In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Jeb Bush would beat Joe Biden in Florida, by a close margin. Marco Rubio would beat Biden by an even closer margin. But Hillary Clinton would beat both Rubio or Bush quite easily: 50 to 43 percent against Bush, 53 to 41 percent against Rubio, whose Hispanic heritage would not help him overcome the deficit.
Presidential Election
Jeb Bush Backtracks on Undocumented Immigrants’ Path to Citizenship
Bush was once considered the most moderate and visionary Republican on immigration. Now, his immigration reform ideas place him to the right of Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who leads the immigration reform effort in the U.S. Senate.
Obama II
Far from a dud, as these second inaugurals tend to be, Obama’s today was bracing in its realism, and hopeful, ironically, for having finally shed the imagery of hope for hope’s sake, replacing it with an agenda for equality, little heard of since the days of the New Deal and the Great Society.
Obama’s Inauguration Sells Out
President Barack Obama, reversing his own honorable precedent for his first inaugural, has chosen this time to have corporations pay for his second round of big shindigs. This multimillion-dollar infusion of corporate cash is a crass intrusion by favor-seeking private interests into what ought to be a purely public occasion.
Despite Sandy, Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.7%, Best Since December 2008
Despite Hurricane Sandy and economists’ predictions of a poor jobs report, the economy added 146,000 jobs in November, for a combined 416,000 jobs in the last three months. But the numbers are still lower than what they should be for a robust recovery.
Lone Star Reds: The Secessionist Tempest From Texas
Once again, there’s a tempest brewing in the national tea pot. We’re talking secession. Well, some of us are, writes Jim Hightower. Actually, very few are — and some of them aren’t too tightly wrapped.
Donald Trump’s Disciples: Obama’s Victory Still Birthing Dispute in a Tallahassee court
In a largely forgotten court case being litigated in Tallahassee, lawyers are still arguing about whether President Barack Obama was qualified to run for president in the first place.
Jeb Bush Redux: Defeated and Deflated, Republicans Look for Viability in 2016
Early Republican favorites for 2016 include Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan and Jon Huntsman, but the most formidable — and electable — candidate for the Republican Party right now is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, argues Steven Kurlander.
The Conservative Case Against Compromise
A Democrat and one a conservative say Republicans in Congress need to compromise so the government can “get things done,” and that it is better to do something than nothing. No. It is not, argues Lloyd Brown.
Back to Blood: Cuban Support for Democratic Ticket in Florida Was at a Historic High
Cuban-Americans voted for the Democratic candidate in historically high numbers in last week’s presidential election, a continuation of a years-long trend that could be eroding the GOP’s standing among a core portion of the party’s base in Florida.
Obama and the Southern Tradition
Mitt Romney and his diminishing white-male-America coalition wanted to put Barack Obama in his place. He failed. But certain realities of southern tradition endure, as does a racism in American politics that coursed through the 2012 election.
Florida Elections Roundup: Celebrations and Surprises for Democrats, Glumness for GOP
Florida Democrats hadn’t celebrated much since, well, President Obama won the state in 2008. But that changed Tuesday. Obama carried Florida again on the way to a second term in the White House, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson easily won re-election, and Democratic candidates picked up legislative and congressional seats.
No Close Call: Obama Wins; Weeks, Meeker, Nelson, DeSantis, Thrasher, Hanns, Moore-Stens, Manfre and Hutson Win
Flagler County election results will be posted here as soon as they are available, along with results of presidential, federal and state races, and updated as long as results are generated. All results for all Flagler County and related elections will be on this page.
Florida’s Political Petals: Where Obama and Romney Will Win Easily, Region By Region
From Little Haiti to West Orlando to The Villages and rural northeast Florida, certain regions are sure wins for either Obama or Romney, and counties ripe for each campaigns’ get-out-the-vote ground game. An analysis.
Fox News and the Politics of Hurricane Obama
On Fox News, Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath was replaced with endless and largely manufactured claims of an Obama cover-up of the attack on the American consulate in benghazi. Fox’s latest Swiftboat attack on the president foundered.
U.S. Economy Adds 171,000 Jobs in October, Topping Half a Million in Last 3 Months
The economy added 171,000 jobs in October, exceeding economists’ expectation of 135,000, and figures for August and September were revised upward, adding 84,000 to previous tallies, for a total of 511,000 jobs in the last three months.
Obama Clings to Smallest Lead in Florida, But His Ohio Margin May Make Florida Irrelevant
The latest Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS News poll–one of the more reliable polls tracking the swing-state electorate–shows President Obama again in the lead in Florida. A larger lead in Ohio may make Florida irrelevant to Obama’s path to 270 electoral votes.
