Notes For Saturday, November 30, 2002

Broward News: Buddy Nevins reports on surprising Lori Parrish numbers (she really shouldn't have contributed to Katherine Harris). ["Besieged commissioner gets set for dirty campaign". In the Sun Sentinel.] 8:49 AM

Homegrown Media Asleep? The National Century scandal was broken by Washington Post Staff Writers Carrie Johnson and Robert O'Harrow Jr., writing from Port Charlotte, Florida on Monday, November 25, 2002. The Bush Audit scandal was first reported by Larry Margasak of the Associated Press on November 26, 2002; the AP's Brent Kallestad did a follow up the following day, and printed Bush's cryptic response: "There's no moving parts here that yield some kind of secret conspiracy."

Where has Florida's press corps been in all of this? Silent. There has been nothing aside from the AP wire stories about the audit scandal . . . perhaps they are all digging deeply and will have blockbuster stuff for us in the near future.

8:38 AM

Audit Scandal Crawling Along: The audit scandal does not seem to have any legs. There has been little coverage outside the AP wire stories, and only one editorial thus far (see below).

The Daytona Beach News Journal editorializes today that "Pension fund conflict: Request for audit delay looks suspicious". The editorial speculates that John Ellis Bush sought the delay of the pension fund audit (from Chief Justice Rehnquist's daughter) to avoid attention being drawn to the more than $300 million that Alliance Capital, the fund manager, lost when it invested in Enron stock after Enron's downhill slide had begun. John Ellis, the savvy businessman, was Chairman of the pension fund when this happened.

Whatever John Ellis Bush's motivation for delaying the audit, it remains unlikely that any of the three (3) inquiries into this matter will produce anything more than a whitewash. Notwithstanding Republican Senator Charles Grassley call for his Senate Finance Committee staff to look into what he calls "serious" allegations about why Rehnquist delayed the investigation, the General Accounting Office investigation, and the review by the FBI-led panel of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, do we really expect to see a fair investigation?
8:20 AM

The People Speak: Please read this letter to the editor; no wonder our "tin-arsed" governor (see preceding note) thinks 900 people a day moving to Florida is a good thing. 8:02 AM

Q - It Isn't A Term Of Endearment: A - What did Australia's Sydney Morning Herald mean by calling John Ellis Bush "tin-arsed"? The Australian daily called our John Ellis Bush "tin-arsed" in referring to a Carl Hiaasen column in the Miami Herald that harpooned Bush for citing Florida's population growth as a Good Thing. Whereas in truth, argued Hiaasen, rampant growth is turning Floridian into an "urban pit", writhing under highway congestion, water shortages, street crime and an ever-slimming public purse. ["Love thy neighbour" in Australia's Sydney Morning Herald]

By the way, the Hiaasen column is as always - well. most always - worth a read. Hiaasen savages Bush's claim that 900 people moving to Florida each day is a good thing - "If he lived in Kansas, would he brag about the locusts?" 7:56 AM

It's The Economy Stupid: George II's "war on terror" will danage Florida's economy. As Many As 50, 000 Britons who own property in Florida could be affected by changes to visa laws designed to keep out terrorists. ["Is the fairy tale over in the Sunshine State?" In the UK's Telegraph 7:27 AM

Notes For Friday, November 29, 2002

Toronto Star Agrees That George Bush Is Not A "Moron". The Toronto Star reports that George Bush is "anything but moronic". Rather, Bush is "a sociopathic personality . . . incapable of empathy . . . [with] an inordinate sense of his own entitlement . . . ." [article.] The Star's rejection of the moron moniker strongly supports Prime Minister Chretien's earlier insistence " that Mr. Bush is not a moron". [earlier article.] 9:02 AM

National Century Scandal - Jeb Backer Poulsen Had A Checkered Past: A little piece in the Palm Beach Post yesterday about the National Century scandal. The Post reports that Years before Lance K. Poulsen became a big-time executive and Republican political player who contributed $44,000 to the Florida Republican Party and loaned Gov. Jeb Bush a National Century jet for "a campaign trip", he headed a struggling tire company based in Lake Park and even ran afoul of police. [Article.]

