TALLAHASSEE —

The Florida Republican Party said Friday it is adding its heft to an effort to unseat the last three state Supreme Court justices appointed by a Democratic governor.

State GOP Chairman Lenny Curry said the party’s executive board has voted to oppose the merit retention of Justices Barbara Pariente, Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince on Nov. 6. A conservative group, Restore Justice 2012, has labeled the three a liberal-leaning bloc on the seven-member court, which has stymied a variety of initiatives advanced by the Republican-ruled legislature in recent years.

Curry didn’t say whether the party would steer cash toward Restore Justice, which has reported only modest fundraising. Instead, party leaders lashed out at the justices as activists, pointing to a specific death penalty ruling.

“While the collective evidence of judicial activism amassed by these three individuals is extensive, there is one egregious example that all Florida voters should bear in mind when they go to the polls on election day,” GOP spokeswoman Kristen McDonald said. “These three justices voted to set aside the death penalty for a man convicted of tying a woman to a tree with jumper cables and setting her on fire.”

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/florida-gop-joins-fight-to-unseat-three-justices/nSHfy/

once in a while Pete would catch them at the basketball court. Always so good for the President, toting all those briefcases, bags, whatever. I know he's back in school but would still love to see him drop by the WH. Anyone have any info on him? How he's doing, is he close to finishing school?

ON THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN PLANE--Flying from Philadelphia to Boston, Mitt Romney gave reporters in the press cabin some quality candidate time. After joking with a reporter who had been accidentally left behind by the press bus and later passing out beef jerky, the GOP candidate was back again—this time to give reporters a read-out about his phone call on Friday afternoon with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He said he and Netanyahu, a longtime friend who he had first met in the late 1970s when they were both working at the Boston Consulting Group, had talked about Iran and other issues of concern in the Middle East, including the unrest in Syria. All serious issues, Romney acknowledged, but he couldn't resist ribbing the prime minister.

"I complimented him on his address at the United Nations," Romney said. "I suggested that his graphic was not up to the normal Boston Consulting Group standards." Pausing, he added, "No, I didn't actually do that, but I was thinking that."

Romney was referencing a cartoon-like graphic in the shape of a bomb that Netanyahu employed to explain the threat of a nuclear Iran.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/romney-talks-longtime-friend-netanyahu-jokes-bomb-graphic-214956317--election.html

Biden fires up Democrats near site of Romney’s ’47 percent’ remarks
by George Bennett | September 28th, 2012

Two miles and a few economic strata from the site of Mitt Romney‘s “47 percent” remarks, Vice President Joe Biden told a retiree crowd today that Romney and running mate Paul Ryan don’t understand America and have “bet against the American people.”

Biden stumped for President Obama‘s reelection at the Century Village of Boca Raton retirement community. The legendary Democratic condo bastion is just down Lyons Road from Marc Leder‘s house in upscale Long Lake Estates, where Romney was secretly videotaped telling big-dollar donors in May that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent upon government” and won’t vote for him.

Biden said Romney’s remarks, and remarks by Ryan about a “culture of dependency” on government, show the Republican ticket is out of touch with ordinary Americans.

“I don’t recognize the country they’re talking about,” Biden told the crowd that filled the large lobby of a clubhouse building. “I know where I come from, Americans got knocked down but they’re getting back up. I know where I come from, nobody feels dependent, all they want is an opportunity. I know where I come from, these people are fighting back with every single thing they have. I don’t sense any sense of dependency. They’re just looking for a little opportunity, a level playing field, a fair shot,” Biden said to loud applause

“Ladies and gentlemen, I got news for Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan. America and Americans are neither dependent nor in decline. And I’ll say to them, gentlemen, it has never, never, never been a good bet to bet against the American people.”

http://www.postonpolitics.com/2012/09/biden-fires-up-democrats-near-site-of-romneys-47-percent-remarks/

WASHINGTON -- Police had to intervene at a Wednesday night campaign event for Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) after protesters unfurled a giant banner trashing West and attendees retaliated by throwing beer, ice cubes and even a salt shaker.

West was minutes into his speech outside of Pirate's Cove hotel in Port Salerno, Fla., when a handful of protesters came out onto a balcony above the event and began shouting, TCPalm reported Thursday. The protesters, who were with a group called Stand-Up Florida and who specifically rented out a hotel room to crash West's event, rolled out a banner that read, "Allen West is out of touch, Allen West is out of office."

