat later this afternoon, he inherits a budget balanced for the moment by an uneasy agreement. The unions and City Manager Pete Hernandez all agreed to pay cuts and layoffs in early October.

Charlie Cox, chief of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union, tells Riptide he ended up with 40 layoffs. Hernandez, in turn, promised the Herald he'd lose "a dozen" of his top earners.

So who did Hernandez and City Attorney Julie Bru actually show the door? Riptide has obtained their layoff records, and it shows that, indeed, pink slips went out to 39 city employees, from Bru's office to NET to Information Technology.

But only nine of those layoffs hit managers pulling in more than $100,000 a year (including Elliot Fixler, an assistant director we found enjoyed regularly working four-hour shifts.)

Hernandez's own executive assistant, Gilbert Cabrera, avoided the ax by taking a pay cut and moving to the Solid Waste Department.

Click through for the full list of the top-earners who did get canned.

via Dem Underground

​All of Florida is wondering when Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio will come out and make it official. They are totally in political love, but why won't Jeb put a ring on it by endorsing Rubio over Gov. Charlie Crist in the Senate primary? 

via Left Agenda

​Well, the 'Tea Party' is an official political party in Florida now. Orlando lawyer Frederic O'Neal registered the new party with the Florida Secretary of State in August, and serves as its chairman.

"The current system has become mired in the sludge of special interest money that seeks to control the leadership of both parties. It's time for real change," said O'Neal in a statement according to Politico.

Capture of an anti-Crist ad paid for by the Club for Growth

​Charlie Crist went on CNN yesterday and said that he didn't endorse the stimulus package. 

Sen. John Cornyn

​Looks like Marco Rubio might have pulled off a bit of a victory thanks to the results of New York's 23rd congressional district. Sen. John Cornyn announced yesterday that the National Republican Senatorial Committee won't be inserting itself into primary's anymore. 
"As far as what's happening in specifically Florida -- we made a decision to endorse Gov. Crist at his request. But we'e really not involved in the primary," Cornyn told Politico. 

Riptide is more laughing at these flyers, then with them. They're pretty ridiculous.

​This we know for sure: Michael Gongora's name will be on the ballot for the Miami Beach  runoff election for the Group III Commission seat on Nov 17th. His opponent isn't quite clear. 

The unofficial mascot of the Conservative movement.

​Last night Democrat Bill Owens pulled off a surprising win in New York's 23rd congressional district special election over insurgent Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman who had forced the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava out of the race. When talking about the results just about every talking head on every network mentioned the Rubio-Crist Republican primary quagmire in Florida. But what does it actually mean for us here in the sunshine state?

The handful of City of Miami voters who bothered to roll by the polls yesterday sent an age-old but always cringe-inducing message: Cash and name recognition wins elections.

via Tomas Regalado for Mayor

Your next mayor's real campaign slogan: NO!

​Actual plans for the city? Meh. Not so important.

In the four contested races in the city, voters went nuts over well-funded Tomas Regalado for mayor (71.67 percent) and incumbent Michelle Spence Jones in District 5 (82.75 percent), and gave a nod in District 3 to Frank Carollo (52.29 percent). They sent District 4's Francis Suarez and Manolo Reyes to a runoff.

So what do these guys have in common? What grand, overarching vision for the City of Miami's future can we divine from these results?

First, take the mayor's race. Tomas Regalado's message to voters basically boiled down to one word: NO. Regalado didn't really run on his merits as much as he ran as far away as possible from outgoing mayor Manny Diaz. Regalado was the change candidate and his opponent, Joe Sanchez, could never escape his typecast as Diaz's Mini-Me.

It didn't hurt his chances that Regalado raised almost a third more cash than Sanchez, and dominated the older, Cuban-American demographic (who were likely none too upset about his past support for terrorist Eduardo Arocena).

​Imagine being Miami Beach mayoral candidate Raphael Herman's volunteer campaign manager. You're already battling an incumbent on behalf of a candidate who's known only as a perennial loser, but you have a bit of momentum and are hoping to make a dent in the results when- oops, Herman shows up at an Obama speech trying to get the president to look at his wounds from being attacked by rabid firemen.

Here at New Times, we get wild-eyed people coming to our offices with similar stories all the time. They're not usually running for office.

Apologies to Matti Bower, but wouldn't it have been sweet if Herman had won? It's not so outlandish a prospect: Roughly 37 people voted in the Miami Beach election, so our hero with the Prince Valiant 'cut probably could have snuck into office if he had the wherewithall - and McDonald's vouchers -- to bribe the homeless population of Flamingo Park into voting for him. And then Mayor Herman could have tried to institute his new policy banning non-residents from driving on the causeway, sparking a revolt that would have certainly ended in somebody getting beheaded.