There seems to be a disagreement between the Miami Herald and the Post on how many plane trips John Ellis Bush took on the tainted plane(s). The Herald says "Seven times during his reelection bid, Gov. Jeb Bush climbed aboard a private jet owned by National Century Financial Enterprises", while the post reports only that "loaned Gov. Jeb Bush a National Century jet for a campaign trip in September".

Was it "seven" trips" or "a" trip; I am sure the Florida Legislature's investigation and/or the Florida Election Commission inquiry will sort this all out. 7:53 AM

I am shocked . . . shocked! "State Finds Problems With Child Welfare" [Tampa Tribune article.] Even though "Children are being placed in unlicensed homes, reports needed to track children's' progress are missing, and staff turnover has soared to more than 60 percent . . . [and] the level of care has gone down since privatization occurred ", John Ellis Bush insists on giving it all to the vaunted private sector. [Daytona Beach News Journal editorial.] 7:48 AM

He's No Tom Feeney: Incoming state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd is backing two "reforms": (1) allow Floridians to vote on a constitutional amendment requiring purchasers of political advertisements to file reports with the state (ensuring that political groups that buy ads attacking candidates are identified); and (2) an amendment that would require bills to "cool off'' for 48 hours before being approved by the House or Senate, and during that time no amendments could be added. The Tampa Trib editorializes in favor of these relatively mundane proposals. 7:43 AM

Broward School Overcrowding "Much Worse" Than Suspected: "Anyone visiting Broward campuses can see schools are overcrowded: students jammed into classrooms, triple lunch shifts, closets doubling as teaching spaces. But the crowding is actually much worse than anyone realized, according to the first reliable figures the school district has ever compiled." [Article] 7:36 AM

Too little too late. The Miami Herald editorializes on local election reform.. 7:23 AM

The Orlando Sentinel could use a new columnist; how about the author of this "my word" column in Today's Sentinel. 7:20 AM

Notes For Thursday, November 28, 2002

From The Macon Telegraph:

"Gov. Bush is linked to firm in fraud case

TALLAHASSEE - Seven times during his reelection bid, Gov. Jeb Bush climbed aboard a private jet owned by National Century Financial Enterprises of Ohio, the once-high-flying health financing group now under federal investigation for multibillion-dollar fraud, campaign finance records show.

Bush also raised money at the tony Port Charlotte estate of National Century's former chief executive and founder, Lance Poulsen, 59.

On Tuesday, as Poulsen's business dealings continued to make headlines nationwide, . . . ."

The story first appeared in the Washington Post, then, to their credit, the Miami Herald wrote about it on Wednesday. To our knowledge, no other Florida newspaper has mentioned the story. 8:56 AM

More On The Audit "Scandal": AP follows up with John Ellis Bush about not one, but two (2) delays obtained in starting the federal Health and Human Services Department Inspector General's audit of the State's pension plan. In Bush fashion, John Ellis asserted: "There's no moving parts here that yield some kind of secret conspiracy." What Bush means by this is unclear, the Bush family lexicon is a separate subject unto itself, but it seems like this is yet another denial of wrongdoing by Bush.

The "request" for an audit delay - if it can be called a mere request coming as it was from the President's brother to Inspector General Janet Rehnquist, the daughter of the man who led the judicial cabal that installed the President, and herself an attorney in the Bush I White House - ensured the review couldn't be finished before Bush won re-election. A now retired deputy Inspector General "began to smell politics," and the transaction was exposed. The deputy Inspector General had been at the HHS inspector general's office since its inception in 1976, said he was ordered by Rehnquist to approve two delays to the audit before he retired in the summer.

Audit delays are unheard of. "I can't recall being involved in any decision when we put one off or postponed one for any reason," said Patrick McFarland, Inspector General for the Office of Personnel Management. McFarland is the government's longest serving inspector general at 12 years.

Bush now claims that the delay was necessary because personnel changes at the State Board of Administration, including the departure of executive director Tom Herndon, made it impossible to comply with the beginning part of the audit. But, the earlier AP wire story reported Tom Herndon, the pension manager who retired in June, said he saw no need for a postponement. His successor, Coleman Stipanovich, was hardly new to the pension fund; he was Herndon's top deputy. Moreover, neither was asked by the Governor's office if a postponement was needed.

