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Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics – September 24

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Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.

By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Mitch Perry, Ryan Ray, and Jim Rosica.

POPE FRANCIS’ FORAY INTO POLITICS CREATES DISCOMFORT FOR SOME REPUBLICANS via Alex Leary of the Tampa Bay Times

When … President Obama announced the diplomatic opening with Cuba … Marco Rubio blasted it as a “dangerous and desperate” attempt at legacy building and said it would enable “other tyrants” to rise up, making Americans “less safe.” But when Pope Francis landed in Cuba  … the Florida lawmaker and presidential candidate had a starkly different tone. “I pray the pope can use his moral authority to inspire true religious freedom, and bring us closer to the day when freedom can finally take root on the island country.”

Francis … has put Rubio and other Republicans in an uncomfortable posture on an array of issues … The first Latin-American pontiff has called for action on climate change, embraced the Iran nuclear deal and critiqued capitalism. He has said women who commit the “sin” of abortion can be forgiven and “if a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?”

Other Republicans, including Rubio and fellow Catholic and presidential contender Jeb Bush, have been forced to choose their words carefully as they suggest the pope should not get involved in politics … Francis is firmly against gay marriage and abortion and Senate Republicans used his visit to press for a vote on an abortion ban after 20 weeks. Democrats, who blocked the measure, are increasingly vulnerable as American views have trended more “pro-life.” At the White House, Pope Francis also pleased Republicans by calling for the protection of religious liberty, deeming it “one of America’s most precious possessions.” But he has chosen to highlight other issues.

— “Pope Francis won’t tread lightly on the issues that divide Washington” via Nora Kelly and Clare Foran of the National Journal

RUBIO CHOOSES WORDS CAREFULLY ABOUT POPE FRANCIS via Alex Leary of the Tampa Bay Times

Rubio was on Fox … illustrated the uncomfortable position Pope Francis has put some Republicans. On theological and moral issues, Rubio said, Francis is “infallible.” “That does not extend to political issues, like the economy. On economic issues, the pope is a person.”

JEB BUSH ATTENDS MASS WITH POPE FRANCIS via Kevin Robillard of POLITICO

The first pope from the Americas said his first mass on U.S. soil to canonize the first Hispanic-American saint … Bush attended the canonization mass … for Junipero Serra, an 18th-century missionary who brought Christianity to large swaths of Mexico and California. The Republican candidate’s presence went unremarked from the altar, as Bush and his wife blended into the crowd of thousands who attended the mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D.C.

The Bush campaign is clearly using the papal visit to woo Catholic voters … three former ambassadors to the Holy See were endorsing Bush … But the Catholic vote Jeb Bush is pursuing is much different than the one his father and brother sought. While there are still plenty of ethnic Irish and Italians in the Northeast and French Cajuns in Louisiana, Hispanic voters now make up one-third of the Catholic population in the United States … more and more now live in Texas and California.

LITTLE GIRL SHARES IMMIGRATION MESSAGE WITH POPE via Brian Witte of the Associated Press

A 5-year-old girl in a brilliantly colored dress and braids who was handed up to Pope Francis for a blessing during a parade in Washington … urged the pontiff to give his blessing to immigration reform and push lawmakers to act. Sophie Cruz, of South Gate, California, delivered a bright yellow T-shirt and a letter expressing wishes that her mother and father and millions of others who are in the U.S. illegally are allowed to remain in the country. Her trip was sponsored by an advocacy group.

“I’m scared that the ICE will take my family away,” Cruz told The Associated Press … referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sophie got beyond a barricade and approached the popemobile, carrying the T-shirt that read in Spanish: “Pope: rescue DAPA, so the legalization would be your blessing” … a program called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, which would extend deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for some years, but is on hold after 26 states sued to block it.

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— “How I’ll slash the regulation tax” via Jeb Bush for the Wall Street Journal

— “Jeb Bush has won the backing of two key Illinoisans: former Gov. Jim Edgar and U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger” via the Chicago Tribune

ASSIGNMENT EDITORSBush will travel to both Virginia and Kentucky to attend fundraisers for down ballot candidates. In Virginia, he will attend an event for the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus. In Kentucky, Bush will attend an event for the Republican Party of Kentucky. Both events are closed to the press. Later that evening, he will attend the East Cooper Republican Women’s Club Annual Shrimp Dinner in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. The event is at Alhambra Hall, 131 Middle Street, Mount Pleasant. Bush arrives at 6:50 p.m. ET.

