Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry, Ryan Ray, and Jim Rosica.
A WEEKEND OF TEARS
REST IN PEACE, STACEY WEBB via a release from Southern Strategy Group: “It’s with great sadness that we learned that our dear friend and lobbying partner, Stacey Webb, passed away today shortly after noon from complications following heart surgery. Stacey joined our Tallahassee office more than seven years ago, and over that time we grew to respect her consummate professionalism and quick intellect, and even more importantly, saw firsthand her boundless energy and joy of life. Stacey never complained, and she saw each new challenge as an opportunity to grow and learn. Although small in stature, she carried within her a champion’s heart, and she tirelessly worked to help her clients and her partners. We grieve her passing, but we will always remember her remarkable presence and the beauty of her spirit. We offer our condolences to her husband John, son Walker, and other members of her family.”
— Kelly Cohen: “While my heart is very heavy, I am incredibly grateful to have known Stacey Smelser Webb. We started at Southern Strategy Group around the same time and bonded over laughing at a photo shoot. Stacey was a true team player and cared deeply about her family, friends and our firm. Today the world lost a friend, a mother, a wife, a chef, a bright and kind soul. She was an exceptional individual and I know she will be greatly missed but never forgotten.”
— Jennings Lawton: “Today we lost one of the greatest women I have ever known. Stacey was more than just my aunt, she was my greatest mentor, my best friend, my sage, my outfit coordinator, my cooking coach, the type of mother I always wanted. There weren’t enough dinners, or bottles of wine, or How I Met Your Mother Marathons but I’m so grateful for all the time I was privileged to share with her. Without Stacey I wouldn’t be in the legislative process, I wouldn’t be able to cook well enough to make Lauren fall in love, I probably wouldn’t even be in Tallahassee. This town and this world just won’t be the same without her. I love you Stacey, now and forever.”
— Meredith O’Rourke: “Heartbroken. Liam said Miss Stacey Smelser Webb got to meet Jesus today. Yes, no doubt she is in Heaven. She was and will be a gift to anyone who knew her. May we all follow her example of kindness, compassion, generosity and a deep, committed love to family.”
— Ryan Wiggins: “My heart is absolutely broken for Stacey Smelser Webb family right now. She was one of the first people I worked with in Tallahassee and was one of the very few I turned to for advice when I started my own business. She was a beautiful lady inside and out. I will miss seeing her beautiful smile around the capitol. Rest in peace, sweet friend.”
REST IN PEACE: CATHY ANN WEATHERFORD via Drew Weatherford on Facebook: “This morning at 7:17am our beautiful mother Cathy Ann Weatherford went to be with the Lord. With heavy heart we celebrate her life of faith and sacrifice, and although she leaves behind 8 children, 10 grandchildren (#11 on the way-Kennedy) she will now also be reunited with her baby boy (9th child) Peter Weatherford. With confidence we know that she is experiencing the reality of the verse below and God has many crown awaiting her.”
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR RHEA CHILES TODAY via Mary Ellen Klas of the Tampa Bay Times – A memorial service for Rhea Chiles, the wife of former Gov. Lawton Chiles, will be held at 11 a.m. at Faith Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee. Chiles died at her home in Anna Maria Island, Florida, on Nov. 8, of natural causes. She was 84.
THESE ARE THE VICTIMS OF THE PARIS ATTACKS: BuzzFeed catalogues the overwhelmingly young victims of the attack. h/t Ryan Heath of Politico’s Brussels Playbook.
— “American student Nohemi Gonzalez identified as victim in Paris massacre” via Patrick Garrity and Shanshan Dong
THE PARIS ATTACKERS HIT THE CITY’S YOUNG, PROGRESSIVE CORE via Manu Saadia of Fusion –The attackers, whomever they may be and whatever their motives, went after the heart of progressive Paris. They did not attack the more touristy Champs-Elysées or Notre Dame, or the more bourgeois and conservative left bank, where most of the government ministries are located … [the attacks] show the same uncanny sense of symbolism as the January massacres… the greatest monument to France’s multiethnic, pluralistic success: the hallowed ground of the Stade de France … will almost certainly strengthen the hand of hard-line conservatives.
PLOT BEGAN IN BRUSSELS via The Los Angeles Times – Friday’s operation apparently began with a small extremist cell around Brussels, where French authorities believe the attack was planned and financed … The French newspaper Le Monde reported the terrorists came from the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, which has been a center for radical Islamists for several years.
PARIS, AN ATROCITY FORETOLD via Adam Kirsch of Politico – [In] the terrorists’ decision to target a football stadium and a concert hall, they declare a puritanical hatred for Western pleasures — just like the terrorists who blew up the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv, in 2001, and a nightclub in Bali the next year. This dimension of the Paris attacks seems especially resonant, since for Americans the French capital has long stood for a particular kind of pleasure — the pleasures of civilization, of cosmopolitanism, of the cultivation of grace. This is not mere sentimentality, but an accurate reading of the terrorists’ intentions. When terror attacks the sites of such conviviality, rather than military bases or police headquarters, the reason is partly opportunism, but it is also to send a message: it is our pleasure, not just our power, that offends them.