Hence, John Ellis Bush's stated reasons for the delay are contradicted by Herndon and Stipanovich. So, who wanted the audit postponement, and why?

It is also curious that Bush's "request" was described as as urgent and Health and Human Services officials were asked by Bush's office to get the message to Rehnquist, who was at a department reception. Why was the delay so "urgent", and why was the request not made through normal channels, instead of pulling Rehnquist out of a reception to have her order the deputy Inspector General to postpone an audit?

Perhaps the GAO, FBI and possible Congressional investigations will consider the substance of Bush's excuse for the delays, but we doubt it.

In any event, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, and the FBI-led Integrity Committee of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency are investigating aspects of Rehnquist's conduct. The PCIE monitors the conduct of inspectors general. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the next chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has asked his staff also to look into the matter.

Prediction: The chance that either John Ellis Bush or Janet Rehnquist pay ANY penalty for this incident - less tham zero.

Florida's pension fund has drawn other headlines during Bush's tenure. The State Board of Administration, which runs the fund, has been under scrutiny because it invested and lost $300 million in the bankrupt energy marketing company, Enron. And, at least one Enron official held a fundraiser for John Ellis Bush's reelection bid, though it received minimal media coverage.

A final note, both AP wire stories mention that John Ellis Bush "easily" won reelection, the implication being that there was no need for the Bush's to engage in shenanighans. Well, at the time these events were occurring, a competitive race against Bush was in the offing.

Read the original AP wire story [here] and the November 27 AP story [here].

8:22 AM

Notes For Wednesday, November 27, 2002

"John Rawls stands as the most notable--and controversial--political theorists of the twentieth-century. His 1971 work A Theory of Justice redefined the status of political philosophy in the West, giving central focus to the group of ideas surrounding the concept of 'liberalism.' The liberal democrat state, Rawls argues here and elsewhere, can and should be the guarantor of social justice. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls sketches a complex and well-defined notion of how such a state could make a positive impact in terms of being redistributively just--that is, how a liberal democrat state could insure that its members were provided with basic rights and more or less equal opportunities. In later works, including Political Liberalism, Rawls deals with the thorny issue of cultural pluralism, and how a liberal state could hope to incorporate the life-plans of many different cultures under one roof." [More] 1:27 PM

The "Courtier" Class? To borrow the description used at the Daily Howler , the term "courtier" seems to accurately describe the Florida media's relationship with the Bush family:

"Entry: cour·tier
Pronunciation: 'kOr-tE-&r, 'kor-; 'kOrt-y&r, 'kort-; 'kOr-ch&r, 'kor-
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : one in attendance at a royal court
2 : one who practices flattery" 7:43 AM

Florida Media Slow To Pick Up On John Ellis Bush's Links To Fraud Case: Although the Washington Post reported two days ago that a John Ellis Bush supporter was on the lam, it is only today that a Florida paper bothers to mention that "Gov. Bush is linked to firm in fraud case". We don't expect much, if any follow up on this story. Remember the Enron fundraising, the misreporting of private plane usage during the campaign, the Bush El bribery issue, and so on and so forth. The media could not care less. 7:12 AM

Audit Scandal, What Audit Scandal? Yesterday most Florida papers picked up the AP wire story about the would-be audit scandal (read the wire story here); there is no follow in Florida's papers today. The wire story has been picked up, however, in Atlanta and in all places, two Montana newspapers (The Missoulian and the Montana Forum.com).But that's it. It appears that this story will disappear into the mist. 7:08 AM

The View From LA: "In Florida, Limit Class Size Now, Pay Later - Constitutional amendment seeks to address overcrowded public schools, but the price tag may reach $27.5 billion over 8 years" [LA Times Article] 6:47 AM

Notes For Tuesday, November 26, 2002

The Post-Election Surprises Keep Coming - Bush Audit Scandal - Will This Also Be Swept Under The Carpet?

AP reports that "Florida pension fund audit delayed after governor's office call":

"At the request of Gov. Jeb Bush's office, the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department ordered delays in a federal audit of Florida's pension fund that ensured the review wouldn't be completed before Bush won re-election, officials say.

The delays by Janet Rehnquist, daughter of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, are now being investigated by Congress.

