Monday, August 09, 2004

Debate watching parties Within minutes of each other, I received (mass) e-mails from the Martinez and Gallagher campaigns announcing debate watching parties organized by the campaigns. Martinez has parties in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. Gallagher's are in Gainesville, Lakeland, Orlando, Naples, and Miami. Martinez is also holding a pre-debate rally at WESH's studio, which is the location for the debate. Florida Senate Campaign, Politics comment []6:17:22 PM   trackback []

Senate Campaign News 20040809 First off, a correction to what I said yesterday.  I stated that the Miami Herald did not publish an endorsement for the Republican primary.  It did, in fact, do as the Palm Beach Post and St Petersburg Times did and endorsed Mel Martinez.  The Herald cited his "bill of rights" for health care patients and his support for Democratic candidates in the past as indications that he would work in a bi-partisan manner. For US Senate, Republican Primary  (Miami Herald) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Very little published today about the race.  The Tampa Tribune has a lengthy article on Bill McCollum,  The article starts off talking about his national security background and goes on to mention the 2000 primary and this one.  There's one paragraph that I would like to point out for my comment: It has been widely reported that President Bush's political advisers recruited his federal housing secretary, Mel Martinez of Orlando, to knock out McCollum and the rest of a mixed-bag field. I don't think he was brought in to 'clear the field'.  If so, the people who convinced him to run have done a horrible job of convincing others to get out.  I find it more likely that Martinez was brought in to head off the potential candidacy of Representative and former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris.  After all, Martinez resigned from HUD and entered the race at the height of the Harris rumors and it was within days of entrance that Harris announced she would not run for Senate 'this time'.  In 2nd bid, McCollum Wears Antiterrorism Badge (Tampa Tribune) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The debate involving the four major Republican candidates is tomorrow and will be televised state-wide on NBC affiliates.  Like the Democrat's debate, I won't be in-state to see it.  But this time, I will watch a tape of it a few days later. 4 GOP hopefuls to face off on TV in Senate Debate (Orlando Sentinel, registration required) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Came across this article while doing a Google news search.  It's about Peter Deutsch being a Jew and how he's brought up the issue of University of South Florida professor and accused Islamic Jihad sypathizer Sami Al-Arian and tried to use it against Betty Castor, who was President of USF during part of his tenure. Terrorism emerges as major issue in Florida race for U.S. Senate seat (JTA News) Florida Senate Campaign, Politics comment []3:43:13 PM   trackback []