Ted Cruz at #RSG12 gives credit to Marco Rubio & bloggers [VIDEO]

Ted Cruz, fresh off his amazing win in the runoff for the Texas Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, is in Jacksonville, Florida today for this year's RedState Gathering. He gave a great speech to kick off the conference (look for it to be posted later at RedState.com) and was kind enough to sit down for a interview with me.

I first met Cruz at CPAC 2011 and have followed his campaign as it has progressed from only getting 2% in the first polls. It's very similar to how Marco Rubio's first poll was just 3%, leading those of us who supported him from the beginning to call ourselves the "Three Percenters." Cruz acknowledged the parallels and gives a lot of credit to Marco Rubio: "he blazed the path that we followed."

RedState is coming to the Sunshine State!

The annual RedState Gathering is coming to the Sunshine State next month, and you won't want to miss it.

Check out www.RedStateGathering.com for all the details, including information on registration (Note: TODAY is the last day for the early-bird price!) and discounted hotel reservations.

Morning Coffee Reading for June 20, 2012

Here's your morning coffee reading for today...enjoy...

• In case you missed it, I had a trifecta of Florida-centric posts yesterday, regarding what may be a large-boned Viking woman singing for George LeMieux's Senate campaign, another story quoting "unnamed sources" regarding Marco Rubio being quickly debunked, and some interesting facts about the so-called "voter purge" to remove non-citizens from the voting rolls. Go check out  those links if you haven't read them yet. (I may be in Massachusetts, but you had better believe I'm still keeping an eye on the Sunshine State.)

• Attorney General Eric Holder is going to have a very, very bad day today. Matt Boyle at the Daily Caller has all the gruesome details.

FreedomWorks endorses Mack, calls LeMieux a RINO

Try as he might, he just can't get
 the Oompa Loompa off his back.

Throughout his campaign to be Florida's next Senator, George LeMieux has claimed that he had a "conservative" voting record during the sixteen months he served in the United States Senate after former-Governor-and-former-Republican Charlie Crist appointed him.

I thought that was nonsense, and a little quick research gave me several good examples why in a post I wrote back in September:

Sunshine State Sarah | Reality Check on LeMieux's "conservative" voting record

Conservative Media Conference Call with Adam Hasner

Earlier this week, Florida Senate candidate Adam Hasner held a conference call for conservative bloggers and media outlets.

Adam talked at length about his conservative principles and what motivated him to run for the United States Senate, stating that "2010 was only the beginning...not enough has changed in D.C." Drawing a distinction from the rest of the field, saying that Florida "doesn't just need someone who's electable," but instead "someone who will stand firm on principle."

"It's not just about electing any Republican, but electing the right Republican." - Adam Hasner

Another poll asking the wrong question

Here we go again...every time someone does a poll on the Florida Senate race, it's followed by a flurry of overexcited articles and blog posts. Quinnipiac University published their latest poll this week, along with some breathless predictions about what the numbers mean. Crowley Political Report has some good comments here about why the Q-poll goes too far here ("Florida Republican voters can stay home next year because the nominee for U.S. Senate has already been decided, according to Quinnipiac University...").


The primary election isn't until August 2012, and the simple reality is that most people just aren't paying much attention to the Florida Senate race yet. This is reflected in the fact that "Undecided" is still winning the race (45% of Republicans, and 59% of Republican women, have not made up their mind yet).


I'm a political junkie. I live, eat, breathe politics. I love reading the latest news about the candidates, debating proposed legislation, analyzing communication strategies, and finding intriguing little details in campaign finance reports. But most people aren't like me. Even those who almost always vote in almost every election aren't really engaged in this race yet. They'll figure it out by the time next August rolls around, but until then...meh...

More conservative legislative endorsements for Adam Hasner

Adam Hasner announced another group of endorsements from conservative legislators today. Something I've noticed about many of Hasner's endorsements is that they have made a point to say that he is the "only candidate" in this race that they trust to hold conservative principles, often even specifically naming George LeMieux to point out that they will not support him (See endorsements from Carole Jean Jordan, Kathleen Shanahan, and Sally Bradshaw).