A former Rehnquist deputy, who recently retired, told The Associated Press he couldn't recall another case during his quarter-century career with the watchdog agency in which an inspector general intervened personally to postpone an audit.
...
Hirst, the spokeswoman for Jeb Bush, said the governor's chief of staff, Kathleen Shanahan, called to request a delay on April 15, the day the audit was supposed to have started.

A top aide to Rehnquist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Shanahan described her request as urgent and asked Health and Human Services officials to get the message to Rehnquist, who was at a department reception."
...
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the next chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has asked his staff also to look into the matter.

"Inspectors general offer important checks and balances on federal agencies," Grassley said. "They have to be isolated from politics to function effectively. Any efforts to compromise their independence are wrong."

Senior HHS staff members said postponement decisions are left to auditors, and granted only for reasons like illnesses, computer breakdowns and a reluctance to interfere with other current investigations, they said.

"I can't recall being involved in any decision when we put one off or postponed one for any reason," said Patrick McFarland, inspector general for the Office of Personnel Management. McFarland is currently the government's longest serving inspector general at 12 years.
...
Florida's pension fund has drawn other headlines during Bush's tenure. The State Board of Administration, which runs the fund, has been under scrutiny because it invested and lost $300 million in the bankrupt energy marketing company, Enron."

Thus far, it appears the wire story has been picked up by only the Naples and Bradenton papers. 6:52 AM

Notes For Monday, November 25, 2002

"Washington Post Reports John Ellis Bush Contributor On The Lam: Port Charlotte denizen Lance K. Poulsen made big bucks in "receivables financing." That is, he bought outstanding hospital bills at a discount, took a fee and then used the incoming cash to pay off bonds his company issued. This Enronesque scheme was very profitable: Poulsen had a $1 million waterfront home, with a three-story waterfall no less, a 58-foot cabin cruiser and a business jet.

The jet, no doubt adorned with a "Jeb!" sticker. was used by John Ellis Bush on the campaign trail. Poulsen also donated $44,000 recently to the Florida Republican Party.

And now, with some 300 million missing from the till, Poulsen, his wife and business partners have disappeared. In Enron style, they have left in their wake - perhaps they made off in the cabin cruiser "a 58-foot Sea Ray 580 named Enterprise, complete with air conditioning, a galley and a master stateroom with a queen-size bed" - employees worried about their next payuchecks and five bankrupt healthcare companies.

How ironinc is this? n the election, McBride was attacked by Bush for a relative handful of layoffs occurring after McBride stepped down as managing partner for his law firm; there was nary a peep from the media. Bush fundraised with Enron executives - McBride said nothing, the media even less.

And, whatever happened to the tempest in the teapot over Bush's use of private planes to campaign?

5:52 AM

Notes For Sunday, November 24, 2002

Start Counting: "On Friday, the state Department of Education released a letter sent to all 67 school districts asking for an updated accounting of all permanent and portable facilities used as classrooms. Due by Dec. 6, the data is to be used to provide a benchmark as lawmakers begin formulating a response to a sweeping class-size initiative approved by voters earlier this month." [More]
7:17 AM

A 4% Shift In the Hispanic Vote: A national post-election survey of 2,500 voters by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, shows that Hispanic voters represented 5 percent of the vote, about the same as in the last midterm election. In 2000, 64 percent of Hispanics voted for Democratic congressional candidates and 35 percent voted for Republicans. In 2002, 60 percent of Hispanics voted for Democrats and 39 percent went with Republicans. [Read]

What does it mean for Florida, well it could boost the hopes of Orange County's Mel Martinez. Orlando Sentinel Political Editor Mark Silva reviews the scenarios, which include Gallagher, Graham, Brogan, and Nelson. 7:01 AM

Survey of Sunday's Papers:

- Lawyer Wars: Med mal looks to be a top issue, with the class size amendment, in the next legislative session; the Tampa Tribune writes about the the issue - and indeed whether there is an issue at all - here.

- Gambling Anyone? The Miami Herald writes about how the class size amendment has energized the gaming industry lobbyists, particularly in light of Bush's startling post election transformation on gambling.