POLL DU JOUR: A new national Bloomberg poll of the Democratic field: Clinton 33%, Joe Biden 25%, Bernie Sanders 24%.

‘DUMP TRUMP’ RALLY BAD SIGN FOR GOP via Zac Anderson of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The small group organizing a rally in downtown Bradenton … to protest Donald Trump’s heated rhetoric on immigration … Most are descended from Mexican immigrants. All are highly offended by how Trump has characterized their friends and family.

Bradenton resident Junior Salazar formed the new activist group last month and began planning the rally after watching Trump … clash with a Hispanic journalist and expel him from a press conference … The main emphasis of the gathering — dubbed by some as the “Dump Trump” rally — is voter registration, which could help Democrats because Hispanics typically lean Democratic.

Whatever the motivations of those involved in the rally, there is no doubt that many Hispanics feel deep antipathy toward Trump, and the event will be one of the more visible signs of that anger in Florida. It also could signal trouble for the Republican Party going forward. While it is not clear whether Trump is hurting the Republican brand overall among Hispanics, his comments have many in the GOP concerned. The party can’t afford to lose ground with one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnic groups in the country.

TWEET, TWEET: @FoxNews has been treating me very unfairly & I have therefore decided that I won’t be doing any more Fox shows for the foreseeable future.

SCOTT WALKER’S PRESIDENTIAL BID WAS THE SHORTEST IN AT LEAST TWO DECADES via Philip Bump of the Washington Post  

The complete and utter collapse of Scott Walker‘s presidential bid appears to bring to an end the shortest presidential campaign since at least 2000 … began with his announcement July 13 before a fancy backdrop and in front of an energetic crowd in Waukesha, Wis. It ended in Madison on Monday, in front of a drab background and with only a few reporters listening in. From start to end, the campaign lasted 70 days — a shorter campaign than even Rick Perry‘s, since Perry started earlier. Looking back at major candidate campaigns since 2000, 70 days appears to be the shortest, by at least a week. Jim Gilmore‘s 2008 bid lasted 79 days. Tim Pawlenty hung on for 83 days in 2012.

AND YOUR 2016 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE LOCATIONS ARE… via Corinne Grinapol of AdWeek

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced … sites that will host … three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, with the first taking place a little over a year from now on Sept. 26 at Wright State University in Dayton, OH. The remaining debates … A second presidential on Oct. 9, 2016 at Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO) … A third presidential debate on Oct. 19, 2016 at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV) … A vice presidential debate on Oct. 4, 2016 at Longwood University (Farmville, VA).

2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DETOUR FROM EARLY STATES TO HELP WITH 2015 ELECTIONS via Adam Wollner of the National Journal

Bush will con­tin­ue his mega-mil­lions, cross-coun­try fun­drais­ing tour Thursday in Ken­tucky and Vir­gin­ia. But this time, neither event is for his own pres­id­en­tial cam­paign … tak­ing a brief hi­atus from filling his own cof­fers to help raise money for Re­pub­lic­ans run­ning in the of­ten over­looked 2015 elec­tions, com­ing up in six weeks. By help­ing out with these im­port­ant loc­al con­tests this fall, Bush and oth­er can­did­ates are gar­ner­ing good­will among party lead­ers and donors in states that could play big roles in next year’s primaries—and, even fur­ther down the road, the 2016 gen­er­al elec­tion.

HOW ONE TV STATION IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL AD BONANZA via Scott Bland of the National Journal

There could be a prob­lem with WMUR’s de­cision to omit the rates from cam­paigns’ and su­per PACs’ ad con­tracts, though: Mul­tiple at­tor­neys said the sta­tion’s move could skirt fed­er­al law re­quir­ing dis­clos­ure of those rates. TV sta­tions “must main­tain, and make avail­able for pub­lic in­spec­tion, a com­plete re­cord of a re­quest to pur­chase broad­cast time’ by can­did­ates and polit­ic­al groups, ac­cord­ing to Title 47 of the U.S. Code. That in­cludes ‘the rate charged for the broad­cast time,” which WMUR’s pos­ted con­tracts clearly omit. Why does it matter? Obscuring the rates keeps advertisers from knowing what their competit­ors are set to pay for the same ad slots.