This most recent round of endorsements also draw a connection to Marco Rubio and how well Hasner and Rubio worked together when they were in the leadership of the Florida House, as noted by Sunshine State News' headline: "Connecting Him to Marco Rubio, Three Legislators Back Hasner in Senate Race."

Here's the press release from the campaign:

LeMieux falters, DC establishment panics, Team Hasner keeps marching forward

Awww. Another bad week for George LeMieux.

He has been completely unable to wash off the orange tint from his years with Crist. Since L'Affaire de Greer continues to be an irresistible story for Florida's political reporters, it's not going to get any easier for him. 

This was blatantly clear in an interview LeMieux gave to Adam Smith, in which I'm just going to assume he was extremely sleep deprived, because I cannot for the life of me figure out why a political candidate would say so many dumb things in one conversation. Either that or Charlie Crist has pretty low standards for what constitutes a "maestro." 

Seriously, someone please explain this trifecta of stupidity to me:

"Thanks, George!" Love, Obama

In case you missed it, I wrote a post about a month ago debunking the myth that George LeMieux was a "conservative" during his few months in the Senate:

Sunshine State Sarah | Reality check on LeMieux's "conservative" voting record 

Well, looks like I have an addendum to that post. Check out this press release from the Adam Hasner campaign earlier this week...it doesn't sound so conservative when Obama is thanking LeMieux for breaking ranks with Republicans, does it?

RedState coming to the Sunshine State in 2012!

RedState editor Erick Erickson announced yesterday that the 2012 RedState Gathering will be in Jacksonville, Florida on August 2 - 5, 2012:

Can someone please tell George LeMieux how a blogroll is supposed to work?

Oh, George LeMieux. You may not be much of a conservative, but you sure are funny.

I had heard that LeMieux had some sort of "Bloggers for George" group on his campaign website, and I was curious to see who might be listed.

Is George LeMieux really reconsidering the Dream Act?

Last month, in a post titled "Reality check on LeMieux's 'conservative' voting record," I wrote:

...What we have with LeMieux's time in the Senate is someone who knew he was being closely watched by conservatives and intended to run for office in the near future, but still couldn't be counted on to vote a consistently conservative line...

Do we really think we can rely on George LeMieux to fight for conservative principles? Do we really believe he will stand strong against not only the Democrats, but also the Republicans in Congress who seek dangerous, ill-advised "compromises?"

Regardless of whether the Republicans regain the White House or not, Congress is going to have to tackle some extremely challenging issues in the next few years, and we will need staunch conservatives with backbones of steel to lead the way. I do not have confidence that George LeMieux fits that definition.

Well, despite LeMieux's best efforts to pretend that he's the "proven conservative" in the Florida Senate race, a leopard can't shed his spots...

2 + 2 about Adam Hasner's CPACFL straw poll win

Herman Cain wasn't the only big winner last week; Florida Senate candidate Adam Hasner also won the CPAC Florida straw poll, with 34% of the vote in a four-way race.

This post is titled "2 + 2" because I've got two important points about this victory and two great video interviews to share with you:

BOOM! @AdamHasner wins #CPACFL straw poll

I'll post more when I get the rest of the details, but I have confirmed that Adam Hasner has won the CPAC Florida straw poll by a convincing 34% to LeMieux's McCalister's 24%. Congrats to #TeamHasner!

UPDATE: My apologies, in the excitement I made an error in the original post about who came in second in the CPAC straw poll. Correction above.

Reality check on LeMieux's "conservative" voting record

As the Republican primary battle to be Florida's next Senator has developed over the past few months, one claim that I have seen over and over is that George LeMieux had a "conservative" voting record during his short tenure as a Senator. 

I have heard many Republicans express hesitation because of LeMieux's long association with former Governor and former Republican (and current Morgan & Morgan spokesman) Charlie Crist, but then cite his allegedly conservative voting record as if that might be able to cancel out the rest of it. Well, I know I'm not alone in thinking that LeMieux's years of being Crist's "maestro" aren't so easily dismissed (not to mention the ongoing debacle of L'Affaire de Greer), but even if you don't agree with me on that, LeMieux's voting record isn't really as conservative as he likes to claim, and here's why:

Words Have Meaning: LeMieux's Palestinian Faux Pas

Here's your #facepalm moment of the day: George LeMieux, the once-and-would-be-future-Senator, sent an email to his supporters in which he referred to "Palestine," which is not a recognized country.