- There's Gotta Be A Way Outa This: The Florida Times Union has an interesting piece on vatious ways the text of the class size amendment is being interpreted; the amendment requires "starting next school year, 'the Legislature shall provide sufficient funds to reduce the average number of students in each classroom by at least two students per year.'". With the requirements in "each" classroom - not the average of all classrooms - and the reductions to start next school year, there is some serious work to do.

- Passing The Buck:The Tallahasee Democrat joins the Miami Herald in publishing Manhattan Insitute apologia- It ain't Jeb's fault that Florida is dead last in graduation rates 6:36 AM

Notes For Saturday, November 23, 2002

Their discontent owed to two of the five initiatives that voters had approved: Amendment 9, mandating smaller classes in public schools, and Amendment 11, which establishes a Board of Governors for the university system to replace the Board of Regents that the Legislature scrapped last year as part of its "seamless" educational overhaul.

The significance goes beyond the money that Amendment 9 may cost. (Amendment 11 should save a lot, if it prevents the universities from duplicating expensive graduate programs.) These, and particularly the latter, marked the first time that anybody had gotten the better of the Republicans since they took total control of Tallahassee with Jeb Bush's election four years ago. That's historic." [entire column] 7:54 AM

Manhattan Institute: It Wasn't Bush's Fault: The Miami Herald publishes a letter to the editor from the Manhattan Institute, the right wing think tank that - after the election - issued a report showing that Florida had the worst graduation rates in the country. 7:52 AM

Notes For Friday, November 22, 2002

Notes For Thursday, November 21, 2002

Another Post Election Surprise: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a draft report saying that policies in Texas and Florida (adopted in lieu of affirmative action) that guarantee admission to public universities for top high school graduates do not make universities more diverse.

Concerning Florida. the report discloses the fallacy of looking at raw numbers (which are up) versus percentages (which are down): "In September, Bush's office released figures showing that the number of minority students enrolling for the first time at state universities rose in the current school year, but not as quickly as the overall growth in incoming students. That means that minority enrollment dropped almost half a percentage point compared to last year's incoming class, despite the overall increase. Bush maintained the numbers show his plan is actually helping increase minority enrollment." [read] 6:51 AM

PSC Appointments: Terry Deason was reappointed and Charles Davidson appointed Wednesday to the Public Service Commission. Davidson is a 39vyear old Tallahassee lawyer and the staff director of the state House Committee on Information Technology. 6:40 AM

GOP Successfully Woos Hispanic Vote: An AP wire story suggests that "the governor received anywhere between 60 to 65 percent of the Hispanic vote statewide." 6:35 AM

Notes For Wednesday, November 20, 2002

You've gotta love this headline: "Bush stumped over how to cap class sizes". I can't resist beating this dead horse, but isn't that precisely what Bush should have been asked BEFORE the election, say, by Tim Russert? I mean, McBride essentially lost the election by being "stumped" on how to pay for the class size amendment, yet Bush was given a free pass. During the campaign, we reported the incessant media criticism of McBride for not explaining how He would pay for the class size amendment and how Bush's failure to explain the same thing was a nonissue as far as the media was concerned; in our humble opinion, this criticism of McBride - which played into the Fla GOP Bush strategy - was the central reason McBride lost. [read] 9:37 AM

Notes For Tuesday, November 19, 2002

The House-Senate imbalance. 2:18 PM

Notes For Monday, November 18, 2002

- A "staunch" and "strict conservative".

- Byrd "made his early legislative mark as chairman of a House committee that crafted new legal limits that protect corporations from a host of product liability, negligence and personal-injury lawsuits."

- A "fervent opponent of taxes and government." Byrd is "unbending in his opposition to higher taxes, no matter what budget pressures may build."

- A "prime sponsor of the Florida Defense of Marriage Act."

- Sponsored an ''affirmative-action bill for faith-based organizations" (Byrd's words) aimed at requiring state agencies to contract with religious groups for services.

