WASHINGTON — Take a breather, Iowa and New Hampshire. Florida is about to get into the Republican presidential race big time, starting with a televised debate Monday in Tampa and ending with an early primary in 2012 that conceivably could wrap up the nomination. It’s quite plausible that front-runners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney could roughly divide the first four contests, in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. If that happens, Florida could prove the virtual tie-breaker, a prize so big in a state so central to presidential elections that the loser might struggle to stay afloat. “My guess is that Florida is going to be the big kahuna,” said Brad Coker, a Florida-based pollster for Mason-Dixon who conducts surveys nationwide. Florida is much larger, diverse and expensive than the other four early-voting states, he said, and so it rewards the type of campaigning a Republican must do around the country to oust President Barack Obama in November 2012. Of course, events over the next few months could upend that scenario. Perry, the Texas governor, or Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, might stumble. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann could revive her struggling campaign. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman might catch fire. A new candidate, such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, might jump in. Then there’s the scheduling of those caucuses and primaries, which isn’t set. For now, campaign strategists assume Florida will be the fifth contest, as early as Jan. 31, and the first in a big state. Florida Republicans don’t follow presidential politics as intensely as do GOP activists in Iowa and New Hampshire. Nor do they expect one-on-one encounters with candidates. When the nominating process rolls into Florida, “the days of the house parties are behind you,” said Phil Musser, a former director of the Republican Governors Association and a frequent consultant in the state. In the next two weeks, Florida Republicans will get ample attention, beginning with Monday night’s two-hour debate sponsored by CNN and the Tea Party Express. The forum will include the eight contenders who debated last week in California, where Perry made his national debut. Romney is almost certain to renew his criticisms of Perry for calling Social Security’s funding structure “a Ponzi scheme.” The candidates also will have their first collective chance to dissect the jobs proposal that Obama outlined Thursday. The Orlando debate starts off the three-day “Presidency 5″ event where thousands of Florida Republicans will mingle, hear speeches and vote in a presidential straw poll. Will Weatherford, incoming speaker of the Florida House, said many party donors and activists are on the sidelines for now, but the big weekend will give them a good long look at the contenders. “A lot of people will choose sides after that,” he said. In the last two competitive GOP primaries, Florida joined South Carolina to form a one-two Southern punch that essentially resolved disagreements in Iowa and New Hampshire. In 2008, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won in Iowa, but quickly faltered. Arizona Sen. John McCain captured the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, and then eliminated all doubt in Florida by beating Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani was embarrassed after pouring nearly all his money and hopes into Florida. The lesson, campaign strategists say, is that a candidate must build momentum in Iowa or New Hampshire to gain credibility in Florida. Florida was even crueler to Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who took 3 percent of the 2008 primary vote. Paul is running for president again. In 2000, McCain carried New Hampshire after Texas Gov. George W. Bush won in Iowa. Bush overtook McCain in a brutal South Carolina contest, then crushed McCain in Florida and went on to win the presidency. In the 2012 election’s early and highly speculative stages, strategists see Iowa and South Carolina as potentially good fits for Perry, while Romney could do well in New Hampshire and Nevada. Under that scenario, Florida “has the real chance to be the decider,” Musser said. For now, he said, “it’s very wide open.” Florida has large numbers of every type of Republican voter. They are spread hundreds of miles apart, in expensive media markets. Unlike the other early-voting states, Florida’s primary is open only to people who have been registered as Republicans for many weeks, barring independents from influencing the nomination. “There’s no question that the Republican base in Florida is very conservative,” said Todd Harris, a veteran strategist aligned with the state’s GOP senator, Marco Rubio. “But they are not nearly as uniform in ideology as the base in South Carolina or Iowa caucus-goers.” “Perry will feel at home, culturally and politically, in the Panhandle,” Harris said. “Romney will probably do better in the critical Interstate 4 corridor,” which is perhaps the state’s most diverse and up-for-grabs region. It runs from Daytona Beach through Orlando and to Tampa. Many other GOP constituencies also must be catered to. They include Cuban-Americans in Miami, Midwestern retirees on the Gulf coast, and New York retirees on the south Atlantic coast. “We have the social, economic and racial diversity that some of the other early primary states don’t have,” Weatherford said. It forces candidates to spend more, travel more and stretch themselves in new ways, he said. “You can’t use the same speech in Dade County that you use in the Panhandle,” Weatherford said. Miami is the largest city in that county. Some Republicans think Perry may have hurt himself among Florida’s retirees with his sharp criticisms of Social Security. Others, however, note that Rubio has included Social Security among programs that were “crafted without any thought as to how they will be funded in future years.” “Because it weakened our people and didn’t take (into) account the simple math of not being able to spend more money than