Miami's Temple Israel yanked a program featuring Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz after a high-profile Republican donor quit the congregation in protest of the Democratic congresswoman's involvement. Stanley Tate, a well-known philanthropist who started Florida's pre-paid college tuition program, resigned from the temple in protest after he learned Wasserman Schultz would be talking about Israel Friday night and he wouldn't get a chance at rebuttal. Both are highly political people. As chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, Wasserman Schultz is one of President Barack Obama's top mouthpieces. Tate is a co-chair of Mitt Romney's campaign in Miami-Dade County, and also has a national role in the GOP presidential candidate's campaign. Tate's resignation, first reported by the Shark Tank blog, came after he asked the temple's leadership ... Continue reading →

Gov. Rick Scott told reporters in Miami on Thursday that he is sorry if he embarrassed Spanish King Juan Carlos by bringing up an embarrassing elephant-hunt scandal when the two men met as part of the governor's trade mission to Spain. "If I did anything to do -- anything wrong -- I completely apologize," Scott said upon his arrival at Miami International Airport. "The king's a wonderful person. He's a wonderful world leader. He's done so many wonderful things in his life. And we had a great conversation." The governor said spoke to the king about jobs and about the upcoming 500-year anniversary of the discovery of Florida by Spain in 1913. Scott said he meant no harm by asking the king about his hunting ... Continue reading →

Charlie Reed, a blunt-talking champion of higher education who left Florida 14 years ago to run California's universities, is retiring. Reed announced Thursday that he will step down as chancellor of CSU when a replacement is found, and that he and his wife will return to Florida. "Throughout my time here, the CSU has grown by more than 100,000 students, and I have been honored to sign more than a million diplomas," Reed said in a statement. "I take great pride in the CSU's mission to serve California's students, and I am proud to have played a role in carrying out that mission during these critical years." Reed was a close ally of former Florida Gov. Bob Graham, a Democrat. Reed left Florida in 1997 ... Continue reading →

Obama campaign leaflets Miami neighborhood with Bain-attacking remember-Dade-Behring flyers After Democratic surrogates criticized President Obama's decision to attack Mitt Romney's business background at Bain Capital, it was unclear if the Democrat's campaign would continue to make it an issue. We have our answer. Obama's campaign is leafleting the section of a Miami neighborhood near the Dade Behring plant that was ultimately closed on Bain's watch. They're distributing flyers with copies of a Miami Herald-Tampa Bay Times story about the plant and its workers. The story ran during the Republican primary, which Romney won. Story is here and the leaflet is to the left. Continue reading →

Marco Rubio promotes his jobs bill on Fox News Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was on Fox News this morning, talking about a jobs bill that also has the support of Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware, Mark Warner of Virginia, and fellow Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. Among its provisions: Making it easier for highly skilled foreign workers to get visas. Continue reading →

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll gets ready to take out Osama bin Laden. The F-35 fighter jet's first missile floated wide. The second found its target, and an explosion brought the bogey down. "Yes! Got him! Woo!" exclaimed the pilot, Jennifer Carroll, a 52-year-old former Navy officer and airplane mechanic. But it's Carroll's current job—lieutenant governor of Florida—that explains why her simulator flight was being closely watched by about two dozen members of the Florida League of Defense Contractors at an industry gathering in Tallahassee on a drizzly morning in mid-February. Next, with a technician from Lockheed Martin furiously pointing at indicators and whispering commands over her shoulder, Carroll nosed the simulator down to take on a ground target. "Three, two, one…blam!" she exclaimed, to laughter. ... Continue reading →

Gov. Rick Scott's trade mission to Spain this week has helped the Spaniards -- who are suffering with a depressed economy -- laugh out loud. Newspapers and local television shows are howling at the exchange of greetings between King Juan Carlos and Scott, who was joined by his wife, Annette. Here's how protocol and politics became parody. Upon entering the King's office, Scott immediately asks the Spanish royalty about his hunting trip to Botswana, where the King injured his hip -- getting out of bed. "I've ridden elephants. I've never tried to shoot one," Scott joked in shaking the King's hand. The King seemed taken aback by the topic -- a sore subject for him in more ways than one. Not only did the King ... Continue reading →

AFP is reporting that Fidel Castro's niece, Mariela Castro, "hailed" President Obama for supporting gay marriage and the loosening of US-Cuba travel restrictions. Speaking at a gay-rights conference in California, she also called the largely Republican Cuban-American community "a small group of delinquents." "I would vote for President Obama," she said. "I think he's sincere and speaks from the heart." AFP noted that her trip has been denounced by "opposition Republicans," but it totally failed to mention that Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Broward congresswoman, and Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (the only statewide elected Democrat) also opposed the granting of her visa. Nelson specifically raised the issue of a wrongfully jailed American in Cuba. "Allowing Raul’s daughter to come to the U.S. ... Continue reading →

Well, now we have a real political tussle -- not so much in the presidential and Senate races in FL, but among dueling polls. Yesterday and today, Quinnipiac University found that Republican Mitt Romney was beating President Obama and that Republican Rep. Connie Mack was essentially tied with Sen. Bill Nelson. Quinnipiac also found Sen. Marco Rubio could give a small, 2 percentage-point boost to Romney's ticket. But this morning, an NBC-Marist poll found different results. Some excerpts: And in Florida, 46 percent of registered voters prefer Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson to 42 percent who said they would vote for Republican Rep. Connie Mack.....In Florida and Virginia, Obama leads Romney by an identical four-point margin, 48 percent to 44 percent, among registered voters, including those ... Continue reading →