[Sources: Wallsten and the Orlando Sentinel] Another article. 9:35 AM

King vs. Byrd: "The contrasts between Sen. Jim King of Jacksonville and Rep. Johnnie Byrd of Plant City are likely to grow sharper once the two take control of the new Republican-packed Florida Legislature this week." [read] 9:01 AM

Privatization Problems at DCF: "A chintzy private system will have the same failings as a cheap public one, private leaders say." [read] 8:58 AM

More On The "Yes" To Bush and The Class Size Amendment Dynamic: "Statewide, Hillsborough and Duval were the only large counties to oppose the amendment, and most voters there backed Bush. Democrats in Palm Beach and Broward counties won on both fronts. Three major counties, however, had split decisions. Orange, Pinellas and Miami-Dade all supported Bush and the amendment." Is there something here the Dems can exploit? [read] 8:55 AM

Notes For Sunday, November 17, 2002

Lucy Morgan reports: Senator Bill "Nelson is eyeing a return engagement for the governor's race in 2006." 8:20 AM

Tampa Politics Never Ceases Th Amaze. Read Daniel Ruth's "The Pettiness Of Commissioner Storms Stripped Bare". 8:17 AM

Is this My Florida? Meet Johhnie Byrd Jr., our new Speaker of the House: A staunch conservative, a fervent opponent of taxes and government, a prime sponsor of the Florida Defense of Marriage Act, and sponsor an ''affirmative-action bill for faith-based organizations' (Byrd's words), aimed at requiring state agencies to contract with religious groups for services. This guy makes Feeney look moderate. 8:11 AM

Voters Say They Will Punish NonFeasance on Amendments (Unless you're John Ellis Bush): A poll shows that "voters say they are willing to punish elected officials who refuse to carry out constitutional amendments."

- "Sixty-five percent said they found it 'very appealing' to immediately remove from office any politician who doesn't follow constitutional amendments. Twenty-two percent said they found it 'somewhat' appealing, while 12 percent were opposed to the idea."

- "Sixty percent said they found it "very appealing' to bar a politician who doesn't carry out a constitutional amendment from seeking office again. Twenty-one percent said they found it 'somewhat' appealing and 17 percent said they opposed the concept."

- "Only 47 percent said it was 'very appealing' to fine a politician who blocks the implementation of a constitutional amendment"

- "Sixty-two percent said they would support allowing Florida's courts to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to say that an elected official has 'violated the oath of office.'"

"Florida lawmakers in the past have routinely ignored constitutional amendments, such as ones that made English the official language of Florida and a measure that said polluters should pay to clean up Everglades pollution." The high speed rail amendment has likewise received little substantive attentiom. We can absolutely expect more of the same on the calss size amendment. After all, is this not the same electorate that voted for the class size amendment and for Bush? As pundit Pamela Hasterok observes, in a very nice column, Bush's election makes it "obvious voters weren't making the connection between the man and his deeds." 7:57 AM

The Quiet Man Moves On: Steve Seibert, selected by John Ellis Bush in 1998 to run the Department of Community Affairs resigned Friday. There is no indication that Seibert - who took his agency subterranean during the past four years - was forced out. With Bush at the helm, the Department of Community Affairs has essentially been a do nothing agency, just the way developer interests wanted it. 7:44 AM

Notes For Saturday, November 16, 2002

It would appear that the "economists working for Gov. Jeb Bush and the [Republican led ] Legislature" used intentionally rosy economic projections to mislead voters prior to the election.

Why were the revised budget projections delayed until just after the election? Where is the media on this? 9:49 AM

Notes For Friday, November 15, 2002

Cardenas quits. 8:43 AM

Despite the efforts of the Miami Herald in general, and Peter Wallsten in particular, "Florida's status as the nation's biggest, and therefore most important, swing state" remains unchanged. Wallsten's most recent column. 8:37 AM

And This Is News? "The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee did not have anywhere near the financial resources of the NRCC." Read the story in Roll Call. 8:30 AM

Ye Reap What Ye Sow: Bush To Fill Another High Court Vacancy On the heels of appointing Raoul Cantero, the relatively young grandson of Cuban Dictator Batista to the Florida Supreme Court, Bush has another opportunity to fill a vacancy on Florida's highest court. Bush will select a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw, one of two black jurists on the court and arguably its most progressive member.