you have, it was destined to fail” and must be revised, Rubio said last month. Coker said Rubio might catch less heat for such remarks because Floridians see him as deliberate and intellectual. Perry, he said, “was like a bull in a china shop.” “If you want to talk Social Security in Florida,” Coker said, “you must talk softly.” He said it’s too early to handicap the Florida primary, but Romney has a head start organizationally because of his efforts in 2008. Party insiders say former Gov. Jeb Bush, whose father and brother were presidents, remains highly popular among Florida Republicans. His family in Texas reportedly has chilly relations with Perry, fueling speculation that Jeb Bush might endorse Romney. Weatherford doubts it will happen. “He wants people to earn it,” he said. Rubio, the 40-year-old senator with strong ties to Cuban-Americans, tea partyers and others, also could deliver a helpful endorsement, but party activists don’t think he will. Whoever wins the GOP nomination might strongly consider Rubio as a running mate. He could help carry a state that repeatedly proves crucial in presidential elections, and one the GOP desperately wants to wrest from Obama next year. ___ Online: Florida GOP: http://www.rpof.org
Continue reading …Tom Hanks Narrates ‘BOATLIFT,’ Honors Untold 9/11 Story Of Mariner Heroes (VIDEO)
September 12, 2011 No Comment
On September 11th, 2001, as hundreds of thousands fled south from the burning towers, people quickly discovered something we often forget: that Manhattan is an island. As officials closed all bridges, tunnels and commuter lines linking Manhattan to the rest of the world, people were trapped. The little told story of what happened next is the focus of my documentary short film, BOATLIFT, narrated by Tom Hanks. The film premiered at the Center for National Policy’s 9/11 Ten Year Anniversary Summit, in Washington, D.C. BOATLIFT is the story of the largest maritime evacuation in history. On 9/11, over 500,000 people were rescued from Manhattan’s seawalls in just nine hours. How did this happen? What heroism made this possible? The answer lies in the resilience of the every day people at the scene that day, and the brave community of mariners who ply the waters of New York’s Harbor. As the buildings fell, hundreds of tugboats, ferries, fishing boats, coast guard cutters and other vessels rushed towards the disaster. They did so at great personal risk. James Parese, the captain of the Staten Island Ferry, assumed he might be next. “We’re a big orange target in the middle of that harbor.” Vincent Ardolino, captain of the Amberjack V, was at home in Brooklyn, watching the burning buildings on TV. He said, “I gotta go do something,” kissed his wife goodbye, dashed to his charter boat. These men, and hundreds like them, pushed their boats into the harbor, and filled over and over with dazed passengers. That the evacuation was unplanned and unrehearsed is remarkable. But what is even more impressive is that not a single person was injured in the process. The story of the 9/11 boatlift is a reminder of the sense of shared purpose and resilience that pervaded New York – and the world – in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. It was that spirit that I hope we remember and celebrate this week. As Stephen Flynn from the Center for National Policy and the organizer of today’s summit says, “First responders will always do their best to assist us. But, in real life, success or failure in our moments of greatest need is usually determined by the actions of regular people.” BOATLIFT pays tribute to some of those who answered the call on 9/11/2001. We should all be prepared to do the same. WATCH:
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In the first of what we expect to be many announcements related to Windows Phone Mango devices, AT&T is the first to step up to the plate by unveiling three new handsets that use the new version of Microsoft’s OS: the HTC Titan, Samsung Focus S and Focus Flash. Each of the phones are expected to arrive in the fourth quarter. developing… Continue reading AT&T announces Mango lineup: new phones and updates coming this fall AT&T announces Mango lineup: new phones and updates coming this fall originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Eighteen months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Spartacus TV star Andy Whitfiled has died. He was 39. Spartacus: Blood and Sand was the first big hit of the Starz network, thanks in large part to the program’s plentiful violence and nudity. Whitfield was almost unknown when he was cast…
Continue reading …As part of the world-wide remembrance of the horrors of 9/11 ten years later, a group of Muslim demonstrators burned the American flag outside the US embassy in London yesterday. The flag was torched as London observed a minute of silence at the time the first plane hit the World…
Continue reading …Nick Broomfield on Sarah Palin – You Betcha!: ‘It was very ugly, very nasty’ – Toronto film festival video
September 12, 2011 No Comment
Documentary film-maker Nick Broomfield discusses his latest film Sarah Palin – You Betcha! Catherine Shoard Christian Bennett
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Brendan Barber outlines plans for campaign for ‘economic alternative’ to austerity in speech to TUC The riots which swept through English cities last month revealed “deep fractures” in Britain and have underlined the “folly of coalition policy”, the leader of the TUC has warned. Brendan Barber used his speech on the opening day of the TUC’s three-day annual conference to criticise the government’s response to the summer riots. He said the unrest took place in a society that ranks among “the most unequal in the developed world”. Barber told delegates: “What happened in August actually revealed deep fractures within our society – a society that ranks among the most unequal anywhere in the developed world, where a super-rich elite have been allowed to float free from the rest of us; where a generation of young people are growing up without work, without prospects, without hope. None