Politics and publicity opportunities make strange bedfellows. President Barack Obama and former Gov. Jeb Bush will appear together this Friday at Miami Central High School. Obama will be in town for a Democratic fundraiser but will swing by the school with Bush to address ways to turn around low-performing schools…
As Norman Braman walked out of the North Shore Branch Library — fresh off casting his vote to recall Mayor Carlos Alvarez — volunteers in yellow T-shirts greeted him like a hero. “This is the man!” exclaimed an older Hispanic woman shaking his hand. “What a beautiful man for leading…
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who owns perhaps the most stunning collection of hats since Isabella Blow, has finally landed on the cover of a magazine. Unfortunately for Anna Wintour, it wasn’t on her Vogue magazine, but rather the Washington Post Magazine. Though the photo shoot certainly looked fun, the accompanying article…
Senate President and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Haridopolos lists his profession as college professor (though he’s actually merely a lecturer) but apparently does a hell of a lot less toiling on his written works than one would expect of his students. He certainly makes a lot more money for it,…
Last month, North Miami Beach blogger Stephanie Kienzle ripped her town’s mayor, Myron Rosner, after finding that he’d spent more than $500 on hotels in nearby Hollywood and Miami. Days later, a code compliance inspector came knocking at her front door. “I had no doubt the mayor was trying to…
In a stunningly speedy political flip-flop, Florida Governor Rick Scott has completely changed his stance on whether or not unions should have collective bargaining rights. He’s fallen in step with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s anti-union stance. What made Scott change his mind so fast? Well, for one, he had a…
Republican Rep. David Rivera is now under investigation by three separate agencies who are all looking into ethics charges involving his campaign finances. Perhaps no one told him, because he sure doesn’t have anything to say about it. Since his district includes part of Collier County, Rivera decided to give…
Ashley Cowie, a sophomore at Florida State University, was shot and killed last month after an AK-47 accidentally went off at a party at a property housing fraternity brothers. Clearly, firearms and college parties don’t mix well, but a bill introduced last month would allow students at Florida state colleges…
Naked Politics carries the results of a private poll showing that exactly 50 percent of Miami-Dade voters want to see Miami-Dade Carlos Alvarez recalled, while only 34 would vote to keep him in office. 46 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Alvarez, while only 24 percent view him favorably. There’s…
Raise your hand if this sounds like what Miami needs: fourteen new glowing LED billboards along the highway demanding drivers in hi-def to buy Svedka Vodka, iPods and cut-rate car insurance. Oh, hi there Commissioner Marc Sarnoff!This morning, the Miami Commission will decide whether to give Clear Channel the go…
On Sunday, The New York Times editorial board slammed Rick Scott’s decision to kill Florida’s federally funded high-speed rail system and suggested he was caught up in some high-speed race to out-pander to Tea Partiers faster than other Republican governors. Though, there’s one governor Scott apparently doesn’t want to match…
Among Governor Rick Scott’s cavalcade of controversial ideas is a plan to drug test all recipients of welfare in the state. Now Republican legislators have filed a bill to carry out a version of the plan, but it would only require welfare recipients with a felony drug conviction in the…
President Obama sure loves hitting up Miami for fundraisers. POTUS has been in the area several times since his election for numerous cash raising soirees (including one at the Estefan household) and will be back in town March 4 to attend a fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidates as well as…
This morning The Miami Herald ran a very chilling story asking “Is Gov. Rick Scott eyeing White House in 2012?” Amongst the evidence: his infatuation with federal issues, his appearances on Fox News, his apparent rivalry with other possible 2012 candidates, and his repeated attacks on Obama.Though, Scott says he won’t…
Rick Scott’s decision to decline $2.4 billion in federal funds to build a state-of-the-art high-speed rail system in Florida continues to draw anger, ire and confusion today even from many Republicans. Today, a veto-proof majority of 26 state senators wrote a letter rebuking Scott’s decision, while even former Republican Governor…
The Obama administration was set to spend $2.4 billion to build a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando in a project that would have created thousands of jobs, but Governor Rick Scott has drowned the plan in a big pot of ideological tea killing all those jobs with it…
“I grew up probably in the same situation as you guys,” Rick Scott said yesterday while addressing a group of state legislators. “I started school in public housing. My dad had a sixth-grade education.”That would have been fine if he was speaking in front of a group of lawmakers who…
Jeb Bush’s name keeps coming up when people discuss possible Republican presidential candidates in 2012, even though he’s said time and time again he won’t. Probably because he’s said he think President Barack Obama can probably still win re-election. Well, according to a Fox News poll Bush is erring on…
The American Conservative Union, the group now headed by Miami lobbyist Al Cardenas, has released their 2010 ratings of congress and they’ve deemed the three Cuban-American Republicans who represented much of Miami-Dade county not conservative. In fact, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart were the only Republican congressmen…
Former First Lady of Florida Carole Crist may not be the newest member of the Senate Spouse’s club, but she’s sticking by her man. In fact, despite plans by the couple to split their time between Miami and Tampa Bay, she’s put her fancy Fisher Island condo on the market…
When Sen. Marco Rubio announced he’d be sitting out the Conservative Political Action Conference this year, it gave the impression that he was trying to distance himself, for now at least, from certain elements of the right wing. Well, Rubio actually did make an appearance at CPAC today, though through…
Rick Scott introduced his budget this Monday to cheers at a Tea Party event inside a Eustis, Florida, church. Back in the reality of Tallahassee, though, the new governor’s plans haven’t been greeted with much enthusiasm. Even Republican lawmakers aren’t sure it’s a workable budget. Scott is facing criticism that…
