Florida Democratic Party News Clips – June 18, 2012

FDP RELEASES THE 5 THINGS YOU WON’T READ IN MARCO RUBIO’S NEW BOOK “Marco Rubio’s long awaited auto-biography is hitting bookshelves tomorrow — and while our advance copy must have gotten lost in the mail, today the Florida Democratic Party is sharing the top 5 stories that we bet Rubio opted not to put in print”  

The Rest of the Marco Rubio Story [The Ledger column] “But the book, according to those who have seen advance copies, will leave out some of the details of a key incident in Rubio’s career in the Florida Legislature when he acted less like a limited-government conservative and more like those who believe strong government action is sometimes necessary for the public good.”

ROMNEY LOOKS TO RUBIO FOR IMMIGRATION POLICY — BUT RUBIO’S GOT NOTHING Rubio may not introduce his immigration legislation after Obama announcement [CBS News] “Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., may now refrain from introducing his much-anticipated version of the DREAM Act following Friday’s administration announcement of a deportation deferral process for young, undocumented citizens in the U.S.” 

Marco Rubio’s Immigration Plans Foiled [Roll Call] “President Barack Obama’s decision to end the deportation of many young undocumented immigrants appears to have undercut the efforts of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — a would-be vice presidential candidate who had been working on legislation to do the same thing.”

Romney’s what-Rubio-says immigration stance [Miami Herald] “Mitt Romney has a more nuanced immigration stance these days. Call it WWRD, an abbreviation for What Would Rubio Do…But what’s even more true is that the party of Rubio and Romney stands much more in the way of immigration legislation these days.”

Romney short on immigration details [Univision] “Romney declined to expand on what his plan would entail and wouldn’t say whether he would undo Obama’s new initiative that temporarily halts deportations for certain undocumented youth who were brought to the U.S. at a young age, which appeared to energize the president’s Latino supporters ahead of the November election.”

STAY AWAY…STAY FAR AWAY   When Mitt Romney campaigns in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott’s absence is evident [Tampa Bay Times] “Whatever strategy Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has for winning Florida, it doesn’t include campaigning with Gov. Rick Scott…Scott seems to be backtracking from an earlier statement where he said he hopes to get a prime-time speaking slot at the convention.” 

Missing from Romney’s Florida events: Gov. Rick Scott [Politico] “The missed events come against the backdrop of Scott’s continued low popularity in the polls. Between that, the governor’s lack of a real political organization and the fact that Scott didn’t endorse Romney until after Rick Santorum dropped out, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the Romney camp to spend a lot of public time with the governor.”

CONNIE MACK TO GRASSROOTS REPUBLICANS: “WHAT YOU THINK DOESN’T MATTER”Is the GOP Senate primary over? Connie Mack says so [Tampa Bay Times] “But some grass roots Republicans say it’s too soon for Mack to declare himself the winner — especially if he won’t make the customary rounds at debates and straw polls. ‘It’s an incredibly bad message to send to the voters in a primary,’ said Nancy McGowan, president of the Conservative Republican Forum of Jacksonville. ‘It just says, ‘What you think doesn’t matter.’ “

When the mischief is already done [Tampa Tribune guest column] “Mack was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and hasn’t ever let go. Other than great lineage and marrying well, Mack has never achieved much without using the old family name. Further proof of his lack of skills and talent recently became evident when he refused to participate in a planned televised debate.” 

Koch Industries PAC Donates to Adam Hasner and Connie Mack [Broward Palm Beach New Times] “Remember 2010, when the Medicare scooter-riding lunatic fringe of the Republican Party swept to power? Two years later, the people who gave you Allen West and Michele Bachman have stopped making daily headlines, but their influence is still strong.”

FDP CHAIR SMITH ON PURGE: Chairman Smith:  “if my numbers were like his I’d want to reduce the number of people voting, too” [Gainesville Sun] “‘This is trying to gin up his base again, get the tea party excited. He’s taking on the federal government. It’s a states’ rights issue, all those kinds of things that he would need to do at a time when his popularity is such that he’s a drag on the ticket for the Republicans,’ Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith said. ‘Frankly, if my numbers were like his I’d want to reduce the number of people voting, too.’ 

One too many voter-roll purges? [Sarasota Herald Tribune column] “I have to believe the governor knows this and is just promoting fairy tales to be able to knock a few hundred or thousand non-Republicans off the rolls and discourage new voters from registering”

Voter purge issue grows increasingly contentious [WFSU Public Radio] “Longtime Floridian Eileen Selis knows what it’s like to get a purge letter from the state: ‘I was frightened. I’ve no reason to be, but you know, you get that, and you get a little scared.’”

Voter rolls and Scott’s ‘bumblefest’ [Miami Herald column] “Bumble-fest is a more precise term for Gov. Rick Scott’s effort to cull non-citizens from the voter rolls…Voters named on the state’s shaky list must dig up citizenship documents — a burden that is egregiously unfair and insulting, as Bill Internicola, who earned a Bronze Star, can attest.”

Supervisors won’t purge voters without more proof [Sarasota Herald Tribune] “Area election officials are not happy about being caught in the middle of a political war between Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the U.S. Justice Department over purging potential noncitizens from Florida’s voter rolls.” 

ON THE CONGRESSIONAL FRONT — BATTLEGROUND FLORIDA SHAPING UP  Ad Buys Hint at House Battlegrounds [National Journal] “Democrats have made major advertising buys in Florida, where a host of incumbent Republicans face difficult reelection fights. The DCCC has reserved time in the Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and West Palm Beach media markets, hoping to unseat Reps. Steve Southerland, Daniel Webster, Bill Young, Vern Buchanan, Allen West, and David Rivera, and aiming to pick up a newly-created district in the Orlando area.”

OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW

In new push, Florida Democrats force many Republicans to defend seats [Orlando Sentinel] “This year is a deviation from that norm: The Democrats actually fielded candidates in most legislative races. All told, 34 of the 40 Senate districts will have partisan competition.”

Talk show host Cristina endorses Obama [Miami Herald] “It is the first-ever presidential endorsement for the popular Miami media figure, often called the “Hispanic Oprah” for her two-decade run on Univisión.” 

Jeb the centrist? Not when he ran Florida [Palm Beach Post editorial] “Jeb Bush is not a moderate. As Florida’s governor, he cut taxes on the rich. He pioneered vouchers for religious schools and a clever way to support them with state money. He consolidated control over judicial appointments to crack down on ‘activist’ judges. He claimed to be for limited government, but misused state power by intervening in the Terri Schiavo case” 

Getting the water right [Gainesville Sun editorial] ” We have to look no farther than our own once-spectacular Silver Springs for indisputable evidence that our community’s and our state’s waters are in decline, both in quality and quantity, with little help on the way. We would like to believe that Scott and Vinyard are committed to restoring Florida’s ailing waters. But so far, their policies have been anything but encouraging. ”