Alas, now the island is stuck with a severely sane mayor- which really doesn't represent the populace at all, if you think about it. (But there's salvation coming in a couple of years: a particular candidate is been rumored to have been seen scrawling "HERMAN 2011" on picket signs using chicken blood early this morning.)

Raphael, you may be the moron of the month- for lack of a better word for your unique brand of faildom- but Goddamnit, we'll miss you.   

Tomas Regalado will be Miami's next mayor, winning with about 72% of the vote. Joe Sanchez, his competitor and fellow City Commissioner, netted a disappointing 28%. We'll do more thinking about this tomorrow, I'm sure, but for now the results. 

The most heated races on Miami Beach will head to runoffs later this month, but Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Commissioner Jerry Libbin win easy re-election.

Mayor Robaino

​The citizens of Hialeah sure weren't hungry for change. All three offices up for election went easily to the incumbents. Notably, Katharine Cue, who was appointed to the commission last year, won her first election. 

City Halls of Miami, Hialeah and Miami Beach

​​Some of you, apparently not a whole lot, but some went out to the polls today to elect mayors and various council people and commissioners in Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah. 

Let's hope it's not a '97 repeat, but a large number of absentee ballots have been returned so far in local elections today where polling place turnout has been low. 

via Best Buddies

​A Kennedy cousin is apparently mulling the idea of entering the family business by making a bid for Florida's Governor's mansion and challenging Florida CFO Alex Sink in the Democratic primary, according to Naked Politics. 

After a few months of publicly flirting with the idea, Republican State Senator Paula Dockery of Lakeland officially announced today that she will run for Governor, and challenge Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Republican Primary. 

via CNYCentral

​Florida's 2010 Republican primary and Today's New York's 23rd congressional district special election are two fronts on the same war: the ongoing battle in the Republican party that's pitting moderates and mainstreamers versus tea-baggers and Conservative activists.

And while the New York election's direct effects on the Sunshine State will be minimal, there is an important prize up for grabs between Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio: the all important talking point.

The whole thing is rather complicated, but in a nutshell President Obama appointed Republican Incumbent Republican John M. McHugh to the position of Secretary of the Army, so a special election was called and everyone pretty much expected the seat to remain in Republican control. So the local GOP leaders picked assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, who happens to be pro-choice and believes Gay people should have some rights.

But, New York has a couple of wacky state-level third parties that usually just endorse the mainstream party candidates, but in this case the Conservative party decided to run their own guy, Doug Hoffman (who, will basically be a defacto Republican should he get to Washington).

Let's just get this out of the way: Riptide is the last place you'll read any criticism of Alan Grayson, the U.S. representative from Orlando, for his raging political Tourette's syndrome.

​We wish more politicians would jump on the Grayson crazy train.

What's better than hearing your local rep of accusing opponents of wanting hospital patients to "die quickly"? Or listening to him call a federal official a "K-Street whore" on national radio?

Or possibly our favorite Grayson quote, talking about his deep loathing for Dick Cheney:

I have trouble listening to what he says sometimes because of the blood that drips from his teeth when he's talking.

Boom! You say, "lowering the national dialogue," we say pure political comedy gold.

Well, if you missed it this weekend, the New York Times "Week in Review" weighed in on the Grayson phenomenon and came up with a novel theory on the freshman rep: He might just be the first liberal wing nut.

img via DetNews

​That Joe Lieberman, what's his deal lately? The former Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate lost the Democratic primary for his Connecticut Senate seat in 2006, only to win the general election. Since then he's been a bit of a loose flyer, and ended up campaigning for Republican John McCain in the Presidental election (infact, Lieberman was on board the Straight Talk Express when it got into a fender bender a few blocks from our offices), Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Pete King in 2008. 

"I probably will support some Republican candidates for Congress or Senate in the election in 2010. I'm going to call them as I see them," Lieberman said in an ABC News "Subway Series" interview aboard the U.S. Capitol Subway System...

​Jeb Bush has emerged as one of the more sane and reasoned voices on the right, usually by keeping his foot a good distance from his mouth. His modus operandi since leaving office has been to keep a relatively low profile and remain a strong voice for conservatism while not making a buffoonery of the movement by shouting nonsense at the top of his lungs.

Well, until Wednesday at least. Speaking at the tenth U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform Summit, Bush went off topic while responding to an audience member's question and painted President Obama as a capitalism-hater.

From Legal News Line:

"I think President Obama has used the bully pulpit as a way to attack capitalism," he said.

After a pause, he concluded, "That'll make the news."

In other words, Jeb Bush thinks Obama is a giant socialist, and Bush still takes a bit of glee in delivering a politically heated zinger.

[CNN: Jeb Bush: Obama trying to 'attack capitalism via Wonkette]

​Hey, Marco Rubio, do you think the President of the United States was born in America?