WEAPONS FOUND IN ‘GETAWAY CAR’ via BBC News – Several Kalashnikovs have been found in an abandoned car believed to have been used by some of the Paris attackers … The black Seat car was found in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil Sunday, suggesting some of the attackers got away. … [T]he first of the seven dead attackers was named as Ismail Mostefai. Six people close to him are in custody.
FRANCE TO MULL INVOKING NATO COLLECTIVE DEFENSE via Deutsche Welle – Latest comment from NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Philip Breedlove: “We will continue to stand beside our oldest NATO ally to deter, disrupt and defeat terrorists who threaten our values, freedoms and our way of life.” His predecessor, Commander James Stavridis … calls for a major NATO mission against the Islamic State, and explains how NATO’s “Article 5” would be involved if France requests it. “If France would like to become the second such country, the first step would be to call for an Article 4 consultation, which would convene the ambassadors of the 28 nations, who are in permanent session in Brussels, to discuss the situation and decide a course of action. This happened most recently in 2014, when Turkey requested an Article 4 meeting after the Islamic State attacks there. It seems likely that an Article 4 meeting would conclude that the Paris massacres, given their scale and scope, should be considered an attack under Article 5.”
COUNTRIES RETHINK COMMITMENTS TO ACCEPT REFUGEES via Jacopo Barigazzi and Hans Von Der Burchard of POLITICO – The quick move Saturday by some Central European countries to distance themselves from the delicate migration consensus creates serious problems for the future of the Schengen [open-border] zone … Poland was the first EU member to break ranks … “The European Council decision criticized by us to relocate refugees and migrants in all EU countries still has the status of binding EU law. But in light of the tragic events in Paris, we see no political possibility of carrying them out. Poland must retain full control over its borders, over asylum and migration policies.”
WHY ISIS FIGHTS via Martin Chulov for the Guardian – (T)hey see themselves as underdogs, fired by a sense of divine mission … All of these men believed that by travelling to fight for the caliphate, they were standard-bearers of their faith. They also felt sure they were acting to restore Islam to its lost glories – and had a sense of privilege and pride that their generation was the one that had been chosen to right the wrongs of the past.
TOP OP-EDS
— ON TERROR, WE’RE ALL RIGHT-WINGERS NOW via Michael Hirsh for Politico Europe – “(T)he attacks in Paris have caused the tectonic plates of geopolitics to shift sharply rightward, and no one will be unaffected. The new axis of opinion in the U.S. and Western European countries is plainly going to be harsher, more interventionist and less tolerant of, well, tolerance.”
— THE EXPLOITATION OF PARIS via Frank Bruni of the New York Times – “On Saturday morning I read that Paris was going to be good for Republicans. I read that Paris was going to be good for Democrats. I felt sick…”
SMART TWEET: @KarlreMarks: What the terrorists really want is for you to use the phrase ‘what the terrorists really want’ to support a view you already hold.
RIDICULOUS TWEETS
— @AnnCoulter: Too bad there were no concealed carry permits … anywhere in Europe … since 1818.
— @JMfreespeech: Now maybe the whining adolescents at our universities can concentrate on something other than their need for “safe” spaces.
HOW TO CHANGE YOUR FACEBOOK PHOTO TO BLUE, WHITE, AND RED FOR PARIS via Molly Mulshine of Tech Insider – Go to facebook.com/Facebook. For now, the site’s top post has a “Try It” button that unlocks the filter … Follow the prompts to either keep your current profile picture or select another photo … Pick when you’d like your photo to revert back to normal: an hour from now, a day from now, a week from now, or never … Add a caption and you’re done.
SOCIAL MEDIA RUMOURS ABOUT THE PARIS ATTACKS THAT YOU SHOULDN’T BELIEVE via Tom Phillips, Jim Waterson and Adrien Sénécat of BuzzFeed News – The attacks were not predicted by a post on the French site JeuxVideo – this screen shot is a fake … The Eiffel Tower did not go dark in memory of the victims … [a] picture, said to be of the concert in the Bataclan shortly before the attack, doesn’t show that … It does show the Eagles of Death Metal, the band who were playing the Bataclan, but it’s not from Friday night … Fire did break out in the “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais, but it is not clear that it was a revenge attack … [another] picture doesn’t show a march in Germany expressing solidarity with the French – it’s from an anti-immigration event in January … Pictures have circulated online claiming to identify the social media accounts of some of the terrorists, but authorities have not yet released any identities … Donald Trump’s tweet about French gun control laws was from January, not in response to the current attacks … widely shared image of the Eiffel Tower combined with the peace sign is not by Banksy … actually created by Jean Jullien … The Empire State Building didn’t change its colours … the pictures were from January … image of deserted Paris is actually from a 2008 art project … Uber did not hike its taxi fares during the attacks.