From there, the event devolved into disarray. Andrew Mina, a field director for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign who was in attendance, yanked the banner down as West supporters booed and threw "water, ice cubes, beer and a couple of middle fingers" toward the balcony, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, the protesters used a megaphone to shout criticisms of West's economic record and play an audio reel of controversial comments made by West in the past.

At one point, an elderly West supporter attempted to throw a glass salt shaker up at the protesters. But he "could only throw it a few feet before it shattered on the ground," according to TCPalm. Throughout the minutes-long exchange, West "quietly stood in the corner with his campaign team."

More on this fiasco at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/allen-west-protesters_n_1920560.html?utm_hp_ref=miami&ir=Miami

http://www.rydercup.com/usa/

Mitt Romney insisted he's going to win the presidency—despite polls showing him losing ground to President Barack Obama in battleground states.

In an interview with NBC News' Peter Alexander, the Republican presidential nominee rejected the idea that he's failed to connect with voters anxious over issues like high unemployment and the struggling economy.

"We're going to win. There is no question in my mind. We're going to win," Romney told NBC on Monday in Colorado, where he's campaigning. "The polls go up, polls go down. There've been some weeks I am ahead, some weeks I am behind. You know, all these states that voted for Barack Obama the last time, right now the majority of people in those states are saying that they don't want to vote for Barack Obama. My job is to make sure they understand what I stand for, they understand the path forward I would take. If I do that well, I'll be elected president, and I expect to do it well."

Romney talked to NBC News at the airport in Denver just before flying to a rally in Pueblo. His campaign scheduled a round of last-minute interviews with the three major television networks—ABC, CBS and NBC—to allow Romney to respond to Obama's Sunday interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."

Much more at: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/romney-no-mind-going-win-184119905--election.html

after he threw his tantrum? Will the President be allowed to have his supporters there? I'm not happy at all with Crowley, Bob Schieffer and whoever else they have from the right running these debates, but I do hope the Dems make a few rules. Is this open attendance with tickets to anyone?

This really pleases me.

Is Florida the state that cried wolf?

Republican Governor Rick Scott and the legislature have turned away federal funding earmarked for the state of Florida over and over again, from $2.4 billion for high-speed rail projects to $31 million to prevent child abuse and infant mortality to $40 million that would move disabled children out of nursing homes and back with their families.

And now that the governor is asking for federal funds, the Florida GOP is upset to find FEMA saying "no": Scott is appealing the agency's rejection of his $26.9 million request for help with damages from eventual Hurricane Isaac.

State Republican Party chairman Lenny Curry accused the Obama administration of making the decision political in a statement, according to Sunshine State News.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that FEMA director Craig Fugate, who was Florida's Florida Division of Emergency Management director from 2001-09, wrote in a letter to Scott that damage from Isaac wasn't severe enough to warrant federal aid and argued the state could handle the expense. The storm didn't become a hurricane until after it sideswiped the state, causing heavy flooding in Palm Beach County and parts of the Panhandle.

Much more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/fema-denies-federal-funds-rick-scott_n_1909894.html

MIAMI —

At the landmark Versailles restaurant in Little Havana, where Castro-bashing is as much a menu staple as the cortaditos and ropa viejas, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan courted Latino voters Saturday by accusing President Obama of a “policy of appeasement” toward the Cuban dictator and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

Ryan also joined Republican nominee Mitt Romney in blasting Obama for telling the Spanish-language network Univision on Thursday that Washington can’t be changed from the inside.

Ryan appeared with a guayabera-clad former Gov. Jeb Bush, one of the GOP’s most popular figures with Hispanic voters. Ryan was also accompanied by his mother, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea resident Betty Ryan Douglas, who has become a key figure in Republican efforts to reassure seniors about Ryan’s Medicare proposal.

“The exciting thing for my family today is my mom finally got to meet Jeb Bush,” Ryan told supporters who packed the restaurant in the heart of Miami’s Cuban-American community. A larger, outdoor rally had been planned for the restaurant’s parking lot, but rain forced the event indoors.


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/jeb-bush-joins-ryan-to-court-latinos-in-miami/nSHw6/