Funny item about Governor Crist

From Scott Maxwell’s Taking Names Blog…

 

Charlie Crist Hitting on Morgan Fairchild?

 

 

Hooray for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Indiana’s law requiring photo ID to cast a ballot was not unconstitutional but rather a valid method to prevent fraud.

Some excerpts from some of the online commentary today:

Photo Finish - Wall Street Journal Review & Outlook

…As Justice Antonin Scalia says in his concurring opinion, the Supreme Court is better off deferring to lawmakers and not getting wrapped up in the election law cases, which would only encourage more litigation. "It is for state legislatures to weigh the costs and benefits of possible changes to their election codes, and their judgment must prevail unless it imposes a severe and unjustified overall burden upon the right to vote, or is intended to disadvantage a particular class," writes Justice Scalia.

Voter ID laws don't discourage voting, but they do discourage fraud and increase voter confidence in the system. The Court's common sense ruling protects the public's belief that elections will be fair and honest.

A Victory Against Voter Fraud - John Fund

In ruling on the constitutionality of Indiana's voter ID law – the toughest in the nation – the Supreme Court had to deal with the claim that such laws demanded the strictest of scrutiny by courts, because they could disenfranchise voters. All nine Justices rejected that argument.

Even Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the three dissenters who would have overturned the Indiana law, wrote approvingly of the less severe ID laws of Georgia and Florida. The result is that state voter ID laws are now highly likely to pass constitutional muster.

But this case, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, also revealed a fundamental philosophical conflict between two perspectives rooted in the machine politics of Chicago. Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote the decision, grew up in Hyde Park, the city neighborhood where Sen. Barack Obama – the most vociferous Congressional critic of such laws – lives now. Both men have seen how the Daley machine has governed the city for so many years, with a mix of patronage, contract favoritism and, where necessary, voter fraud.

…[Senator Obama’s position in opposition to voter ID laws] is far removed from Mr. Obama's call for transcending the partisan divide. Then again, Mr. Obama's relationship to reform has always been tenuous. Jay Stewart, the executive director of the Chicago Better Government Association, notes that, while Mr. Obama supported ethics reforms as a state senator, he has "been noticeably silent on the issue of corruption here in his home state, including at this point, mostly Democratic."

So we have the irony of two liberal icons in sharp disagreement over yesterday's Supreme Court decision. Justice Stevens, the real reformer, believes voter ID laws are justified to prevent fraud. Barack Obama, the faux reformer, hauls out discredited rhetoric that they disenfranchise voters.

Michelle Malkin

The Supreme Court gives us more good news this morning: Indiana’s voter ID law has been upheld.

Half of the states have passed similar laws.

The race-mongers and open borders lobby will be in an uproar.

You may recall that the woman who challenged the voter ID law in Indiana was, um, fraudulently registered to vote in two states.

D’oh.

La Shawn Barber

…I’m pleased the court understands that no matter who you are, what color, or how old, you’re expected to be a responsible, law-abiding citizen reasonably intelligent enough to get yourself down to the local DMV and obtain a driver’s license or non-driver’s license ID before you can vote.

"Meetup" Group started by Seminole County Young Professional Republicans

Hi everyone - just wanted to let you know that the Seminole County Young Professional Republicans have started a group on Meetup.com.

For information on how to join, click here.

"Friend-Raiser" for Mike Horner

Mike Horner, who is endorsed by Next Generation Florida in the District 79 State Representative race, is having a "Friend-Raiser" event in St. Cloud.

St. Cloud "Friend-Raiser" for Mike Horner

Tuesday, May 20th, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Silver Lining Cafe

1031 New York Ave., St. Cloud

For more info, you can call Mike at 407-709-3087 or check out his campaign website at www.GoHorner.com.

Next Generation Florida is very proud to endorse Mike's candidacy and join a very long list of his enthusiastic supporters. We encourage everyone to come by Mike's Friend-Raiser event and get to know this great Republican leader.

More Successes for Eisnaugle

Eric Eisnaugle, who is endorsed by Next Generation Florida for the District 40 State Representative seat to replace term-limited State Representative Andy Gardiner, made two exciting announcements today.

First of all, Eric has earned his position on the ballot in the race by petition. Eric and his wife Carrie have been collecting petitions while walking door-to-door to meet voters, and over 40 volunteers helped them gather petitions at precincts during the Presidential Preference Primary on January 29th.