WATCH PIANIST PERFORM JOHN LENNON’S ‘IMAGINE’ OUTSIDE PARIS’ BATACLAN via Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone – An unknown musician set up a grand piano outside the concert hall and delivered a poignant, instrumental take on John Lennon‘s “Imagine.” A peace sign adorned the musician’s piano … Flowers, candles and memorials were also set up outside the Bataclan, the epicenter of the deadliest day in France since World War II.
HOW PARIS STOOD WITH THE U.S. AFTER 9/11 via Nash Jenkins of Time magazine – Within a week of the attacks, French President Jacques Chirac flew to the U.S., the first foreign head of state to meet with President George W. Bush in the wake of the attacks … he flew to New York, where the scene made him “feel like crying” … “France… will not stand aside in a fight against a scourge that defies all democracies … Today it is New York that was tragically struck, but tomorrow it may be Paris, Berlin, London.” Chirac would later denounce the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leading to a chilly relationship with the Bush White House and a sense of mutual distrust between the two longstanding allies. But, in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the Los Angeles Times described a massive U.S. flag that was unfurled before the Eiffel Tower. U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin and mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë both attended the memorial service.
WORLD LANDMARKS LIT TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH PARIS via Jane Onyanga-Omara of USA TODAY – Famous landmarks around the world were lit in the blue, white and red colors of the French flag to show solidarity with the French capital … The 408-foot spire of One World Trade Center … The Empire State Building … In Brazil, Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue … The famous arch of London’s Wembley Stadium … the War Memorial Museum and Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand … The Sydney Opera House in Australia … The Kuala Lumpur Tower in Malaysia’s capital … San Francisco City Hall.
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JEB BUSH ON PARIS ATTACKS: ‘THE WAR OF OUR TIME’ via Alex Leary of the Miami Herald – “This is an organized effort to destroy Western civilization and we need to lead in this regard … This is the war of our time and we have to be serious in engaging.”
MARCO RUBIO ON PARIS ATTACKS: ‘A REMINDER OF THE INCREASING DANGERS FACING FREE PEOPLES’ via Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald – “These brutal terror attacks against innocent civilians are a reminder of the increasing dangers facing free peoples around the world … As we learn more about the attacks and who is behind them, the United States should assist the French government in finding those who are accountable and bringing them to justice. We cannot let those who seek to disrupt our way of life succeed. We must increase our efforts at home and abroad to improve our defenses, destroy terrorist networks, and deprive them of the space from which to operate.”
MORE REAX FROM FLORIDA
— “Gov. Rick Scott orders flags lowered in honor of victims of Paris attacks” via Florida Politics
U.S. Rep. David Jolly: “It is with a heavy heart that we stand with the people of France and share our deepest condolences to the victims and their loved ones over these barbaric attacks. We as a free world must unite against terrorists to secure the cause of freedom, and to ensure these acts of cowardice are never seen again and never reach our homeland.“
Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera: First, our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Paris, the families of the victims of these terrible attacks, and to the city’s first-responders. Just as France reached out to the United States with sympathy and aid in the terrible days following 9/11, so should the U.S. stand with its oldest ally in its time of need. … Our government should be a full partner with the French police and intelligence services, providing any aid and resources we can in the course of tracing back the terror networks responsible for this cowardly and evil attack. … While last night’s attacks struck the people of Paris, there is no question that ISIS, Al Qaeda, and their affiliates have every intention of bringing their war against Western Civilization to our shores. We must call the ideology and authors of this terror by their true name; they are Islamic terrorists devoted to a violent destruction of the United States and the West. … The President should direct our military and intelligence-community officials to determine the right strategic mix of U.S. warfighting and intelligence assets to achieve one simple goal; America should lead other nations in the prompt and complete destruction of ISIS, its infrastructure, and its ability to ever reconstitute itself.
Former Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp: “I very rarely post anything political on Facebook. However, I hope the terror attacks in France serve as a huge wake up call to Americans. It is time to ignore those that would divide us—and support those that unite us. If we are to survive as a country—we must be ONE NATION UNDER GOD. Our next President must be someone who understands that the world is a very dangerous place….and that “peace through strength” is not simply a phrase.”
State Sen. Rene Garcia: “Good will prevail so long as we unite and fight against this evil wherever it exist. My prayers are with our brothers and sisters in France.”
