The race for the Republican nomination to take on Sen. Bill Nelson next year is in a sad state of affairs. Some grassroots nobody named Mike McCallister is leading the pack with 17 percent of the vote, but 58 percent of Republican voters are still undecided. Meanwhile, the two establishment…
The National Organization for Marriage, the sometimes fumbling and controversial anti-gay marriage group, is targeting Miami-area Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in its latest publicity stunt. Last week, Ros-Lehtinen became the first and so far only Republican to sponsor a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which furthered…
Former Florida Gov. Claude Kirk has died at the age of 85. Taking office in 1967, Kirk was Florida’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction and the first Republican governor elected in a Southern state in modern times. Kirk is remembered for his outsize personality and flair for controversy. A strong…
Faced with a massive $62 million gap in city finances, angry unions and an increasingly hostile commission, Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado did what any good leader would do: He kept commissioners up so late they didn’t know what they were voting on.It worked! Just after 3:30 this morning, they voted…
With Genting Group ready to plop down billions on a planned new high end casino in downtown Miami after a law-changing stop in Tallahassee, few prominent politicians are opposing it, as much as they are making sure their interests get that tax money. Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado wants to make…
In a major development, Cuba went to the United Nations yesterday and announced it wanted it to normalize relations with the United States. However, Michele Bachmann won’t have it. Not because of anything like “prove facts” or a “rationale and informed understanding of the issue,” but because she read somewhere…
A bunch of the state’s Republican activists gathered this weekend at the Presidency 5 conference and held one of those crazy, meaningless straw polls of which they’re so fond. Of course, with a wide-open and ever-changing Republican field, the contest did take on extra meaning. Texas Gov. Rick Perry had…
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is boldly breaking away from the rest of the Republican party to become the first and likely only Republican to co-sponsor a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Ros-Lehtinen, currently the most senior female Republican member of the house and chairwoman of the House…
Last night, the merry band of Republicans running for president met for the second time in Florida for a debate. This time it was in Orlando, sponsored by Google and Fox News, and involved questions submitted by actual citizens, including Stephen Hill, a newly out and openly gay soldier stationed…
Rick Perry hopes to make a big showing in Florida’s Presidency 5 straw poll, and is quickly snapping up supporters in the state. In fact, he’s recently named Pam Olsen as his new Florida co-chair.You might not have heard of the Tallahassee resident, but she has a history of making…
Miami has been hit hard by unemployment, mass layoffs, and foreclosures. Mitt Romney, meanwhile, is estimated to be worth as much as $250 million and is so loaded he’s looking to quadruple the size of his West Coast mansion. So it sure was weird when he came to Miami yesterday…
Florida’s own Lady Macbeth, Carole Crist, apparently isn’t a big fan of being just a simple trial lawyer’s wife. She married a superstar politician after all, so maybe it’s no surprise she’s privately asking about the possibility of hubby Charlie Crist making a return to politics — this time, however,…
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s quick shot to the front of the GOP-primary pack certainly has a lot of conservatives pleased. But liberals have a reason to be happy too. The general thinking right now is that Perry appeals less to general-election voters than his main rival, Mitt Romney, and thus…
Believe it or not, the right wing is targeting Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rumored vice presidential contender. They argue he is ineligible for the job because his Cuban parents weren’t U.S. citizens when he was born in Miami in 1971.It is the same argument of twisted logic and…
Recent research seems to suggest that the Tea Party is just the old, trusty religious right wrapped up in a shiny new package. Apparently, South Florida Tea Partiers didn’t get the memo. Two Tea Party leaders in the area, which neither appear to be very powerful, have voiced their public…
It’s hard to get the Miami-Dade County Commission to agree on anything, but every single member voted today for a resolution that asks the state legislature to cool it on all those crazy conservative immigration bills they’ve been trying to pass. The Florida Legislature will, more than likely, totally ignore…
Back in 2004, when Barack Obama allegedly compared himself to LeBron James, little did he know he’d be setting himself up for a string of conservative zingers that shows no sign of stopping. Former Florida Republican congressman turned MSNBC host Joe Scarborough became the latest right-winger to take note of…
With Anthony Wiener’s sext scandal and Allen West’s ongoing shenanigans, it’s easy to forget just how horrible Miami’s Rep. David Rivera is. The freshman Republican representative has been under investigation by several state and federal agencies since taking office. Unsurprisingly, he has now been named among the “Most Corrupt” politicians…
Joe McGinniss’ The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin doesn’t hit shelves until Tuesday, but review copies have gone out to various publications and more information about her alleged hook up with former Miami Heat star Glen Rice way back in the ’80s are creeping out. Mother Jones’ review…
If ex-police chief Miguel Exposito didn’t look all that torn up on Monday when the Miami City Commission sacked him, there’s a good reason: Not only can he ignore all of Mayor Tomás Regalado’s nonsense from now on, but also he’s walking away with some serious money.Exposito will leave the…
Steve Berke, a candidate for Miami Beach mayor, had a serious message at the city commission meeting last night: He wants current Mayor Matti Herrera Bower to resign.Then Berke brought out some serious music to emphasize his point: a sexy sax man named Sergio with a live rendition of George…
Florida’s Republican legislature and Gov. Rick Scott passed and signed so many controversial bills into law this year that it’s hard to keep track.Earlier this year, Scott signed into law an NRA-backed bill that for some reason prohibits doctors from asking patients about gun ownership. (So much for the Republican…