Four white men have been nominated to replace Shaw. The nominations were made pursuant to a new law that gives Bush unprecedented power to pick members of the nominating commission. Cantero filled the vacancy created by the mandated retirement of a relatively conservative, and well respected, Justice Harding. The replacement of the progressive Justice Shaw with a conservative, however, has the potential to shift the court's balance of power on at least some issues. Although there are several decent nominees (not all of whom are conservatives), you can expect to see one Peter Webster (currently a 1st DCA Judge) don the robes.

Why Webster? Well, Webster wrote a 2-1 opinion in March 2002 that rejected a challenge to Bush's decision to end race and gender as considerations in university admissions. Webster also voted in October 2000 to uphold the 1999 state law allowing private school vouchers. In light of this, its a good bet that Webster is the man.

Sources: "Black justice's successor to come from four white candidates" and "Four judges make short list".
8:21 AM

Notes For Thursday, November 14, 2002

Gambling Before taxes? "Need to shrink classes may change Bush objection to casino gambling" Read. 6:38 AM

Site redesign complete 6:33 AM

Notes For Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Notes For Sunday, November 10, 2002

PBA fails to deliver for Bush: "In addition to Alachua, Leon, Gadsden, Jefferson, Broward and Palm Beach counties - Democrat strongholds that went for Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay in 1998 - McBride carried Calhoun, Franklin, Hamilton, Jackson, Liberty, Madison and Wakulla counties.

Prisons are large employers in some of those areas and, although the Police Benevolent Association endorsed Bush, it's likely that rank-and-file guards were not happy with his Department of Corrections secretary, Michael Moore. His Service First initiatives, overhauling the state's personnel system, and privatization of "noncore" functions of state agencies, also hurt him among state workers in Leon, Jefferson and Gadsden counties - which he has never carried." Read. 8:36 AM

AND HOW WILL HE PAY FOR IT? "Altogether, it's estimated the state will need $3 billion in new revenue or spending cuts to balance the budget next year and meet the mandates dictated by voters." Read. ""How do you pay for small class sizes? How do you pay for pre-K? How do you continue to move the state forward in solving these insurance problems?" Read. Perhaps Tim Russert will ask him. 8:29 AM

Notes For Friday, November 08, 2002

A Lexicon for Democrats. 9:03 AM

The Grapefruit observes that "clearly McBride's decision to replace his campaign manager after the primary (who by the way The Grapefruit rated as one of the Top 5 Democratic consultants in Florida well before McBride won the primary) will go down as one of dumbest political decisions in history." The Palm Beach Post reports that observers are calling it one of McBride's "critical mistakes". 8:19 AM

Black Voter Turnout Doomed McBride: "Voters in predominantly black precincts favored McBride by 94 percent to 6 percent over Gov. Jeb Bush. But while black voters' support for McBride was overwhelming, their turnout was far lower than what any Democrat would need to help achieve statewide victory. Indeed, the 55 percent nonblack turnout was much higher than the 43 percent for black voters." Read. 8:14 AM

Bitter Irony: " Bush had little to offer on the day after his re-election on how he will deal with the measure that state economists said could cost as much as $27 billion over the next eight years." Read. 8:11 AM

"Critical mistakes sunk McBride". Read. 8:08 AM

Notes For Wednesday, November 06, 2002

John Ellis Bush in 2008: This tidbit from the Washington Post - "Now 49, Jeb Bush will be finishing his second term in 2006, making it at least possible that he could compete for the presidential nomination two years later." 1:17 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans grab control of U.S. Congress

"Republicans seized control of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, reclaiming power in the Senate and expanding their majority in the House of Representatives in a historic sweep for Republican President George W. Bush.

Republicans beat incumbent Democrats in Georgia and Missouri to reclaim at least a one-seat margin of power in the Senate, with races in Minnesota, South Dakota and Louisiana undecided." 6:42 AM

Historic GOP sweep 6:39 AM

White House: We've made history 6:34 AM

Notes For Tuesday, November 05, 2002

No Shame: "The Center for Public Integrity, an independent watchdog group, says the unusual cash transfer was the first step in a process that enabled the Republicans to convert restricted soft money contributions to so-called hard money, which can be used for a wider variety of political purposes than the soft money.

The Florida Republican Party took a percentage of the funds for itself, and then returned $2.7-million in hard money to the NRSC within a few days. Later, the NRSC used its new hard money reserves to assist in campaigns of Republicans running for Senate in hotly contested races in states other than Florida.

