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Today on Context Florida: Revisiting the Daisy ad, Tallahassee Takeaways, political ads and idiocy in full Florida bloom

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Today on Context Florida:

Martin Dyckman asks if it’s time to resurrect the Daisy ad. For those unfamiliar with it, the Daisy ad is considered the most effective political spot ever filmed. The spot begins with a precious little girl pulling petals from a flower, counting them imperfectly. It segues to a man’s harsh voice counting down from 10. The child’s face dissolves into the hideous sight and sound of an H-bomb test. “These are the stakes,” says another voice — the familiar one of the president of the United States. “To make a world in which all of God’s children can live or to go into the darkness. We must either love each other, or we must die … Vote for President Johnson on Nov. 3,” says an announcer. “The stakes are too high for you to stay home.” There is now a candidate for president, presently leading the race for his party’s nomination, whose reckless talk about nuclear weapons makes Barry Goldwater look rather like a peacenik.

Peter Schorsch offers the “Takeaway Five” – five top stories from Tallahassee this week. Leading off is second-term Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was besieged by reporters after last week’s Cabinet meeting, wanting to know about a $25,000 political contribution made in error to her by Donald Trump’s charitable foundation three years ago. Such charities are prohibited under federal tax law from making political contributions. Bondi was further asked whether she solicited the contribution. “I haven’t heard that at all,” she said, her smile starting to fade. “I’m going to let the accountants handle this. I’ve done nothing wrong.” Nobody asked her, however, whether she thought she had done anything wrong.

Florida voters have been overwhelmed with political ads on their TVs, computers, mobile devices and phones in advance of the recent Florida primary. For those who voted, William Steiger asks if they change their vote based upon the ads. Marketing of political candidates through advertising has been extensively studied for over 50 years, and the research found inconsistent evidence of the efficacy of political advertising in changing someone’s voting choice.

It’s springtime, and Diane Roberts notes that idiocy is in full Florida bloom. The state Supreme Court just ruled that a disingenuous and dissembling solar energy initiative is good to go on this November’s ballot. The proposed amendment, “masquerading as pro-solar” (in the words of dissenting Justice Barbara Pariente), is sponsored by utility companies. Meanwhile, Roberts says that somewhere on his private jet, Florida’s governor, whose distinguished academic career includes a BS in Bidness Adminnerstratin’ with Honors in Medicare Fraud from a satellite campus of the University of Missouri, had him a Genius Idea: Move Yale University to Florida.

Visit Context Florida to dig in.

Phil Ammann is a St. Petersburg-based journalist and blogger. With more than three decades of writing, editing and management experience, Phil produced material for both print and online, in addition to founding HRNewsDaily.com. His broad range includes covering news, local government and culture reviews for Patch.com, technical articles and profiles for BetterRVing Magazine and advice columns for a metaphysical website, among others. Phil has served as a contributor and production manager for SaintPetersBlog since 2013. He lives in St. Pete with his wife, visual artist Margaret Juul and can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @PhilAmmann.

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