Karen Cyphers - page 4

To former Democratic legislator Dan Gelber, it is easy to support Charlie Crist. And not just because Gelber, like many Democrats, is hungry to take back the Governor’s Mansion. Rather, Gelber shares in a Monday column on Context Florida, why he has liked Crist all along. “Early on and throughout his term as Florida’s Attorney General and Governor, it became clear that he was a real moderate and a true bipartisan,” Gelber wrote, going on to list the many issues…

Keep Reading

Today on Context Florida, setting the stage for when Charlie Crist announces his gubernatorial rebirth, Martin Dyckman asks, “Who is the real Crist — and do voters care?” and offers some apt comparisons from Florida history as an answer. For those voters who do care, Darryl Paulson lists out ten questions Charlie needs to answer as he sets to launch his bid as the Democratic nominee for governor. Hint: these questions involve a fair amount of warranted probing. Then, Bob…

Keep Reading

Today on Context Florida, Jim McClellan offers a “modest proposal to make our streets safer” with a theme that underlies parenthood and gun rights alike; and Steve Robinson asks whether we are repeating “an ugly chapter in our history” from 50 years ago. Then, looking at Gov. Scott and the legislature’s push to require drug testing for welfare recipients, Rick Outzen offers a deal to Scott, saying he’ll agree to be drug tested if Scott does too. Finally, Linda Cunningham…

Keep Reading

Want to know who is going to win the next presidential election? No need to wait for the next Quinnipiac or Gallup poll.  Instead, check out data on Halloween mask sales! According to the national chain Spirit Halloween, mask sales have accurately predicted the winning candidate for every election since 1996. “Our presidential index has proven to be a consistent and accurate predictor of the next president for nearly two decades,” said Spirit CEO and president Steven Silverstein. In 2012,…

Keep Reading

There’s something archetypal in the struggle underway to save Tampa’s Bro Bowl, beyond the simple fact of its historic and deserved place in Perry Harvey, Sr. Park. The plot line, from a distance at least, looks a lot like that of the movies ‘DodgeBall’ or ‘Old School’ — both of which involved quite a battle by protagonists to keep their rightful place. In ‘DodgeBall’, that meant a high-stakes final showdown against the predatory Globo-Gym to keep Average Joe’s gym alive.…

Keep Reading

Today on Context Florida, Peter Schorsch probes recent columns in the New York Times, Sunshine State News, and the Spectrum report on gaming to conclude that the side winning the casino debate is still a coin-flip. Then, Mark Ferrulo asks why Rubio is blocking the nomination of Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge William Thomas to a seat on the federal bench; and Linda Cunningham writes that the Tea Party movement demonstrates the “unhealed legacy” of the Civil War with the…

Keep Reading

Yale law professor Dan Kahan analyzed levels of scientific comprehension of various political groups and found that tea party supporters are slightly more scientifically literate than non-tea party people. Kahan, who admits to not actually knowing a single Tea Party supporter, was surprised. After all, his hypothesis had told him otherwise, and — without having ever met a tea party supporter in real, live person — he just figured there’d be a “modest negative correlation” between tea party identification and…

Keep Reading