Gus Corbella: “I love Paris. I learned the French language as a high schooler. I lived and studied there. I honeymooned and celebrated New Year’s Eve there. I’ve visited it with my family and have enjoyed it’s rich beauty throughout my life. … That such cowards would have chosen to attack innocent people having dinner at a cafe, cheering their team on at a stadium or enjoying a concert with friends at a theater only goes to show the subhuman level to which this scum will slither. … Paris last night could just as easily be Peoria or Pittsburgh or Pasadena tomorrow. I hope this is a wake up call to my fellow Americans, during this time of sadness, to strengthen their resolve to eradicate this evil from the Earth. It will not be easy nor free from personal sacrifice. … I also hope that this tragic event will help focus our national political discourse on the important leadership role our country plays globally, and the dire need for strong leadership during our uncertain future. Enough of these mouth breathers spouting fear mongering and empty rhetoric. Focus. We need wise and unflinching leadership, now more than ever. … No amount of hatred can ever darken the City of Light and its wonderful people. Senseless violence will never cast a shadow on a city that throughout history has celebrated love and culture and the pinnacles of human thought and creativity. I love Paris.”
Ed Moore: “The civilized world may have awakened to the reality that war has been declared upon them. It is a war on modernity. It is a war against civility. It is a war we cannot ignore or avoid as it has already begun. Perhaps it began in the 90’s when they first attempted to take down the Towers. Historians will mark a moment in time but it won’t matter to us now. We have been engaged while we slept. We must now decide if we will live in a world of libérté, egalité, fraternité, or one of oppression, fear and loathing.”
John “Mac” Stipanovich: “Sound the Tocsin … I have grandsons coming of age who I love more than life and for whom I fear, but the time has come. War. Not kinda war, air war, war on the cheap. Boots on the ground look’em in the eye war. Higher taxes, less domestic spending, less consumption, conscription if needed. Ally with anyone who will fight with us -France, Britain, Turkey, Russia, Iran. Sort everything else out later. War.”
FRENCH DIPLOMATS LEAD SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATION IN MIAMI via Joey Francilus of Politico Florida – Approximately 50 people gathered for the first of two vigils in front of Miami’s French Consulate around 5 p.m. Saturday in downtown Miami, lighting candles and laying flowers before the building. A larger crowd of approximately 200 gathered in Miami Beach at Lincoln Road and Washington Avenue as night fell during a blustery fall evening and Miami Beach police officers looked on. The crowd swelled as the officials from the French consulate joined the second remembrance event across Biscayne Bay.
TOO SOON – NRA EMAIL PUSHES FLORIDA GUN BILL DAY AFTER PARIS ATTACKS via Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida –“If you own a gun and you ever have to use it to protect yourself or your family and — you think, because of the Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground law, that the law is on your side. Think again,” read the email, written by Marion Hammer, the NRA’s powerful Florida lobbyist. “The Legislature gave you protection in 2005, but prosecutors and the courts have taken it away … Make no mistake — a committee member who votes against this bill will be voting against you and your constitutional right of self-defense.”
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NEW SUPER PAC WEB AD HIGHLIGHTS MARCO RUBIO’S HAWKISHNESS ON ISIS via Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald – Conservative Solutions PAC released the digital ad Saturday night casting Marco Rubio as a presidential candidate with hawkish foresight on the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State … The video features a clip of Rubio at the last Republican primary debate warning about ISIS — after first showing Obama suggesting ISIS had been “contained” (in Iraq and Syria) and Clinton saying in the past that the U.S. should seek to understand its adversaries.
SUNSHINE SUMMIT
GOP CANDIDATES USE PARIS ATTACKS TO TAKE AIM AT OBAMA, CLINTON AT FLORIDA GOP SUMMIT via Brendan Farrington of the Associated Press – Several Republican candidates for president accused President Barack Obama and … Clinton, of failing in the fight against Islamic State militants as the terrorist attacks in Paris became a focal point of the nomination race.
Carly Fiorina … criticized the Obama administration for the “murder, the mayhem, the danger, the tragedy that we see unfolding in Paris, in the Middle East, around the world and too often in our own homeland.” … “I am angry that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton declared victory in Iraq in 2011, abandoned all of our hard-won gains for political expediency and contrary to the advice of every general that spoke with them, thus leaving vast swaths of territory and too much weaponry to be gobbled up by ISIS,” Fiorina told those at the Sunshine Summit…
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said IS must be destroyed with a coalition of U.S. allies because the attacks in Paris were an attack against Western civilization. “Action is required. Time is of the essence. Negotiations, ambivalence or delay are not acceptable,” Kasich said. … New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recalled the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City and said he’s afraid that Americans have forgotten the fear and risk they felt afterward. “We have seen evil visited upon innocent people once again,” he said. “Our outrage must turn into action and resolve.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the latest terrorist attacks serve as a cautious reminder why the U.S. border needs to be secured to keep out “radical, evil terrorists.” Echoing Jindal was Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who said more scrutiny is needed of “refugees, visitors and students” entering the U.S. to determine whether anyone is here “to do us harm.”
