The Sunshine State news last week was dark enough for Republicans even before the voter registration scandal hit the headlines. A Quinnipiac poll gave President Obama 53% to just 44% for GOP candidate Mitt Romney in the critical swing state of Florida, which seemed a neck-and-neck race just a few weeks ago. That body blow has since been …
Florida
20 Years After Hurricane Andrew, Storm Costs and Ideology Loom Over Florida
Miami
Hurricane Andrew, which slammed into South Florida on Aug. 24, 1992, was the second costliest storm in modern U.S. history. Here in Miami-Dade County, which took the monstrous brunt of Andrew’s Category 5 winds, …
Emboldened by Walker’s Recall Win, Florida’s Rick Scott Goes to War on Voter Registration
The Department of Justice had given Florida Governor Rick Scott until Wednesday, June 6, to respond to its demand that the state stop a legally questionable purge of its voter rolls that was designed to identify noncitizens and …
Fickle Florida: What Romney’s Victory Says About the Bellwether State’s Mood — and the Nation’s
Miami
We’re used to invasive species in Florida, from Burmese pythons terrorizing the Everglades to unlicensed plastic surgeons injecting our butts with cement glue. In fact, many Floridians are themselves invasive species, …
Major League Primary: Why Florida Is the Big Show of the GOP Race
TIME/CNN Florida Poll: Romney and Gingrich in Virtual Tie
Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are locked in a virtual dead heat just days before Florida’s pivotal Jan. 31 primary, according to a new TIME/CNN/ORC poll.
The Inscrutable Mr. Scott, America’s Least Popular Governor
Florida Governor Rick Scott was in Canada last week, trumpeting the news that three companies there are bringing operations, and more than 200 jobs, to the Sunshine State. The deals were started by Scott’s predecessor, Charlie …
More Florida Insanity, Bad and Good
The latest from my insane Orwellian state : Florida Governor Rick Scott, now down to 29% in the polls, signed a budget on Thursday that slashed education spending, although not quite as dramatically as he had hoped. The sign on stage read: “Less Waste, More for Education.”
Why Did the Floridian Cross the Road? To Get Killed!
As Swampland’s new South Beach correspondent, I plan to abuse my power every now and then to highlight the infuriating insanity of my adopted state. I kicked this off a couple weeks ago with a post on Florida’s more-booze-for-the-drunk approach to growth management. Today, to continue this auto-dependent, dumb-growth, …