“I decided to qualify by petition for two reasons, to meet and to earn the support of the voters and to conserve the hard earned dollars of my supporters. We could have paid the filing fee instead, but I think it’s important to run a fiscally conservative campaign. As a legislator, I will be just as careful with the taxpayers’ dollars. Just because we have the money doesn’t mean we have to spend it,” said Eric.

“Qualifying by petition is hard work, but the effort was well worth it. We certainly could not have com­pleted the petition gathering process this early without the help of so many committed volunteers. Car­rie and I are both looking forward to working with this group of supporters throughout the rest of the campaign,” added Eric.

Second, Eric continues to hold a signifi­cant fundraising advantage, recently announcing that he has raised over $103,000 in the race so far. Eric said, “I am both encouraged and humbled by the amount of support that my campaign has received so far. I know that a great deal of responsibility goes with the faith and trust that so many have put in me, and I am excited about the opportunity to serve our community in the Florida House.”

We here at Next Generation Florida congratulate Eric Eisnaugle on these latest achievements. Eric has done a great job running a grassroots campaign, as shown by the strong support he has in our community. We are proud of the principled and ethical campaign that he has conducted, and look forward to seeing him elected in November. Eric is definitely a worthy successor to Andy Gardiner’s seat. We encourage all of you to support his candidacy in any way you can – whether that’s through a campaign donation, putting up a yard sign, helping Eric walk his district, or just telling your family, friends, and colleagues to vote for Eric.

Happy Earth Day...Hooray for Capitalism

As we celebrate Earth Day today, I thought it would be nice to consider the Republican perspective on environmentalism.  Michelle Malkin linked to an excellent article from the Heartland Institute on her website today, available at http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19737.  (Michelle Malkin’s comments on Earth Day available at http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/21/celebrate-earth-day-destroy-capitalism/).  

 

Some excerpts below:

…Contrary to the slogans of demonstrators throughout the world, the nations that have the best track records on environmental protection and improvement are those with the highest amount of free-market capitalism.

…Nations with the freest economic systems are the ones whose citizens can afford the luxury of protecting their environments. Conversely, persons living in command-and-control economies barely surviving on life's necessities of food, clothing, and shelter use their natural resources to the absolute limit. They have no other choice in providing for themselves and their families.

As family incomes rise, the improving quality of life allows people to devote more resources to solving environmental problems. Thus, with expanding societal wealth under free-market economies, environmental degradation is first arrested and then reversed. Society goes through a form of "environmental transition." After the transition, greater wealth and technology improve environmental quality instead of worsening it.

We are lucky in Central Florida because this is the time of year that we get some of our nicest weather, and today is no exception.  Why not celebrate Earth Day by getting outside and enjoying our beautiful natural Florida environment?  Have a great day, everyone.

 

- Sarah

Democrats Easily Seduced (Politically Speaking, of course)

Great article in the WSJ today that helps bring some optimism about the GOP’s chances in November.

 

John Fund, in an article titled “Obama’s Flaws Multiply,” summarizes Mr. Obama’s recent “miscues,” “misstatements,” and other “mistakes,” and points out a crucial difference in the Republican and Democrat philosophies towards selecting a nominee. 

All of this makes Democrats wonder if Mr. Obama is ready for prime time.

But they have themselves to blame for letting him get this far largely unexamined. While Republicans tend to nominate their best-known candidate from previous nomination battles (Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and now John McCain), Democrats often fall in love during a first date. They are then surprised when all the relatives don't think he's splendid.

Michael Dukakis had a healthy lead in 1988 against the elder Bush at this time and right through the political conventions. Then came the GOP's dissection of his Massachusetts record and his tank ride. Bill Clinton was able to win with only 43% of the vote in 1992, thanks in part to Ross Perot's presence as a spoiler. John Kerry had a six-point lead in the May 2004 Gallup poll over President Bush, then the wind-surfer crashed. All of those candidates had never run for national office before. Democrats paid a price for running a rookie.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120821921853714665.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

Petitions for Andy Gardiner

Hi everyone...please take a moment to check if you are in Andy Gardiner's State Senate District. He still needs about 1,000 petitions to get on the ballot. The phone numbers for the Supervisors of Elections and the petition form are available here.

Also, if you're in town this Saturday, Andy and his wife Camille have asked for volunteers to help walk the precinct to collect more signatures. See below.

Thanks everyone for your continued support of Andy Gardiner's campaign!