“They may be try­ing some elab­or­ate [ar­gu­ment], … like we haven’t de­cided on the prices for in­di­vidu­al spots or something like that, but I think they can’t do that,” said Andy Schwartzman, a Geor­getown Law School pro­fess­or who has worked on polit­ic­al broad­cast­ing is­sues for dec­ades.

However, Schwartz­man and oth­ers ac­know­ledged gray areas with­in the reg­u­la­tion, partly be­cause the Fed­er­al Com­mu­nic­a­tions Com­mis­sion does not ap­pear to have in­vest­ig­ated an is­sue like this be­fore. That means there is no pre­ced­ent for how the FCC ap­plies the stat­ute.

YOUR NEXT PRESIDENT COULD LOOK AS OLD AS THIS BY 2025 via James Call of the Tallahassee Democrat

What would the current crop of presidential hopefuls look like after serving two terms in the most powerful office in the world? By 2025, Sen. Marco Rubio would look like a heavy-set man with graying hair but still sporting a boyish grin. Jeb Bush would emerge looking younger than his brother, George, but a bit grayer than his father did … a President John Kasich shows … longer hair and resembling the actor George Segal. That’s the way an artist is depicting the would-be presidents after they’ve spent two terms in the most stressful job on the planet.  Sachs Media Group … commissioned Phojoe, a photo manipulation company, to use age-progression technology on photos of 11 Republican presidential candidates, the two leading Democratic candidates and potential candidate Vice President (JoeBiden.

ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMES OUT AGAINST FLA GOP’S PROPOSED BALLOT ACCESS RULE via Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times

The Florida GOP’s efforts to strong arm their presidential candidates to attend the party chairman’s candidate forum in November does not sit well with one of the Republican frontrunners. “This rule is an attempt by the establishment to dictate our campaign schedule. That is a bit much,” said Ed Brookover, a senior strategist with the Ben Carson campaign. “We’re not in favor of this rule.”

The comment from the Carson campaign came a day after the Jeb Bush campaign also publicly opposed the proposal … expected to be adopted by about three dozen state GOP leaders on a conference call Friday. For Bush there may be a bit of a perception problem: Party officials working out of the George W. Bush Republican Center in Tallahassee potentially keep rivals to Jeb Bush off the ballot for a primary that would likely end Bush’s candidacy if he lost.

EXCLUSIVE OP-ED — BLAISE INGOGLIA: WHY BALLOT ACCESS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED Read online here

MY TAKE: WHY CANDIDATES SHOULDN’T GET THEIR PANTIES IN A WAD OVER FLORIDA GOP’S REQUIREMENT THEY ATTEND SUNSHINE SUMMIT via Florida Politics

If you go by the media attention … to the Florida GOP’s proposed requirement that presidential candidates submit paperwork to run in Florida’s primary at November’s Sunshine State Summit, one might think Chairman Blaise Ingoglia is asking them to co-sign on a mortgage.

Everyone, including Bush and Carson — who both recently spoke out in opposition to the proposal — needs to calm down. What the Florida GOP is asking candidates to do — show up in the Sunshine State to submit their paperwork — is much less than what some other states ask of candidates.

(The) barrier of entry to South Carolina’s ballot … is $40,000. In Arkansas, it costs a candidate $25,000 to get on the ballot. In Virginia, candidates must collect 200 candidate petitions from each of its 10 congressional districts …  all Florida is requiring is a round-trip flight to Orlando. Is that really too much to ask?

PATRICK MURPHY RIPS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOE ALAN GRAYSON OVER CRIPS AND BLOODS COMMENT via George Bennett of the Palm Beach Post

Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy‘s Senate campaign accused primary rival Rep. Alan Grayson of using language offensive to blacks when he compared the Democratic Party to “some kind of gang, like Crips or the Bloods.

Rep. Alcee Hastings … and two other black supporters of Murphy’s campaign — state Rep. Larry Lee and Volusia County Councilwoman Joyce Cusack — slammed Grayson … “Some things must never be politicized,” Hastings said. “The gang violence that has torn apart communities for too long has affected countless people across our country. The Democratic Party must always reject this kind of language, and I call on Mr. Grayson to apologize.”

