RICK SCOTT DAMAGING THE REPUBLICAN BRAND The GOP’s Rick Scott Problem [Bloomberg] “All this has helped make him the country’s least popular Republican governor, with a 31 percent approval rating, according to Public Policy Polling. ‘Obama’s more competitive in Florida right now than I would have expected,’ says Tom Jensen, the firm’s director. ‘The damage Scott has done to the Republican brand is part of that’…The bottom line: Rick Scott’s 31 percent approval rating makes him the least loved GOP governor, a liability for the party going into its August convention.”
AND SPEAKING OF BRAND DAMAGING Hell hath no fury like a politician scorned [Tampa Bay Times column] “In a lengthy deposition in the civil case, the chatty Greer unloaded on his former party brethren as liars, crazy nuts, brigands and connivers hatching schemes to suppress the voting rights of black Florida voters. And all this was going on while everyone was conspiring to stab each other in the back. There is something to be said for multitasking. Was this the inner workings of a political party, or Tallahassee’s answer to Macbeth meets The Departed?”
Secret recording details conversation between RPOF’s Jim Greer and Delmar Johnson [Tampa Bay Times] “Damon Chase, the lawyer who represents Greer says the conversation — which was secretly recorded by [former RPOF Executive Director] Johnson as part of an immunity deal with prosecutors and released this week— makes it appear thatJohnson was running the company.”
Ex-Fla. GOP boss Jim Greer claims embarrassing party secrets [AP] “A former state GOP chairman accused of stealing from the party has made some embarrassing accusations of his own, including claims that the party tried to suppress black voters, though secret recordings released Thursday shows he was concerned what people knew about a secret arrangement he made to get a share of party donations.”
Greer wire: “Jesus Christ, what did I do with all that money?” [Orlando Sentinel] “In a recent deposition in which the indicted former Republican Party of Florida chairman calls Republican higher-ups ‘whack-a-dos’ and ‘crazies,’ in elaborating on the party rebellion that led to his resignation in 2010.”
OFA Releases New Ad, “I BELIEVE”
EMPTY CHAIR CONNIE Video: The hunt for Connie Mack IV [Tampa Bay Times] “The Democratic SuperPac American Bridge released this homage to the Charlie Crist ads against gubernatorial rival Jim Davis in 2006. Mack racked up more missed votes today, missing 13 of 18. Apparently he had to leave Washington to attend a fundraiser in Miami being thrown by Jeb Bush Jr. and others.” WATCH “THE SEARCH FOR CONNIE MACK” HERE.
ON THE CONGRESSIONAL FRONT — BUCHANAN TO FACE DEPOSITION NEXT WEEK, MURPHY RELEASES NEW WEBSITE
Buchanan deposition scheduled for Monday morning [Sarasota News Leader] “If everything goes as planned, at 10 a.m. Mon., July 30, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan will walk into a U.S. Legal Support office in Orlando and be deposed under oath. The action is part of the lawsuit filed against Buchanan by Sam Kazran, a former business partner who has accused the Sarasota Republican congressman of a wide variety of misdeeds, including instructing Kazran to collect illegal campaign contributions from employees at a car dealership the two co-owned. It is the first time Buchanan will face a deposition in the case, whose history stretches back to September 2008.”
The top 10 questions Vern Buchanan should have to answer at his deposition [FDP] “Early next week, embattled used car-salesman Vern Buchanan will have to testify under oath in Orlando in the ongoing investigations into his attempts to bribe a witness and force his employees to illegally launder campaign contributions through his car dealerships. Here are the top 10 questions Vern Buchanan should have to answer — the FBI, IRS, House Ethics Panel and the people of Florida will be waiting for Vern’s response. “
Patrick Murphy releases new website: whatwestsaid.com [Murphy for US Rep]
Top Three Myths Conservatives Use To Oppose Increasing The Minimum Wage [ThinkProgress] “Republicans have publicly met the idea of raising the minimum wage with contempt, with Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) even nonsensically telling one constituent who asked about the Democrats’ bill to ‘get a job.’ Meanwhile, thousands of working Americans this week rallied in favor a higher minimum wage”
Jett unloads against Stearns’ traveling [Florida Times Union] “U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns’ congressional travel is the subject of a new email from opponent Clay County Clerk James Jett.”
OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW
FCAT accountability [Ocala Star Banner editorial] “The errant school grades, however, are just the latest in an embarrassing litany of FCAT foul-ups that raise serious questions about the credibility of the DOE and the whole FCAT culture it has created in Florida’s public schools”
Study: 1 in 4 Floridians has pre-existing condition that health-care law would cover [Orlando Sentinel] “More than 3.8 million Floridians who have pre-existing medical conditions will be eligible for health-insurance coverage when the health-care-overhaul law takes effect in January 2014, according to a report released Thursday from Families USA, a consumer-health group.”
Does anyone really care if Lt. Gov. Carroll looks like a lesbian? [Palm Beach Post column] “The lesbian allegation is really just a bit of garnish atop the meatier claims that Carroll runs a deeply dysfunctional office where fears of betrayal are manifested by office workers illegally taping each other’s conversations, while Gov. Rick Scott’s office illegally tapes what’s going on in Carroll’s office.”
Report claims Florida lawmakers do bidding of corporate-funded ALEC [Miami Herald] “Some of the most controversial bills introduced recently in the Florida Legislature were thought up by out-of-state corporate interests with financial motives, according to a report released Thursday by a two national watchdog groups and Progress Florida. The report says the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is a shadowy force exerting an uncanny amount of power over Florida’s lawmaking process.”
University Funding: Cutbacks Hurt Florida [Lakeland Ledger editorial] “Gov. Rick Scott’s vision for a revamped State University System is not clear yet. All we know so far is that it involves two dynamics — continually reducing state funding while prohibiting universities from raising tuition sufficiently to make up the difference.”