A DARK THEME FOR GOP HOPEFULS via Lloyd Dunkelberger of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune – a somber backdrop to the second day of the Florida Republican Party’s “Sunshine Summit” … amplifying the campaign themes of the four major contenders for a Senate seat next year … all the candidates raised similar issues, ranging from a call to strengthen the country’s military forces to questioning the Obama administration’s foreign policies, including the nuclear deal with Iran and the treatment of Israel. “We are in a conflict, whether we like it or not,” said [Ron] DeSantis … “I think we have to identify the enemy and call it by its name. And the enemy is an ideology rooted in militant Islam.” Todd Wilcox … “We have to realize that ISIS and Islamic terrorists are not only a threat to America. They are a threat to all of Western society” … Jolly … promised to support stronger measures against China and Russia, while opposing the closing of Guantanamo and the Iran deal. “We will find you. We will defeat you and we will destroy you … That is a strong foreign policy.” Lopez-Cantera said the Paris attacks were “a reminder that there are evil people” in the world, but he said it would be “in poor taste today to be laying blame.”
REPUBLICANS’ IDEOLOGICAL BATTLE ON DISPLAY AT FLORIDA’S SUNSHINE SUMMIT via Alex Leary and Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times – the real drama was 25 miles away at a megachurch where … Cruz declared war on illegal immigration, the crowd rising with a passion somewhat missing across town. Less than three months from the first contests, the field is unsettled and mired in conflict about the ideological direction of the party and an overlapping clash of insiders vs. outsiders and hybrids such as Cruz. “We have a really good chance of winning, but this primary is really becoming very unstable. It’s at a tipping point. If we don’t right it, we’re in trouble,” Sen. Lindsey Graham. “Our party outside of Washington is having its best years ever,” said [Al] Cardenas, referring to a steady gain of Republican governors and legislatures. “The dichotomy of where our party is nationally and where our party is in Washington is striking.”
RICK SCOTT SETS ASIDE POOR RELATIONSHIP WITH STATE GOP TO OPEN PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT via Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida – Scott has had an icy relationship with the Republican Party of Florida, but put that aside … to give a speech at the party’s Sunshine Summit … the first speaker at the two-day event … “Our revenues are $3.4 billion more than our recurring expenses, so we are going to give you some of your money back … We are going to cut taxes by $1 billion … We deserve a president who is going to say, ‘I have a plan to generate 12 million jobs in four years.”
LENNY CURRY DISHES GOP RED MEAT, DINGS ‘LIBERAL MEDIA’ AT REPUBLICAN SUNSHINE SUMMIT via Nate Monroe of the Florida Times-Union – “I’m getting ready to tell you how conservatives win elections … Be bold. Or be defeated … Republican conservatives can still win elections … We can win despite the attacks that are dominated by the liberal media … We can beat the tired old ideas of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton … We can beat those ideas nationally if we speak the truth.”
HOW THE SUNSHINE SUMMIT PLAYED
Orlando Sentinel, Donald Trump, Ben Carson draw big crowds at GOP Summit – “Trump‘s salesman approach and Carson‘s motivational-speaker style were the most popular with the attendees …” Tampa Bay Times, Republicans’ ideological battle on display at Florida’s Sunshine Summit – “’I think it’s great for the party. You get to see a wide array of different candidates all bringing different strengths and weaknesses,’ said Peter Feaman, a Republican national committeeman from Palm Beach County. ‘Let the American people weed it all out.’” News 13 Orlando, Foreign policy, security dominate GOP Sunshine Summit – “… with the attacks in Paris, much of the normal campaign rhetoric has been set aside to talk more about foreign policy and national security.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, aim to regain home turf – “Bush and … Rubio took to the stage … in the surprising role of political underdogs in the presidential primary in their own state … Florida’s primary is defying conventional models.” Tampa Tribune, GOP contenders make their case at Florida forum – “There were roughly 2,000 people ticketed to attend … but not many had waited beyond Rubio and Cruz to hear Huckabee’s speech.” Orlando Weekly, Meet the Republican super fans at Friday’s Orlando Sunshine Summit – “Most … were dressed in dull, formal attire, but there were those few heroes of the night who could not help but express their love of everything conservative through fashion.” The Hill, Donald Trump steers clear of Ben Carson day after barbs – “As [Trump] gestured back toward the media covering his speech, he noted that ‘I was taking a lot of abuse from those characters right back there’ … needled … Bush for middling poll numbers in his home state.” The Columbus Dispatch, Key questions about Republicans’ and John Kasich’s response to Paris attacks from the Sunshine Summit – “Does experience matter now? Or do the attacks reinforce the perceived need for an outsider to take charge of the country?” Palm Beach Post, Bobby Jindal says closing U.S. borders need to shield against immigration, terrorism risk – “Despite a faltering presidential campaign, Jindal delivered a wide-ranging speech in which he scolded …Trump for harshly criticizing … Carson and derided what he termed political correctness at the racially divided University of Missouri and other college campuses.”