Grayson isn’t apologizing … accused the Murphy camp of “feigning offense” at a remark that shows Grayson will “fight for the middle class.”

JUDGE WILL TRY TO SORT OUT STATE’S POLITICAL MESS via Gary Fineout of the Associated Press

Judge Terry Lewis … will preside over a trial where he will consider seven different maps that would each alter the state’s political landscape …  recommend one of the proposals to the state Supreme Court for final approval.

“I would really like to see resolution,” said Sen. Galvano … who was in charge of the last round of redistricting for the Senate. “I want a constitutional map and one that the Supreme Court will sign off on.”

During the trial Lewis is expected to hear from legislators, legislative staff and others involved in drawing up the different proposals. The Senate offered up two versions, while the House filed the same map that chamber voted for last month. The groups that sued the Legislature have given the judge four different maps.

POLL: JACK LATVALA 48%, JEFF BRANDES 23%, BUT…

Although it may never come to pass, a redrawn Senate District 20 that would have Pinellas County Republicans Jack Latvala and Jeff Brandes competing against each other shows that Latvala would come out on top, and it wouldn’t be close.

The St. Pete Poll survey shows that Latvala would defeat Brandes in a primary, 48-23 percent. Nearly a third of all voters, or 29 percent, are undecided.

However, the poll also shows that Brandes is more popular with Republicans across all of Pinellas County, getting 40 percent support to Latvala’s 33 percent, with 27 percent undecided.

In other words, this poll has something for both Latvala supporters and Brandes supporters.

Latvala’s side can argue that the longtime senator still owns north Pinellas, probably even more than Brandes’ camp would like to admit.

However, Brandes’ proponents can argue that among Republicans that know both Brandes and Latvala, the St. Petersburg Republican is competitive. And with enough money — which Brandes’ camp certainly has — anything is possible.

Then again, the biggest doubter of this poll may be Latvala himself, who took to Twitter Tuesday night to cast doubt on the poll’s methodology.

Undoubtedly, the poll comes with multiple caveats, with the largest being that all of the current Senate districts will soon be redrawn. The Florida Legislature has scheduled a special session for later next month to do so.

DWIGHT DUDLEY LEADING DARRYL ROUSON IN POTENTIAL DEMOCRATIC SD 22 PRIMARY CONTEST via Mitch Perry of Florida Politics

When the Florida Legislature begins redrawing up all 40 state Senate districts in their next scheduled special session (October 26-November 6), the Senate District 22 seat is expected to change dramatically and become much more Democratic Party friendly. If that scenario plays out, current GOP incumbent Jeff Brandes is expected to bail out of that race and find another Pinellas County seat to run in.

So who might run in the newly formed SD 22 seat … A new survey by St. Pete Polls …  plays with the idea of … Darryl Rouson and Dwight Dudley competing against each other. In that matchup, Dudley would best Rouson, 41-26 percent, with 33 percent undecided.

Currently the SD 22 seat … is 36% Republican, 34% Democrat, and 30% NPA. The newly drawn-up Senate District 22 would be 40% Democrat, 32% Republican, and 29% NPA.

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FEMA REJECTS RICK SCOTT’S APPEAL FOR FEDERAL DISASTER DECLARATION via Jeremy Wallace of the Tampa Bay Times

For the second time in a month, the federal government has rejected … Scott’s plea for a disaster declaration for flooding that swamped the Tampa Bay region in late July and early August. Scott was already turned down for a disaster declaration on Sept. 3, but appealed the decision a week later to Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator W. Craig Fugate, who advises President Barack Obama on disaster declaration … what Scott got back … was the same answer he received earlier: no.

“After a thorough review of all the information contained in your initial request and appeal, we reaffirm our original findings that the damage from this event is not of such severity and magnitude that warrants a major disaster declaration,” Fugate said in a letter.

SCOTT VISITS PAPA JOHN’S HEADQUARTERS via Christina Mora of WLKY

Scott continued his tour of Kentucky with a visit to Papa Johns headquarters in Louisville … recruiting people and businesses to move to Florida, touting better jobs, taxes and education. And while John Schnatter said Papa John’s headquarters isn’t going anywhere, he does understand the allure of the Sunshine State … Scott toured Papa John’s headquarters Wednesday and spoke with … Schnatter, whom he’s known for 20 years. Schnatter said his headquarters is staying put, but with nearly 300 stores and a distribution center in Florida, he understands the appeal.