Flagler’s First Day of Early Voting Brings Out 2,172, But Turnout May Be Lower Than in 2008
The voting line snaked around at the Flagler County Public Library for most of the first day of early voting, but with one fewer voting location, four fewer days and diminished enthusiasm, it’ll take a greater surge of voting to top the 2008 tallies.
The Orlando Sentinel Endorses Romney
Right-wingers’ elation at the Romney endorsement aside, to call the Orlando Sentinel liberal of course is to seriously misread the house organ of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, central Florida edition.
I-4 Corridor, Rife with Legislative Battles, Is Florida’s Electoral Ground Zero Again
The I-4 corridor is almost a mythical place in presidential politics, with Republicans and Democrats seeing it as a ticket to the White House. But down the ballot, the vast stretch of Central Florida also is the biggest battleground this year in state House and Senate races.
Florida Republicans’ Poll Tax Nostalgia
Hoping to minimize Democrats’ turnout, the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature is going out of its way to make voting more of a privilege than an absolute right. There are a few ways to get around the voter-suppression schemes.
Big Bird Debate: How Much Does
Federal Funding Matter to PBS Anyway?
The amount of tax dollars PBS receives is roughly .012 percent of the $3.8 trillion federal budget – or about $1.35 per person per year, compared to $22.48 in Canada and $80.36 in Britain. Public broadcasting is a popular target among conservatives, who’ve long portrayed it as an example of wasteful government spending.
Romney’s Foreign Policy Vacuums
Today’s foreign policy address by Romney, to the Virginia Military Institute, was better suited for the Hoover Historical Center in Canton, Ohio. He spoke for about half an hour. He said absolutely nothing that might have told us what his foreign policy would be–or what he thinks it is today.
Crucial Jobs Report Gives Obama a Boost as Unemployment Falls to 7.8%, Lowest in 4 Years
The national unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September, its lowest level since President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009, as the economy added 114,000 jobs in September, and revised figures for the previous two months boosted those totals by 86,000 jobs. In the last three months, the economy has added 434,000 jobs.
Obama’s Clobbering
Mitt Romney demolished the Obama mystique in Denver while Obama surrendered: This is the Obama flincher we’ve come to know. The man of a thousand retreats. The prevaricator. The terminated.
Mitt Romney’s Dangerous Game: Making Israel a Wedge Issue in Florida
The Florida Jewish community should see through the false premise that Obama is anything less than stellar on Israel, as Mitt Romney, hoping to score partisan points with Florida’s Jewish vote, has attempted to claim, Dan Gelber argues.
Where Obama Fear and Loathing Comes From
Charles Kesler’s new book on Barack Obama loathing is a window into the closing of the conservative mind, which Mark Lilla’s review opens a notch to let in a breath of wit–unusual for unusually dour liberals.
Mitt Romney’s , and Republicans’, Goldwater Moment
Blowing an election it should have won, the GOP might finally realize it has strayed far out of the mainstream and become a little too odd for the American public, writes Bill Cotterell.
Obama Opens Biggest Florida Lead Yet As Romney Reels from 47% Remark
Romney’s challenge is no longer to win just undecided voters–a very thin sliver–but to win back voters who have decided to give Obama a second term. The three October debates are Romney’s last chance to make a play for those voters.
Partisanship Works. One-Party States Don’t.
They are two of the most repeated claims you’ll hear every four years: That this is the most important election in our lifetime. And that partisanship is demolishing the country. Rubbish on both counts.
Fox News Has Obama Leading by 5 in Florida
The Fox News poll of likely voters has Obama leading Romney 49 percent to 44 in Florida, and by seven points in Ohio and Virginia. If similar results hold on Election Day, Mitt Romney will lose the election.
Mitt Romney’s 47 Percent Problem
In 2008 John McCain’s big challenge was to control Sarah Palin’s mouth. In 2012, Mitt Romney’s biggest challenge is to control Mitt Romney’s mouth. His characterization of 47 percent of Americans as victims and dependents, besides being demonstrably false, unravels the cynicism at the core of Romney’s campaign.
No Bounce: Economy Adds Only 96,000 Jobs in August as Unemployment Drops to 8.1%
The national economy added a meager 96,000 jobs in August, and the previous two months’ total was revised downward by 41,000 jobs. Nevertheless the unemployment rate edged down to 8.1 percent, from 8.3 percent, as the employment picture continues to zigzag between hope and anemia.