— DEMOCRATIC DEBATE —
DEMOCRATIC VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY THINK CLINTON WON DEBATE via Public Policy Polling – 67% of voters think Clinton won the debate, to 20% for Bernie Sanders and 7% for Martin O’Malley. On a related note 63% of viewers said the debate gave them a more positive opinion of Clinton, compared to 41% who said it gave them a more positive opinion of Sanders, and 37% who said it gave them a more positive opinion of O’Malley
EXCHANGE OF THE DEBATE
John Dickerson: “Secretary Clinton, you mentioned radical jihadists. Marco Rubio, also running for president, said this attack showed the attack in Paris showed that we are at war with radical Islam. Do you agree with that characterization “radical Islam?”
Clinton: “I don’t think we’re at war with Islam. I don’t think we’re at war with all Muslims. I think we’re at war with jihadists who have…”
Dickerson: “Just to interrupt. He didn’t say all Muslims. He said ‘radical Islam.'”
Clinton: “I think you can talk about Islamists who clearly are also jihadists, but I think it’s not particularly helpful to make the case that senator Sanders was just making that I agree with that we’ve got to reach out to Muslim countries. We’ve got to have them be part of our coalition. If they hear people running for president who basically shortcut it to say we are somehow against Islam, that was one of the real contributions, despite all the other problems, that George W. Bush made after 9/11 when he basically said after going to a Mosque in Washington, we are not at war with Islam or Muslims. We are at war with violent extremism. We are at war with people who use their religion for purposes of power and oppression. And, yes, we are at war with those people. But I don’t want us to be painting with too broad a brush.”
TWEET, TWEET: @JebBush: Yes, we are at war with radical Islamic terrorism. #DemDebate
RUBIO: ‘I DON’T UNDERSTAND’ HILLARY CLINTON’S REFUSAL TO SAY ‘RADICAL ISLAM’ via George Stephanopoulos of ABC News – “That would be like saying we weren’t at war with Nazis because we were afraid to offend some Germans who may have been members of the Nazi party, but weren’t violent … We are at war with radical Islam, with an interpretation of Islam by a significant number of people around the world, who they believe now justifies them in killing those who don’t agree with their ideology … This is a clash of civilizations , and … there is no middle ground on this. Either they win or we win. And we need to begin to take this seriously. These are individuals motivated by their faith.”
HILLARY CLINTON’S INVOKING OF 9/11 TO DEFEND DONATIONS DRAWS IRE via Ken Thomas of The Associated Press – Clinton‘s campaign … defended her donations from Wall Street by saying she worked to help the financial sector rebuild after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and sought to address the abuses that led to an economic crisis. During the second Democratic debate … Sanders put Clinton on the defensive … “Now maybe they’re dumb and they don’t know what they’re going to get, but I don’t think so,” he said. Clinton accused Sanders of trying to “impugn my integrity” and said that as a New York senator, she helped New York City’s financial hub rebuild. “That was good for New York and it was good for the economy and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists who had attacked our country,” she said, her voice rising.
CLINTON CAMPAIGN ISSUES STATEMENT FROM TEAM BROOKLYN ON 9/11 COMMENT – “On a night when the other Democratic candidates went on the attack against … Clinton to try to boost their campaigns, we heard unfair challenges to her integrity and false talk about her record on the financial industry. As New York’s senator after 9-11 … Clinton absolutely sought to rebuild a financial industry that was based in lower Manhattan … But that did not mean she ever hesitated to call out and seek to reform the abuses and excesses that led to the economic crisis. She did so early and often … She is proud to have stood by her home state economy after disaster struck … and using that to falsely represent her record on financial regulation is unfair and wrong.”
TWEET, TWEET
@davidaxelrod: .@HillaryClinton vehemently offers support for Wall Street as post-911 recovery effort. Does that fly?”
@TheFix: Hard to overstate how little sense Clinton’s ‘I take contributions from Wall Street because they got hit on 9/11’ argument makes.
@Reince: .@HillaryClinton, you reached a new low tonight by using 9/11 to defend your campaign donations.”
— “Under attack at the Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton plays EVERY POSSIBLE CARD” via Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post
— “Did anyone really win the Democratic Presidential Debate in Des Moines?” Via Yoni Appelbaum, Conor Friedersdorf, Priscilla Alvarez, Matt Ford, Molly Ball, and Kathy Gilsinan of The Atlantic
— “Top 3 Hillary Clinton lines GOP will use in attack ads” via Mike Allen of POLITICO
— “CBS ends Democratic debate with seven minutes to spare” via Nick Gass of POLITICO
— MORE 2016 NOTES —
WHY REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES MAY PASS ON FLORIDA’S PRIMARY via S.V. Dáte of the National Journal – the Florida party decided to ditch a system that divvied them up proportionally and instead adopt a winner-take-all model … in part, to make the primary more crucial and win the state a larger share of presidential candidates’ attention … Campaigning statewide in Florida is both unwieldy and expensive … [that] means that unless a campaign is a reasonable chance of coming in first in the balloting, every dollar and every hour of staff time spent on Florida will likely go to waste.