“Florida is much friendlier. When it comes to business in Kentucky, Florida is definitely much more pro-business, but we got an election coming up and hopefully we will rectify that … You got high taxes, you got a lot of litigation, you got overspending and you got a lot of regulation. It’s not business friendly.”

ASSIGNMENT EDITORS: Scott will highlight job growth at a press conference starting 10:30 a.m. CST at Fort Walton Machining, 43 Jet Drive NW in Fort Walton Beach. Later, the governor will announce new jobs at a 1:45 p.m. CST press conference at Bay State Cable Ties, 5680 John Givens Road in Crestview.

ANTI-RAIL GROUP SLAMS FEDERAL STUDY OF ALL ABOARD FLORIDA via Ryan Ray of Florida Politics

A representative of Citizens Against Rail Expansion in Florida, or CARE FL, denounced a new federal report on the likely environmental impact of proposed construction to implement All Aboard Florida, a private passenger transit system which aims to connect Orlando and Miami via train.

CARE FL Treasurer Brent Hanlon said on Wednesday a recent report by the Federal Railway Administration – which by and large gives the rail project the a-okay – “isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”

“It never straightforwardly addresses the real concerns voiced by citizens from the impacted communities – concerns over the chosen route, public safety, the ability to use the navigable waterways, unimpeded access to health care facilities, and the overall negative impact of the project on our quality of life,” said Hanlon in a release.

Hanlon went so far as to say backers of the project improperly leaned on regulators who analyzed the project. “The correspondence between the FRA and AAF shown in CARE’s comments demonstrates that AAF aggressively intervened with the regulatory agency in an overbearing way,” he inveighed.

THAD ALTMAN SEEKING STRICTER RULES ON TEXTING WHILE DRIVING via Florida Politics

Altman filed a bill … that would allow Florida law enforcement to pull drivers over solely for texting while driving. Under current law officers may only cite drivers for doing so as a secondary offense, not warranting a traffic stop on its own. Altman’s one-page proposal – SB 328 – would simply delete language currently on the books.

JACK LATVALA SEEKS TO OPEN UP VISION CARE MARKET via Florida Politics

Latvala waded into the fraught world of vision care …  just-filed SB 340 is a move … designed to prevent the concentration of too much control by insurers over access to eye and vision care. The bill would prevent health insurance providers from forcing either ophthalmologists or optometrists – perennial foes in legislative food fights who are both likely to ally with Latvala on this issue – from joining a network solely for the purpose of credentialing the licensee for another vision network.

That would spare vision care providers the expense and limitations that go along with joining a given insurance network. The bill explicitly states that insurers can still contract with other vision care plans, but that they may not collude to restrict vision care providers from accessing specific suppliers or laboratories.

DENNIS BAXLEY SELF-DEFENSE ENHANCEMENT BILL GETS SENATE COMPANION via Ryan Ray of Florida Politics

Sen. Rob Bradley stepped forward on Wednesday and sponsored the Senate companion bill to a proposal by Rep. Dennis Baxley, father of the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.

Bradley – an Orange Park Republican and former state prosecutor – lent his name to Baxley’s cause of tweaking state law to boost the legal standing of defendants who claim they acted in self-defense while using or threatening to use deadly force in a dispute.

The identical proposals – HB 169 in the House and SB 344 in the upper chamber – shift the legal burden of proof away from the person employing a self-defense claim in court, as current law provides, onto “the party seeking to overcome the immunity from criminal prosecution,” according to the bill’s language.

In other words, should measure become law, courts would presume anyone who claims to have shot or threatened to shoot another out of self-defense did so properly. The state — or those on the receiving end of such force or threats thereof — would face significant legal barriers in overturning that presumption.

JEFF BRANDES WANTS CENTRALIZED STATE CAR FLEET via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics

The chair of the Senate’s Transportation Committee has filed legislation to create a central fleet management system for the state’s nearly 25,000 vehicles … Brandes … filed the bill (SB 326), which includes an option to privatize management of the state’s fleet if it can be shown it would save taxpayer money. Florida’s fleet, one of the largest among the states, costs $214 million per year to operate, according to a December 2013 report by Mercury Associates … The report urged Florida to move toward “a newer, smaller fleet” and to consolidate maintenance facilities across the state.

The bill calls for the Department of Management Services to come up with a plan “regarding the creation, administration, and maintenance of a centralized fleet of state-owned motor vehicles” by next November … “determining when it would be cost-efficient to use alternative fuels, or to lease or purchase alternative-energy motor vehicles for fleet use.”

POLICY NOTES via Legislative IQ powered by Lobby Tools

MARTIN COUNTY DELEGATION HOSTS PUBLIC HEARING  

The Martin County legislative delegation holds a public hearing in preparation for the 2016 Legislative Session. Meeting starts 9 a.m. in the Martin County Commission chambers, 2401 S.E. Monterey Road, in Stuart.

DUVAL COUNTY DELEGATION HOSTS PUBLIC HEARING 

The Duval County legislative delegation holds a public hearing on local issues ahead of the 2016 Legislative Session. Meeting starts 1 p.m. at the Jacksonville City Hall, 117 West Duval St. in Jacksonville.

LAWMAKERS MEET WITH SARASOTA GOP CLUB

Republican state Sen. Nancy Detert, and state Reps. Julio Gonzalez of Venice and Jim Boyd of Bradenton will speak at the Sarasota Republican Club. Meeting begins 6 p.m. in the Marina Jack Restaurant, 2 Marina Plaza in Sarasota.

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CONTEXT FLORIDA: PRIMARY POWER, SALES JOBS, DECOUPLING AND TRAFFIC

On Context Florida: William Steiger says the aging of the sales workforce could create a glut of open sales positions in the next five years. As sales workers retire at an increasing rate, sales companies are under pressure to play catch-up. Companies will need millennials to fill the gap, but there are varying opinions on whether they can or will fill that sales void. Rick Scott has certainly been proactive when it comes to crisscrossing the globe in his efforts to relocate businesses and resulting jobs to Florida, writes Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association President Bill White. But because millions of taxpayer dollars are spent annually to lure various corporations to the Sunshine State through agencies such as Enterprise Florida,  it’s hard to fathom why our elected officials are entertaining the ill-advised notion of “decoupling” slot machines from horse racing, a lucrative industry that takes no public funding. According to architect Timothy Hullihan, the proposed State Road 7 extension in Palm Beach County north to Northlake Boulevard has sparked many stories and much debate. The debate pits residents in the rural northwest against a gated golf community, so the demographic polarization keeps the discussion lively and interesting.

Visit Context Florida to dig in.

FSU FANS TO FLY “KEEP AL GOLDEN” BANNER OVER MIAMI GAME via Kyle Munzenrieder of the Miami New Times

Despite Al Golden and his Miami Hurricanes starting the season with an undefeated record, fans have frequently seen banners flying over the stadium urging the firing of Golden. There were at least three sailing over Saturday’s Nebraska game, with one urging the school to hurry up and can Golden because flying the banners was getting expensive … The effort has been met with confusion and befuddlement from fans of other teams and irritation by some Hurricane fans. FSU fans, however, are getting a big kick out of it … that there was a burgeoning effort set up on GoFundMe to fly a “Keep Al Golden” banner over October’s Miami-FSU game in Tallahassee … two days later, Seminole fans have fully funded it.

WHAT’S HOT FOR HALLOWEEN? TURTLES, WALKING DEAD, SUPERHEROES via Joyce Rosenberg of the Associated Press

Expect to see a lot of Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael this Halloween … Some of the most popular costumes are expected to be based on the reptilian superheroes after the 2014 release of the film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” … Girls are expected to choose costumes based on the Disney TV movie, “The Descendants,” the story of the children of Disney characters such as Cruella De Vil and Cinderella … Adult costumes and accessories based on TV shows like “The Walking Dead” and “Orange Is the New Black” are expected to sell well. Costumes based on superheroes like the Avengers or Batman should also be brisk sellers … And as usual, corsets and skimpy outfits for women are likely to attract a lot of partygoers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Akerman Senterfitt’s Joe Gibbons.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.

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