harder hit than the black youngsters held back by an unemployment rate approaching 50%.” Barber outlined plans to step up a TUC-led public campaign on the case for an “economic alternative” to the government’s “cruel and mistaken objective” of getting rid of the deficit in just four years. He said the riots had raised “alarming questions” about the country Britain had become and said David Cameron was “wrong” to brand the riots “criminality pure and simple”. The unrest had served to expose “pernicious inequality, but also underlined the folly of government policies, such as cutting youth services and withdrawing the education maintenance allowance [EMA] for 16 to 19-year-olds in secondary education, he said. “Rather than addressing the complex long-term factors that lie behind the alienation – the poverty, the lack of social mobility, young lives stunted by hope denied – they have instead reached for simplistic cliches about moral decay,” said Barber. “And yet, as they have retreated to Victorian language about the undeserving poor, they have said nothing about moral disintegration among the rich, the financiers with huge assets sneakily channelled through the tax havens, the out-of-control traders and speculators who razed our economy to the ground and the super-rich tax cheats whose greed impoverishes our schools and hospitals.” He added: “Of course I accept the riots were not caused by the cuts, but, as any fair-minded person must see, the cuts will undoubtedly make the underlying problems much worse.” The cuts had hit middle- and low-income workers across the public and private sector while hardly being noticed by those who did “so well” out of the banking crash, he said. “The less you had to do with causing the crash, the bigger the price you have to pay.” Barber said the government’s austerity programme had served only to stamp on growth, and while it was “hurting”, the economic strategy was simply not working. The deficit was just “one symptom” of what was wrong with the economic model that politicians and policy makers have backed since the 1980s, which have led to an economy run on the interests of “banks and finance”. He said this model of deregulation, the “worship of markets”, and suspicion of the state had “blown up in our faces and turned into an angel of destruction”. Barber called for a new economy to be built that “delivers for all”, based on tax justice and exploiting new technologies in the fight against climate change. Speaking on the day that the Vickers report was published , Barber said its recommendations “fail to deal with what really needs to be done to transform our banks”. He said unions should press for “real reform” of the financial system, which would see banks become part of the utilities there to serve the public, rather than enrich themselves. As union leaders warned of the growing prospect of a second wave of co-ordinated strikes over planned reforms to public sector pensions, Barber said nowhere was the fight against cuts more urgent than on this issue. He told delegates the government’s plans were not about long-term affordability but making hard-pressed staff sacrifice their pensions security to contribute “even more” to the short-term deficit reduction programme. “That is wrong, wrong, wrong,” said Barber. He also vowed that unions would fight “tooth and nail” against the scrapping of the top rate of tax, amid a clamour of voices calling on the 50p rate to be abolished. The leader of the TUC, which represents 58 trade unions and more than 6 million members, said unions had a duty to lead the case for an economic alternative on behalf of all those suffering under the measures. He said this would present the “greatest battle in our living memory”. Barber outlined plans to build on the successful anti-cuts march and rally organised by the TUC in March, with activities funded over two years by a levy on affiliated unions. A decision will be made by the general council – a 20-strong board of general secretaries – in October. “No one else can claim to speak for so many of those bearing the brunt of austerity,” he told delegates. “No other part of civil society has the organisation, resources and reach of our trade union movement. And that responsibility is one that we have willingly accepted.” Responding to Barber’s comments, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “Ministers have been very clear about the difficult times people are facing, but the important thing is that we tackle the deficit. We have got to deal with the deficit and get public spending under control in order that we can get the economy back on track.” On public sector pensions, the spokeswoman insisted talks with unions on reforms were “progressing well”, a claim that is likely to be widely disputed by the frustrated union leaders involved. “We are sitting round the table talking about some quite difficult issues, but the principles haven’t changed,” the spokeswoman said. “We want to ensure that public sector pensions continue to be generous but they need to be affordable.” Brendan Barber TUC UK riots Trade unions Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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A local official says at least 61 bodies have been recovered after an explosion of a gasoline pipeline running through a slum in Kenya’s capital. (Sept. 12)
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‘Spartacus’ actor Andy Whitfield dies of lymphoma at 39; Actor Cliff Robertson dies at 88; ‘Contagion’ cleans up at box office with first place. (Sept. 12)
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A skirmish broke out on Morning Joe today as Tavis Smiley claimed President George W. Bush “lied” the USA into the war in Iraq. Joe Scarborough and–surprisingly–Jon Meacham forcefully refuted Smiley's slur. Scarborough unwittingly provoked the incident when, commenting on yesterday's 9-11 observances, he called for a Kumbaya moment in which Americans would put aside politics and thank presidents Bush and Obama for keeping the country safe.
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