"It is basically money laundering," said Chuck Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity." Story. 5:49 PM

John Ellis Bush: You caught me, so I'll stop. 5:47 PM

John Ellis Bush Gay Baiting. 5:46 PM

John Ellis Bush Race Baiting. 5:45 PM

The Left Dumbs Down 3:45 PM

Election Day. 9:44 AM

Notes For Monday, November 04, 2002

Maybe the Republicans Will Stay Home: "One of the more personal proxy fights between the two parties. President Bush has made numerous appearances on behalf of his younger brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, who appears to be fighting back a late surge by Democratic challenge Bill McBride. He was in the state again Saturday. And former President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are stumping the state for McBride. Democrats would dearly love to oust Jeb Bush in retaliation for the 2000 presidential race in which his older brother captured Florida’s Electoral College votes to eke out a victory over Gore. The President’s campaign efforts for the governor appeared to be working: the MSNBC/Zogby poll released Saturday found Bush pulling ahead with a 15-point lead. But throw in Florida’s history of voting problems and it’s anyone’s guess when the result will be known." Zogby. 9:14 AM

How Did We Miss This?! The NYT reported that last week in Vero Beach "no less a person than Barbara Bush offered a reminder the other day of both ways the Bush name cuts in this state.

'Before I leave, do vote,'she said, exhorting elderly voters to turn out. 'We're the most disgraceful state.' She paused, her face frozen, as she realized what she had said. 'Not state! Country! We do not vote.'

Jeb Bush put his hand in his head and slumped in his chair." 9:01 AM

McBride's chances may be tethered to the class size amendment; which is not necesssarily a good thing. However, a very recent "poll by The New York Times Florida Newspapers showed 61 percent of voters support Amendment 9, a measure on Tuesday's general election ballot that would limit class sizes from kindergarten through high school. Less than a third - 29 percent - of voters oppose the initiative, while 10 percent were undecided. The statewide telephone survey of 715 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 26 to Oct. 31. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points." 6:14 AM

Fortunately this didn't get much play in Florida: Pacific Business News reports that "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Friday that Hawaii and Wisconsin are the two states least prepared to deal with a bioterrorist attack, while Florida - where President Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor - was rated the most-prepared state." How nice, just days before the election, that John Ellis Bush's brother would proclaim Florida the state best prepared to fight terrorism. 6:00 AM

Notes For Sunday, November 03, 2002

"'I don't see the level of negativity that I've seen in some other states,' says Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor who is finishing a four-year stint [after being appointed by John Ellis Bush] as chairwoman of the Florida Elections Commission." 6:23 PM

Sink or Columba? The Miami Herald bios the candidates' spouses. The Palm Beach Post has profiles here and here. 10:43 AM

Bush Betrays Vets: Myriam Marquez, a John Ellis Bush advocate since day one, observes that "many of Florida's vets may punish the governor for what they believe is his brother's betrayal to those who risked their lives for our country." 10:38 AM

McBride: A guy with the guts to take on giants: Orlando Sentinel political editor explains why this "valiant candidate" has run "a race to be proud of." 10:36 AM

Can Bush Say Anything? As the campaign progresses, John Ellis Bush has been brazen in his adverts. It seems he can say anything he wants, and the corporate media will do nothing to disclose the falsehoods. The thing about the income tax - seen repeatedly on television - is the most obvious, but there are many others. McBride of course refuses to get into the gutter. 8:46 AM

More on I-4: "The 10 counties that form Florida's fast-growing belt are almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, and its residents make up exactly a third of the state's 9.2 million registered voters. . . . But the region has grown more Democratic since 1998, especially in Orange County, home to Orlando and Walt Disney World, due to an influx of Puerto Rican voters. The I-4 corridor is now 40 percent Democratic, 40 percent Republican and 20 percent unaffiliated or affiliated with minor parties." Article.

Trends:

2002 - Bush holds a narrow 5 percentage point lead in Central Florida.

2000 - Al Gore almost tied George Bush in the region. Bush had a 34,000-vote advantage.

1998 - John Ellis Bush won the region by 196,000 votes over Buddy McKay.

7:27 AM