In Charlotte, Democrats Welcome Crist as Floridians Wonder Whether to Trust Him
As Charlie Crist takes the stage at the Democratic National Convention to embrace President Barack Obama, Florida Democrats are facing a question that could shape their party’s future: How much do they trust Charlie Crist? It’s part of a soap opera unfolding before partisans in two states.
When Lies Are Elevated to a Campaign Strategy
The lies of presidents could re-carve Rushmore by audacity alone, yet the lies of the Romney-Ryan campaign have taken the art of lying to new lows, but not without the complicity of voters, who, in the golden age of fact-checking, have no excuse to be misinformed.
What Makes Us Exceptional
It is not that American Exceptionalism is being lost, it’s that those who want to “tabe back America” have lost sight of what has made America exceptional, argues Dan Gelber after watching the Republican National Convention.
Romney-Ryan’s Voucher Plan for Medicare, Long the Third Rail of Florida Politics
GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said the nation must rethink Medicare as he and Mitt Romney propose changing the health-insurance program for 65-and-over Americans to a “fixed-amount” voucher that would essentially privatize the benefit.
The Tea Party, Missing from the Republican National Convention’s Big Tent
Despite cluelessness by liberals and Democrats, those outside the tea party movement still don’t grasp that “people like me are the absolute last folks who would be invited to the RNC,” argues tea party leader Henry Kelley.
Conventional Wisdom: Florida GOP Dishes Up Victory Talk
Florida delegates to the Republican National Convention dined on French toast, Allen West, John Bolton, Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich Thursday morning, a prime-beef line-up that fired up the faithful for the November elections.
“Just Stop Acting Stupid,” Jeb Bush Tells Republicans Over Immigration Extremism
Worried about losing the Latino vote, Bush and other Republicans nevertheless brushed off questions about whether the still-extremist immigration plank of the Republican Party could prove to be too much of a hurdle for the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
RNC Notebook: Wednesday
Republican National Convention quickies for Wednesday: the word on Alan Grayson, Republican lawmakers’ absence from delegate breakfasts, the Florida delegation’s buses can;t run on time, and big names, among them Newt Gingrich and Allen West, slated for Thursday’s breakfast.
Jeb Bush, the Elephant at the Republican National Convention, May Be Thinking 2016
Jeb Bush, sought after for establishment Republican endorsements, appears ready to take his brand of policy-driven conservatism to a broader national audience, with the 2016 or 2020 presidentials in mind.
A Few Florida Facts for Republican National Convention Delegates
Florida under the leadership of Republican icons like Bush, Scott and Rubio, and supported by proud and unthinking GOP legislatures for the last 15 years, has happily served as the grow house for Republican policies. The results are stunning, writes former lawmaker Dan Gelber.
Charlie Crist Bear-Hugs Obama Closer As He Excoriates GOP’s Rightward Slouch
Ex-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on Sunday urged voters to support President Barack Obama in the crucial swing state where the Democratic incumbent and Republican candidate Mitt Romney remain in a razor thin race.
Isaac Forces Republican Leaders to Shutter Monday’s Convention Schedule in Tampa
With Tropical Storm Isaac bearing down on Florida, Republican leaders will convene Monday and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon. Organizers are concerned, in part, about transportation problems as high winds and other storm conditions threaten the Tampa Bay area.
A Micro-Bump for Romney in Florida, But Obama Still Leads, Especially on Medicare
The latest Quinnipiac polls in swing states show President Obama maintaining diminishing leads over Mitt Romney despite voters saying Obama will do a better job on Medicare. The polls reflect Romney’s pick of Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan.
Ayn Rand vs. Paul Ryan
Modern conservatives, Paul Ryan included, ignore the fundamental principles that animated Ayn Rand: personal as well as economic freedom, argues Jennifer Burns, while Maureen Dowd calls Randism “a state of arrested adolescence.”
Paul Ryan’s Budget: The CBO Analysis
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office produced a 17-page analysis of the budget Congressman Paul Ryan submitted in 2012. The full analysis is presented.
Election Homework: The Goods on Paul Ryan
Everything you always wanted to know about Paul Ryan but were afraid was true: profiles, backgrounders, an FAQ on his plans for Medicare, and some of the best reporting on Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick.
Two White Men Who Like to Cut Things: On Romney’s Nomination of Paul Ryan
Mitt Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan, the seven-term Wisconsin congressman, born during the first Nixon administration, is a puzzling choice, more calculated than inspiring, more cautious than bold, and in some respects, just as strategically faulty as John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin.