Republican Party of Florida state chair Lenny Curry has been having a good ole' time this week, trying to stir up passions among Democrats over the fact that his state party counterpart, Allison Tant, is refusing to give Nan Rich five minutes to speak at the party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner next month in South Florida.
Rich is the only declared candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, and thinks she should be allotted a few minutes to make her case on why the party should rally around her. And why not? She's working her ass off right now going up and down the state, making the case for herself and against Rick Scott, who despite his best efforts of late, doesn't appear to be moving the meter at all in terms of his own popularity (maybe we're wrong about that, since it's been over two months since any major poll on the governor's race has been issued. But we doubt it).
The fact of the matter is, none of the "Big 3" potential nominees on the Democratic side- Charlie Crist, Alex Sink and Bill Nelson, have made any concrete steps towards announcing their candidacies.
Sink told Cl last month that she has to make a decision by mid-summer. Our instincts are that she won't run. Nelson appeared almost angered when we asked him earlier this week about the seeming desperation amongst members of his party, who keep on touting him despite his forceful denials.
And then there's Crist. What's he up to? Lenny Curry sent out a press release yesterday saying that he believed Crist would make his announcement that he's running in two weeks, though who knows where he came up with that date. There are some observers who say Crist should continue to lay low for a few more months, to take GOP attention away from him, but that's ridiculous. The GOP already is issuing out daily releases bashing the former Republican governor.
So as move into June of 2013, we have a Democratic party that has allowed itself to be mocked by the GOP, despite the fact that they should be favored to take back the governor's mansion for the first time in two decades. But then again, we are talking about the Florida Democratic Party.
Our cover story in the current CL on new death penalty legislation that will soon appear on Rick Scott's desk is out now.
New CEO Santiago Corrada and his associates with Visit Tampa Bay unveiled their new branding campaign yesterday at the Tampa Convention Center, and we wish them all the luck in the world. "Unlock Tampa Bay" promises, officials say, to distinguish Tampa Bay from his competitors like Fort Lauderdale ,Orlando, Austin and Nashville. Of course, we heard a year ago that the RNC was going to change the perceptions of the area, but focus groups that were employed over the past year to develop the new brand indicate that's not the case.
Occupy Tampa (yes, the group still exists) is organizing a rally tomorrow honoring Bradley Manning, the WikiLeaks whistleblower whose trial on espionage charges begins Monday.
And city of Tampa residents, do you know that TECO wants to raise your electricity rates? A few hearty souls came out to a public hearing Wednesday night to voice their displeasure upon hearing of this development.
This article appears in May 30 – Jun 5, 2013.