Sean Noble was a former congressional aide just starting as a political consultant when he was recruited to help run the Kochtopus — Charles and David Koch’s multi-layered political network.
republicans
In a Nod to Less Abrasive Republicans, Florida Senate Names Andy Gardiner Its Next President
Andy Gardiner, The 44-year-old Orlando Republican, was lauded as a compassionate and temperate conservative as he laid out an agenda focused on the economy, water and natural resources and expanding educational and employment opportunities for disabled Floridians.
Despite $51 Billion For the Taking, Florida Unlikely to Expand Health Coverage in 2014
Consumer groups, hospitals and insurers are clamoring for Florida to take the $51 billion in federal funds that have been offered to the state over the next decade to provide health coverage to the working poor. But those who are tuned in politically — even those who desperately want it to happen — say it’s very unlikely in 2014.
Obamacare Will Survive. Obama and Democrats, Maybe Not So Much.
The law’s rocky debut has refocused attention on whether Obama, intellectually gifted though he may be, was ready to be the country’s chief executive. It may also decide which party is in control after 2016.
Florida’s U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, Immoderate Only in Longevity, Is Dead at 82
U.S. Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young of Pinellas County, the longest serving Republican in Congress, was a political icon in the Tampa Bay area and a moderate who had only announced earlier this month that he wouldn’t seek a 23rd term in Congress next year.
Shutdown Geezers: The Medicare
Generation’s Immoral War on Obamacare
Opponents of Obamacare think that by doubling down on hurting Americans through a shut-down, they might stun them into submission. They must be stupider than they let on. The Affordable Care Act has its issues. Lacking for moral high ground isn’t among them.
Florida Supreme Court Green-Lights Trial Challenging Fairness of GOP Redistricting
The 5-2 ruling, which fell along common ideological lines on the court, allows a coalition of voting-rights groups to continue trying to prove that the Senate maps drawn in 2012 violate the anti-gerrymandering “Fair Districts” standards added to the Florida Constitution two years earlier.
Democrats, Presuming Victory at Annual Gala, “Almost Don’t Care” Who Takes on Scott
Florida Democrats gathering for their annual fundraising dinner at the Westin Diplomat Resort on Saturday were certain of one thing: They will defeat Republican Gov. Rick Scott in a little more than a year.
In Rubio’s Republican Party, Appeals To Victimhood Are Getting Old
Republicans over the last decade or so have become a party that tethered their Election Day successes to an appeal to the lesser angels in people, on convincing voters they need to fear forces trying to take things away from them, that they need to look out for Number One, argues Dan Gelber.
Rubio’s Rebuttal: A GOP Disaster Reminiscent of Romney, With Hispanic Hues
The performance by Florida’s junior senator following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union was an epic failure, argues Rhonda Swan. If Marco Rubio is the savior of the Republican Party, members of the GOP should start looking for their lifeboats.