Set to the tune of "Bette Davis Eyes," by Kim Carnes
Her hair is Barbie gold Her filibuster flies Her heart is always cold She’s got #WendyDavisLies She’ll turn her sneakers on you The media won’t question her twice Fundraises in New York, oh She’s got #WendyDavisLies
There's a interview at National Review by Kathryn Jean Lopez and Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute that's a must read for any supporters of the pro-life cause. Read the whole thing, but I want to draw special attention to this quote:
Elle Woods would approve of
this look, don't you think?
This is cracking me up. Certain voices on the Left whipped themselves into a frenzy of outrage when RedState's Erick Erickson referred to Texas State Senator Wendy Davis as "Abortion Barbie."
Reality check: none of these people seemed to have any problem with similar insults being flung at Sarah Palin, and Davis is a very attractive, slender blonde who is known for wearing stylish clothes. I've heard more than one friend who's worked in the Capitol mention her seemingly endless collection of Louboutin shoes. Forgive me for thinking that this isn't really the Worst Insult Ever™.
Together we will build a Texas that attracts jobs, promotes opportunity and rewards ingenuity – a Texas where any child of any background has a chance to smile, to hope, to dream and to succeed.
Few things get a political news junkie's heart racing like a new batch of campaign finance reports. Pavlov's dog has nothing on how we drool over the lists of figures...who raised how much, how much cash on hand, who wrote all those checks, and so on.
For candidates, early campaign finance reports often take on make-it-or-break-it importance, especially for candidates seeking a new, higher office. The latest campaign finance reports here in Texas certainly seem poised to crush the dreams of some, while boosting others.
Matt Mackowiak, proprietor of Must Read Texas, posted a chart on Facebook earlier tonight with the figures for the top races in Texas:
Anyone who posted this news on Twitter as "BREAKING" as anything other than tongue-in-cheek should be thoroughly mocked, as this was one of the most predictable moves in politics since dinosaurs crawled the earth.
[Live-blogging at the RNC...please forgive any errors. Make sure to follow me on twitter: @rumpfshaker]
My former governor (and the first one for whom I could vote), Jeb Bush, entered the stage at the Republican National Convention to a standing ovation and thunderous applause.
Here are Bush's remarks, along with a teacher and school choice advocate who joined him on stage:
If something happens once, it's probably a fluke. Twice, might be a coincidence. Seventeen times? Well, that might be worth studying.
On Friday, Examiner.com published an analysis of the unemployment rate in the seventeen states that elected new Republican governors in 2010, noting that every single one of these states had seen an improvement in their jobs rate:
This year shows a positive overall trend: Florida reduced the number of government jobs by 17,900 and added 110,300 private sector jobs for a net job gain of 92,400:
In case you missed it, Bobby Jindal, the Republican Governor of Louisiana, was reelected last night.
"Landslide" hardly begins to cover it - Jindal captured 66% of the vote and his nearest competitor only 18%, plus eight other candidates with 5% or less. Full election results available here.
Sayfie Review publisher Justin Sayfie added a new feature to his popular website this year: one-on-one video interviews with Florida politicians.
Here's his latest with Governor Rick Scott, discussing job creation, Florida's editorial boards, Hurricane Irene, the Presidency 5 convention, CPAC FL and the 2012 presidential race:
I decided recently to start a new feature here at Sunshine State Sarah: fun, short interviews of Republican elected officials and candidates called "Sunshine Spotlights." The RedState Gathering has been the perfect place to get some comments from some of the "conservative rock stars" in attendance, so here are your first batch of Sunshine Spotlight interviews, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz, and Florida Governor Rick Scott:
Yes, Rick Scott really did grant clemency to a fish.
Last week, the Governor went on a fishing trip to Destin, as part of an effort to raise awareness that the area has recovered from last year's oil spill. Fox News reporter Phil Keating accompanied Scott on the trip and interviewed the Governor.
This week's trip to Destin follows a trip last month by the Governor and his Cabinet to Panama City. Scott was joined by Attorney General Pam Bondi, CFO Jeff Atwater, and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in a friendly fishing competition, also meant to show how Florida's Gulf seafood was safe to eat. The Department of Agriculture has also recently launched a website called FishingCapital.com, with information about planning fishing trips in Florida, how to get a fishing license, helpful fishing tips, etc.
Personally, I'm glad to see our elected officials taking an active role in promoting our state. The reports I've seen show that many businesses that depend on tourism and fishing dollars are still suffering greatly, and the BP claims process is extremely complicated and not able to fully compensate businesses for the ongoing impact of the oil spill. Part of the challenge is educating people that the beaches are safe to visit and the fish is safe to eat, so anything our Governor and Cabinet do to use their positions to draw media attention is a good thing.
Granting clemency to a fish may sound a little silly, but it helped add interest to the story and draw media attention to an issue that should be important to all Floridians.
I happened to catch the world premiere of Charlie Crist's first ad for Morgan & Morgan, and my YouTube video of the ad has, as of this morning, now been viewed over 40,000 times.
From Politico, it spread across the internet like the proverbial wildfire. (I have to say, the best headline goes to New York Magazine: "Look What Marco Rubio Did To Charlie Crist.") I had figured the ad would be funny to a few political people here in Florida, but I never expected that the entire blogosphere would be interested.
The ad also lacks the usual high-quality production values of other Morgan & Morgan ads (I especially like the one where Ultima Morgan, John Morgan's wife, talks about the name of the firm). There is something very sad about Crist's performance here. It seems very clear that he just does not want to be there.
If you missed it, here's my original post, along with updates of some of the many, many places the video was linked this week:
First up...whiplash specialist! Just one year ago Charlie Crist was of course Governor of Florida and a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Now Crist has turned from public service to public pitchman...I thought trial lawyers were all Democrats!
Well, Chris, there's a lot of us who think Charlie is a Democrat, so you may not be that far off. Thanks for playing the video. It was great to see my website up on the screen for all 37 of your viewers to see. ;)
Anyway, I've enjoyed my 12 seconds of internet fame. Thanks to everyone who helped pass this video on, and hello to my new readers. It's nice to have you.
Our new Governor, Rick Scott, has been making use of technology in ways beyond many other politicians. The Florida press was in a flurry after Scott announced several key appointments, not with a traditional press release, but on his Facebook page.
Looking back, this move shouldn't have been that much of a surprise to anyone who watched him boldly refuse to sit down with any of the state's newspaper editorial boards during the election (I personally wouldn't have had the nerve, but I have to admire the audacity of what seemed like a dangerously risky move). But somehow it still made news, with a number of journalists and bloggers noting the uniqueness of Scott's method of communication. I think I saw almost as many posts on Twitter remarking on Scott releasing the news first on Facebook as posts commenting on the actual hires.
"They still print newspapers on actual paper? That's quaint.
Anyway, join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and you can see what the papers will be printing in a day or two!"
Well, it should also come as no surprise that our Governor, who is still making the local press all twitchy with his nonchalant attitude towards them (that's what happens when y'all let him prove that he doesn't really need you), is continuing to use new media methods to reach out to his constituents.
Yesterday, Scott posted on Twitter the following invitation:
@FlGovScott: Join me for a Twitter Town Hall tomorrow night at 7pm. Send Q's to @FLGovScott, use #flgov. I will answer as many Q's as I can. #sayfie
So, tune in to http://twitter.com/FLGovScott tonight at 7 pm for an online town hall with Governor Scott. Should be interesting.
Robert Stacy McCain
