NEW MARIST/NBC POLL: Obama beating Romney, Nelson beating Mack
Key takeaways:
- President Obama is beating Mitt Romney, and more voters approve of the job President Obama is doing than disapprove.
- More voters believe President Obama will do a better job handling the economy than Mitt Romney,
- Senator Nelson is beating Connie Mack.
- The May Quinnipiac poll does not accurately reflect Florida’s actual voter registration by under sampling Democrats, while the NBC/Marist poll more accurately reflects the breakdown of voters in Florida. For a detailed analysis of the potential flaws in the Quinnipac polling methodology, see here, here and here.
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS CONTINUES Mack campaign retracts endorsement news release [Tampa Tribune] “The U.S. Senate campaign of Connie Mack IV issued an incorrect version of an endorsement from Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño that included statements Fortuño may not have made bashing Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson.”
BTW… California Connie alert, see this tweet from Irvine City Councilman Jeff Lalloway.
FDP: SCOTT’S “CLEAR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STATE WHEN ROMNEY COMES TO TOWN”
The business of being a political businessman [CBS News] “Some, however, scoff at the notion that Scott’s absence from Romney’s many campaign swings through the state is merely due to logistics or convention planning. ‘He’s wildly unpopular!’ says Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party. ‘He’s clear on the other side of the state when Romney comes to town.’ Arceneaux also said that Scott’s stiff disposition and discomfort on ropelines has made him no friend to electorate – as well as the press – a complaint often cited by reporters covering Romney as well.
Florida Congressman Demands Gov. Rick Scott ‘Immediately Suspend’ Voter Purge [Think Progress] “Florida Congressman Ted Deutch (D) told ThinkProgress today that Gov. Rick Scott was engaging in a “blatant attempt to supress voter turnout.” Scott is currently involved in a massive effort to purge up to 180,000 from the voting rolls. The list, purportedly of non-citizens, has proven unreliable. Earlier this week, Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Mike Ertel, a Republican, posted a picture on Twitter of a voter on the list falsely identified as ineligible, with his passport.”
How Governor Rick Scott Is Preventing Eligible U.S. Citizens From Voting In Florida [Think Progress] “The Miami Herald reports that ‘Florida’s quest to identify and remove non-U.S. citizens from the voter rolls was started at the direct urging of Gov. Rick Scott.’ Scott instructed his former Secretary of State, Kurt Browning, to compile a list of people who were registered in Florida but ineligible to vote.”
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM Did Rick Scott make a royal oops with the king of Spain? [Crowley Political Report] “El gobernador de Florida – that would be Rick Scott – met with King Juan Carlos of Spain this week and his first words to the king was about elephant hunting. Did Scott make a royal oops?” VIDEO HERE.
Also From the twitters via @MichaelCBender “Rick Scott’s former clinic chain, Solantic, now officially a Tenn. corporation (http://bit.ly/KkiAe3). New bosses changing name to CareSpot.”
ON THE CONGRESSIONAL FRONT — TEA PARTIER WEST SAYS HE MAY RAISE TAXES (?!), EHRLICH ON OFFENSE, SOUTHERLAND UNDERWATER W/ FISHERMAN
Tea Party Icon Allen West Says He’s Willing ‘To Talk About Raising Taxes’ To Lower Debt And Deficit [Think Progress] “Perhaps the most beloved member of the freshman Republican class, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) made a startling announcement on Tuesday: he’s willing to discuss raising taxes in order to address the nation’s budget shortfall.”
U.S. House minority whip stumps for Rep. C.W. Bill Young challenger Democrat Jessica Ehrlich [Tampa Bay Times] “‘He’s now been in office for half a century, and his views and what he’s doing really don’t represent the values of people in Pinellas County,’ she said. ‘He’s voted twice now for this budget that would end, essentially, Medicare as we know it.'”
Jessica Ehrlich says Bill Young no longer represents the values of Pinellas voters [Creative Loafing] “In one of her first public media appearances since becoming a congressional candidate in Bill Young’s recently redrawn District 13 district, Democratic Jessica Ehrlich said that after more than 40 years representing the district in Washington, the people are ready for a change.”
Big government must butt out of local fisheries [News Herald column] “At the last four Gulf Council meetings, Southerland sent his staff members, at the taxpayers’ expense, to scout Gill and the council. His staff was seen videotaping Gill at a question and answer session. Southerland is doing everything in his power to destroy the commercial fishery”
JD-U BACK IN THE NEWS Board hears litany of hurdles Florida’s newest university faces [Tampa Bay Times] “Florida’s newest university is already millions over budget for the construction of its new campus, has no faculty to attract students, few people volunteering to govern it and no money for technology labs.”
Details make Florida Polytech look even worse [Tampa Bay Times editorial] “The folly of immediately creating a new public university to satisfy one powerful state lawmaker was obvious enough when the Legislature approved it and Gov. Rick Scott signed off. Now terrible public policy is morphing into absurd reality as education officials wrestle with the details of winding down the University of South Florida’s Lakeland campus and creating the new Florida Polytechnic from scratch. The closer you look, the worse it gets.”
OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW
State education chief gets an earful about FCAT and testing scores [Tampa Bay Times] “Parents, teachers and community members gave Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson an earful about the FCAT, new end-of-course exams for high school students and last week’s dramatic decline in student writing scores…’They’ve been teaching these students to write about apples and then they’re graded on oranges,’ she said.”
All talk no action on water [Gainesville Sun column] “However, nothing has actually been done. Lots of meetings. No new rules. No numeric criteria. No plans for any. Politics are messing it up. The science is clear. Powerful lobbyists for polluters are twisting facts and making proclamations of doom about how much it will cost to keep our water clean that are overblown fiction and scare tactics. Just to make a few more cents.”