The timing is especially troublesome, coming the week of a crucial United Nations vote on the very subject of an independent Palestinian state. Supporters of Israel have stood strong and refused to accept a Palestinian state as long as they continue to engage in terrorism and deny Israel's right to exist. Referring to "Palestine," as if it were already a country with legal status, is, at best, imprudent.

The Adam Hasner campaign issued a scathing press release this afternoon, sharply criticizing LeMieux's poor choice of words:

Is George LeMieux working with Guetzloe?

Why would George LeMieux willingly work with Doug Guetzloe, the man who spent last year engaged in a direct assault on both the Republican party and many tea party movement organizations and activists around the state (see my post from last month here with lots of links about Guetzloe)?

Or - and maybe this is worse - is LeMieux really that ignorant about the tea party? That doesn't seem that farfetched, considering the swirling gossip about LeMieux's contempt for grassroots conservatives. Or is he so desperate for positive press as L'affaire de Greer grinds on, that he'll take it from any source, no matter how low he has to stoop?

Here's what we know so far:

Morning Coffee Reading for September 12, 2011

Here's your morning coffee reading for today:

• L'affaire de Greer continues to burn, and it hasn't escaped the notice of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In a recent post, the DSCC lands some devastating blows on George LeMieux, including link after link after link to news articles showing the years of connections between LeMieux, former Governor (and former Republican) Charlie Crist, and former RPOF Chairman Jim Greer:

DSCC | Adam Hasner Says You Broke The Law. What Say You, George LeMieux? --& (Crickets)

• The New York special election to fill Anthony Weiner's Congressional seat is shaping up to be more of a challenge than the Democrats expected:

Michelle Malkin | Doug Powers | Race to Replace Anthony Weiner Update: Poll Finds Republican Leading by 6 Points

RedState | PPP (D) Poll: Turner (R)/Weprin (D) 47/41 in NY-09

Morning Coffee Reading for September 9, 2011

Here's your morning coffee reading for today:

• Yesterday was a sad day for Florida Republicans, as RPOF Chairman David Bitner died after a valiant battle with ALS. Saint Petersblog has done an excellent job collecting messages from leaders around the state in reaction to Bitner's passing:

Saint Petersblog | Rest in peace, Mr. Chairman: RPOF's Dave Bitner has died after battle with ALS

• Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz released his twelve step "Jobs and Growth Agenda" earlier this week, and posted some of the reactions to it on his campaign website's blog. I'm thrilled that my blog post was quoted right after conservative stalwart Senator Jim DeMint:

Ted Cruz | Blog | Sen. DeMint, Others Weigh in on Jobs and Growth Agenda

• The myth that moderates are more "electable" is debunked in this American Thinker article, with a discussion of the 1964 Goldwater-Johnson race, the 1980 Reagan-Carter race, and several recent Senate races:

The Road to Hell is Paved with 'Electable' Candidates

What "L'affaire de Greer" is really about

I've decided to start referring to the whole Jim Greer controversy as "L'affaire de Greer," in homage to "l'affaire du collier," also known as "The Affair of the Necklace," which involved Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in the lead up to the French Revolution. Both scandals involve political intrigue, extravagant spending, public outrage, and the betrayal of former allies.

Watergate was much more than a burglary ("It's not the crime, it's the coverup"), and likewise, l'affaire de Greer is about so much more than just the excessive spending. While I'll concede the point to Greer that you cannot give a big-time donor some cheese and crackers and then ask them for a five-digit check, the spending was absolutely ridiculous and weakened the party by undermining donors' trust and depleting the coffers as we approached a crucial election. The frequent use of private planes and limo services was especially inexcusable.


But, frankly, overspending on a company card is not a unique problem. Most people's spending habits are different when they are spending their own money versus being able to write off a meal or travel to their employer. Greer took it to an extreme, but what sets this scandal apart, and what I believe deserves the most attention and investigation, is the usurpation of RPOF resources and power to interfere in primaries - most egregiously, the 2010 Senate race.