DONALD TRUMP SURGES AMONG LIKELY REPUBLICAN PRIMARY VOTERS via James Oliphant of Reuters – Trump has leapt some 17 percentage points among likely Republican voters since Nov. 6 … Trump now captures 42 percent of those voters while Carson has fallen off slightly. Among all Republicans – not simply likely primary voters -Trump holds a substantial edge over Carson, at 34 percent to about 20 percent … It remains to be seen … whether Trump’s surge will hold in the wake of his comments at an Iowa rally … telling the crowd that Carson has a “pathological” temper. “If you’re pathological, there’s no cure for that … If you’re a child molester, there’s no cure for that.”
HERE’S THE “DONALD TRUMP AS PRESIDENT” SPOOF VIDEO YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR via Bruce Handy of Vanity Fair – At this point, Americans have to confront the fact that, beyond Trump himself, a significant percentage of our presumably sentient fellow citizens think he should be president—and not president of Moneyland or Comb-overstan, but president of the United States. Which means it could happen. Would America as we know her survive? Or would peace, prosperity, and taste become relics of a pre-Trumpian past? Thanks to advanced futurology algorithms and cutting-edge marionette technology (courtesy of the puppeteers behind Team America), VF.com can now show you exactly what a Trump presidency would be like.
POLL: BEN CARSON, DONALD TRUMP TIED IN FLORIDA, MARCO RUBIO PASSES JEB BUSH via Walter Jones of the Florida Times-Union – Trump with 23 percent and … Carson with 22 percent are essentially tied by falling within the poll’s 3.4 percent margin of error. In the second level … Rubio has support from 18 percent of those registered voters questioned who said they’ll take part in Florida’s Republican primary. That puts him ahead of … Cruz’s 12 percent and … Bush’s 11 percent.
BEN CARSON ADVISER ‘SHUT OUT’ AS CAMPAIGN RISES via Kevin Cirilli of Bloomberg – Texas businessman Terry Giles … Carson’s former campaign chairman and close friend of more than 20 years, has been “shut out” from his presidential campaign just as the retired former neurosurgeon has ascended to the level of Republican front-runner … no longer formally connected to the campaign nor is he acting as an adviser … Giles, who hired most of the senior Carson campaign staffers and laid the foundation for the campaign, says he’s taking time off to recharge and plans to return next year to help Carson assemble a team of policy advisers. “Ben and I agreed that unless he needed me, I was going to go to the sideline and attend to my businesses and reacquaint myself with my wife.”
THE BIG SPEECH MARCO RUBIO NEEDS TO GIVE via Matt Lewis of the Daily Beast – Immigration has always been the Florida senator’s Achilles’ heel — but if he confronts the issue head on with a big speech, he can help the country and himself … Rubio has shown that he’s an excellent counterpuncher, and one assumes he has a prepared response to questions about his support of immigration reform—as well as a counterattack on whoever launches the attack … Cruz is for amnesty, too! … ready to go in the chamber. But it’s dangerous to try to thread a needle in the maelstrom of a debate, where it’s possible that multiple candidates could gang up on you or interrupt you as you speak.
RUBIO’S HISTORY ON IMMIGRATION LEAVES CONSERVATIVES DISTRUSTFUL OF SHIFT via Jeremy Peters and Ashley Parker of The New York Times – Few politicians … have benefited more from the power of populist hostility than Rubio. But five years after Tea Party energy propelled him to national office, distrust from those voters could prove to be one of his biggest impediments to securing the Republican presidential nomination. The immigration question cuts to his core as one of the Republican Party’s most promising rising stars. Skeptics see his evolution as a politically shrewd maneuver of convenience. He sees it as a pragmatic exercise in conservative leadership. “The question comes up over and over again: Can you trust Marco Rubio to govern as a conservative?” said David Bossie, the president of Citizens United … “That’s really what Marco Rubio is contending with as he runs for president.”
— “Marco Rubio unveils campaign chairs in all Florida counties” via Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald
TED CRUZ SAYS HE WOULD LIMIT LEGAL IMMIGRATION PROGRAM via Theodore Schleifer and Tom LoBianco of CNN – Cruz backed sharply away from his long-held plan to increase legal immigration … toughening his stance as he aims to draw a contrast with … Rubio in Rubio’s home state. “Legal immigration needs to be structured so that it serves America’s needs … We welcome people from all over the world, but we shouldn’t welcome people defying and gaming our laws.” His 11-page plan … said nothing about what he would do with the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States, a topic he has repeatedly refused to broach during the 2016 race.
