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Politics

Political Bits and Pieces

October 25, 2010 - 6:00pm

Mired in third place in the polls, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek unleashed a new line of attack against Republican Marco Rubio who is the clear front-runner in the race.

Noting the support that Rubio was getting from conservative Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the Meek campaign included statements DeMint made, that single women and homosexuals should not be allowed to teach Democratic congressional candidate Joe Garcia is crowing over the fact that MSNBC has moved his battle with Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, from leans Republican to tossup In fund-raising appeals, former House Speaker Dan Webster is forwarding a quote from conservative pundit George Will labeling his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, as Americas worst congressman ...

With Nancy Argenziano stepping down as chairwoman of the Public Service Commission, Art Graham, a member of the PSC who served on the Jacksonville City Council, will be stepping up to replace her as chairman Former Rep. Loranne Ausley, the Democratic candidate for CFO, is trying to invoke the spirit of the legendary Lawton Chiles. While Chiles walked across the Sunshine State to launch his successful bid to win election to the U.S. Senate, Ausley is crossing the state by bike ... Conservative congressional candidate Troy Stanley, who is running with no party affiliation against Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, crossed his district earlier in the month on a bike. Speaking of Stanleys challenge to Crenshaw, the conservative independent may be having some trouble finding room to the incumbents right. Recent articles on the race stressed that both candidates have pledged to back the Fair Tax and insist that Mayport needs to serve as home port for an aircraft carrier

Incoming House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders of Key West and his Republican opponent former Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson went toe to toe in a debate last week in Marathon. McPherson called for more insurance deregulation while Saunders insisted that would only increase costs for the average Floridian Republican turnout in early voting has been impressive in certain parts of the state, including Sarasota County. Republicans are increasingly thinking that their advantage in turnout could pay political dividends -- including helping GOP challenger Ray Pillon knock off Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota. If Republicans can defeat Fitzgerald, who was considered by state CFO Alex Sink to be her running mate, it would be a nice feather in his cap for Sarasota County Republican Chairman Joe Gruters whose name is being kicked around as a possible replacement for Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida The campaign between Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, and Democratic challenger Doug Courtney is increasingly being dominated by education issues -- namely SB 6. The issue is also driving another legislative race on the First Coast -- the showdown between Thrasher, the prime sponsor of the measure in the Senate, and Democratic challenger Deborah Gianoulis

While their activities are not getting much coverage, the Florida Family Association, led by executive director David Caton, is proving successful in getting companies to yank advertising support for television shows and controversial events. Caton and the FFA have slammed Campbells Soup for sponsoring an Islamic conference in Canada and successfully pressured a number of companies to pull their ads from Spike TVs Blue Mountain State While bikers have gotten some attention in the heated race between U.S. Ron Klein and Republican challenger Allen West, Constitution Party U.S. Senate candidate Bernie DeCastro was one of the few politicians stumping at Biketoberfest in Daytona While Jeb Bush, Joe Scarborough and Marco Rubio remain on the sidelines, Florida has produced at least one presidential candidate for 2012 -- Democrat Raphael Herman who ran for mayor of Miami Beach and for the state Senate without any success. Herman will try to knock off President Barack Obama in the primaries.

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(850) 727-0859end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

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