The Water Cooler is a snapshot view of some of the things people are talking about in politics

Who is Rob Wallace?

Former State Rep. Rob Wallace will replace disgraced Republican Jim Norman on the ballot for State Senate District 12. Wallace was selected by six Republican representatives from Hillsborough and Pasco counties — as permitted to state law.

State Rep. Kevin Ambler who was rejected by the committee of six still could end up as the nominee (and more than likely winner of the race) if the District Court of Appeals rules in his favor. The six Republican committee vote was done within the confines of state law but their selection could be overturned by a judge who could rule that Ambler is the nominee given that he was the only other candidate who originally qualified for the seat.

Wallace served eight years in the Florida House from 1994-2002. He was succeeded by Ambler who like Wallace was term-limited.

Hillsborough REC Chair Deborah Cox-Roush said, “We didn’t think it was appropriate to put someone on the ballot who was rejected by voters on Primary Election Day” — referring to Ambler.

“Kevin Ambler has been a good representative, and Jim Norman was a great county commissioner (apparently overlooking the entire Lake House fiasco)….we chose Wallace because he is a fiscal conservative, a small business owner, and [because of] his plans for the future of Florida,” Cox-Roush said.

When asked about the state GOP’s support of Norman’s defense, Cox-Roush claimed she had nothing to do with allocating over $50,000 of party money to defend Norman. Stating, “I had no input on how that money was spent.”

Cox-Roush said she was not consulted by John Thrasher, the state party chairman or anyone else in leadership despite the fact that Cox-Roush is the Chair of one of the largest RECs in the state (and one of the affected counties in the Senate District 12 matter) and the First Vice-Chair of the State Republican Party.

On the matter of how the party spends money she said, “….we could do better.” Though she did not specify how, or criticize any specific inappropriate expenditures (including the $50K for Norman).

Florida U.S. Senate Debate on Bay News 9

Don’t forget to watch the CNN/St. Petersburg Times U.S. Senate debate on Bay News 9 at 10 a.m., on Sunday followed by a LIVE edition of Political Connections hosted by Al Ruechel and political analysts Betty Castor and Chris Ingram at 11:00 a.m.

An encore presentation of the debate will occur at 7:00 p.m. and a replay of Political Connections at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday.

CNN, the St. Pete Times, and Bay News 9 and its political teams will similarly be covering Florida’s gubernatorial debate on Monday night with a live broadcast of the debate at 8:00 p.m. followed by a LIVE edition of Political Connections with Al Ruechel, Betty Castor, and Chris Ingram at 9:00 p.m.

For a good laugh

If you really want a good laugh (at the expense of people who take beauty pageants far to seriously), just check out the comments from “pageant people” on our column comparing the Florida State Senate District 12 fiasco to a beauty pageant. We even got a comment posting from Miss Arkansas 2008! See the comments from the story by clicking here.

Don’t forget to vote!

Early voting is taking place across many states. For our Florida and Hillsborough County readers, check out our voter recommendations (Statewide, Congressional and Ballot initiatives and Hillsborough candidates). We strongly recommend you do your homework before going to cast your ballot. Failure to research and think about the issues before you vote will result in spending a lot of unnecessary time at the ballot box as well as a greater chance for an uninformed vote.

October surprise for Rubio and Rivera?

Rumors are swirling that their could be a huge “October Surprise” affecting U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio and his pal Congressional Candidate David Rivera. If true, Rubio’s problems with his Amex Card and Rivera’s financial disclosure problems would pale in comparison. Stay tuned…

Chris Ingram is the president and founder of 411 Communications a corporate and political communications firm, and publisher of Irreverent View. Ingram is a frequent pundit on Fox News and CNN, and has written opinion columns for the Washington Times, UPI, and National Review online. He is the Republican political analyst for Bay News 9, the only 24 hour all news channel in Florida’s largest media market. The opinions expressed here are those of author and do not represent the views of Bay News 9. E-mail him at: Chris@IrreverentView.com.

This article appears in Oct 21-27, 2010.