— “Meet Ted Cruz’s Fla campaign team” via Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times
— “Florida cools on Jeb Bush” via Marc Caputo and Ben Schreckinger of POLITICO
— “House leader endorses Jeb Bush for president” via Jonathan Easley of The Hill
LACK OF TIME AND MONEY SLOWS OPEN PRIMARY BALLOT INITIATIVE via Steve Bousquet of the Tampa Bay Times – Supporters of a game-changing statewide ballot initiative to allow all voters to vote in primaries have shelved plans to get on the 2016 ballot, but say they will redouble their efforts to put the question before voters in 2018 … All Voters Vote [seeks to] end Florida’s “closed primary” system in which only Republicans and Democrats can participate in party primaries, and replace it with a system in which everyone could vote and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, would advance to the general election in November … chairman … Glenn Burhans Jr., said there simply isn’t enough time to raise the money needed to get sufficient signatures from voters to put the question on the ballot. “The money is a big deal … It takes a lot of effort and resources to get there, and there are a lot of competing interests in the current election cycle that make it difficult and challenging to raise money. But this issue and our perceived solution are not going away. We’re going to continue to build up our network … We just didn’t have the runway length we needed.”
MUST-READ: On Friday, Google launched its 2016 digital guide to products and services for campaigns.
JUDGE ORDERS FLORIDA SENATE REDISTRICTING TRIAL TO MOVE FORWARD via Mary Ellen Klas of the Tampa Bay Times – Leon County Circuit Court Judge George Reynolds rejected a request by the Florida Senate to have the court hire a redistricting expert to redraw the Senate maps, saying “we just don’t have enough time left” to hire a newcomer to the process and get the boundaries set in time for the 2016 election. The quick decision after a 30-minute hearing … was a blow to the Florida Senate, whose lawyers argued that by hiring an expert to draw the maps instead of relying on the Legislature or challengers, they could “streamline this litigation and reduce the burden to the parties and Florida’s taxpayers.”
SUPREME COURT CANCELS DECEMBER HEARING ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA via the Associated Press – (Decision) comes a few days after Attorney General Pam Bondi said she will not ask the court to block the latest medical marijuana amendment.
STEVE ANDREWS TANGLES AGAIN WITH RICK SCOTT ADMINISTRATION, THIS TIME OVER INTERNET SEARCHES via Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald – Scott’s administration is tangled again in another public records issue with the Tallahassee attorney that won the $700,000 judgment against him for failing to turnover private emails … Andrews has asked the Department of Corrections to turn over seven months of search engine data of its chief inspector general as part of the legal fight several current and former employees have with the agency. After waiting for more than three months, Andrews is now asking a court to intervene … Employees have alleged that the agency’s chief inspector general, Jeff Beasley, has routinely covered up suspicious inmate deaths, inappropriate use of force and other questionable activities within the state’s prison agency.
SENATE PANEL TO TAKE UP FSECC WOES via Jeff Burlew of the Tallahassee Democrat – Lawmakers will put Florida Department of Management Services officials in the hot seat … over its handling of the Florida State Employees’ Charitable Campaign … the state’s only sanctioned charity drive involving its workforce, used to raise more than $4 million a year for charities across the state when it was run by the United Way … donations have tanked since DMS outsourced the campaign in 2012 to Solix, Inc., a New Jersey company serving as its fiscal agent. Earlier this month, the fall campaign ended with less than $600,000, its lowest total since 1982. Unlike the United Way’s work for the campaign, Solix was not directly involved in fundraising.
***Liberty Partners of Tallahassee, LLC, is a full-service consulting firm located just steps from the Capitol. The firm specializes in the development and implementation of successful advocacy strategies highly personalized for each client. Team Liberty is comprised of professionals with a track record of successful coalition-building, grassroots efforts and team coordination. The combination of a strong commitment to clients and practical government and private sector experience is why Fortune 500 companies and not-for-profits alike choose Liberty Partners of Tallahassee.***
APPOINTED: Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, Genean McKinnon, Cynthia “Cindy” O’Connell, James Croteau, Autumn Karlinksy, Natalia Martinez, and Kerry Schultz to the Florida Commission on Community Service, otherwise known as Volunteer Florida.
NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS
Chris Carmody, Chris Dawson, GrayRobinson: Metropolitan Systems
Randolph Garcia, Florida Governmental Affairs: Palm Springs General Hospital
Frank Harris: Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Rhett O’Doski, Sean Stafford, Advantage Consulting Team: Crews Groves, Inc.
Gregory Yadley, Shucker Loop & Kendrick: Business Brokers of Florida
UBER PITCHES CAR-POOLING IN SOUTH FLORIDA via Joey Francilus of POLITICO Florida – “About 90 percent of drivers on the road are with one person in the car,” said Ryan Graves, senior vice-president of Uber at the launch of the service. “The reality that you have one person in a car with three or four wasted seats is absolutely insane. So I’m very excited in the coming week to announce the launch of UberPool.” The service is set to launch at the end of [the] week.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY from the weekend to my dear friend former Speaker Will Weatherford, class acts Wayne Bertsch, Karen Cyphers, Trimmel Gomes, Evan Power, Angela Rouson, class clown Max Steele, as well as to Rodney Barreto. Celebrating today is great guy Darrick McGhee and Rich Bard.
