How this right-wing nut came to vote for Romney

I voted for Mitt Romney last week during early voting. To be completely honest, if you had told me that I would vote for Romney last year, I would have laughed at you. It took me a long time to make that decision, and I did not make the decision lightly.

I also spent some time debating about how publicly I was willing to discuss my vote. Considering that one of the major services I provide for my political clients is paying attention to what teh internets are saying, I'm well aware that Romney is not popular in certain circles. However, there are a number of points I'd like to share.

No, there isn't a Romney Conspiracy against Allen West

There's a quote oft attributed to Mark Twain, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes."

In the past few days, we could say that a lie can travel across twitter the same way.

Mathematical breakdown behind Gingrich's troubles in Florida

Want to know why Newt Gingrich's campaign is falling apart in Florida? Here are the numbers that tell the story:

The Sayfie Review conducted a survey of likely Republican voters on January 27, 2012 (the day after the CNN debate in Jacksonville), and got some interesting numbers.

Jason Chaffetz: Rimshots, Romney, & Doing What's Right

After last Thursday's CNN debate in Jacksonville, I caught up with Jason Chaffetz, Republican Congressman from Utah's 3rd District, in the spin room. Here's a video of the interview:

Rick Scott & Pam Bondi at Gasparilla

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this election season has gotten a little too intense and stressful from time to time. Here's a fun interview I thought you might enjoy...

Scott Plakon, the Lucky Charm Legislator

They put athletes on Wheaties boxes. Maybe they
should replace the leprechaun with Scott Plakon?

There's being in the right place at the right time, and then there's Florida State Representative Scott Plakon.

Plakon seems to be a lucky charm for presidential candidates: within 24 hours of his endorsement, things start going well for that candidate - very well.

Marco Rubio delivers Weekly Republican Address: America is a nation where "anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything"

My Senator, Marco Rubio, delivered this week's Weekly Republican Address. The video and transcript are below:

#CNNdebate: River City Rumble!

Press filing room at the UNF student union.

Welcome to the #RiverCityRumble! (Credit for that hashtag goes to @AbelHarding, I believe.)

I'm here in the press filing room at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, getting ready to watch the latest Republican mud wrestling match debate, which will air on CNN starting at 8 pm.

You can follow my commentary at my twitter feed (@rumpfshaker) and I was also invited to live blog the debate for Sulia.com. Follow along at this address:

http://www.sulia.com/channel/gop-primaries-2012/

If you want just my feed, click here.

Yet another blatantly false liberal media attack on Marco Rubio

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

~ Winston Churchill

Churchill never had the opportunity to meet Marco Rubio, but I believe he would have felt a kinship with my Senator. Today, Reuters joined the unholy alliance of jokers and schemers who have been engaged in a vicious quest to smear the name of Marco Rubio in the eyes of the American public, and specifically in the Hispanic community. 

Almost lobbying but not quite?

Newt Gingrich has tossed out a lot of carefully chosen words lately regarding his work with Freddie Mac. First he was a historian, then a consultant, and now he's engaged in a kerfuffle with Mitt Romney about whether or not he was a lobbyist for them.

I endorse Eric Lasso for Orange County Commissioner

A friend of mine from college, Eric Lasso, announced today that he is running for the District 3 Seat on the Orange County Commission. I enthusiastically endorse Eric without reservation, and encourage you to check him out and consider supporting him as well.

Novel idea: Florida primary analyzed by actual Floridians!

You may have heard that we are having a little election here in Florida next week.

Interesting, after many of the talking heads insisted that we had doomed ourselves to irrelevance by losing half of our delegates for moving our primary date to January 31, we find ourselves basking in the warm glow of a national media spotlight, as everyone now seems to be in agreement that the Florida election is a pretty big deal.

This is not a recap of the State of The Union

So, last night we went through the annual circus known as the State of the Union (SOTU) address. Meh. I readily admit that I am viewing these speeches through a very partisan lens, but wow, it was painful to sit through that.

I'm honestly not very interested in writing a play-by-play recap of the speech, so consider this your non-recap recap. Hey, if Sarah Palin can give a non-endorsement endorsement, then I can do a non-recap recap, right? We've got lots of links, some videos, a generous serving of Marco Rubio (I know what y'all like)...

Florida: "All your primary are belong to us"

Now the REAL battle begins.

Here's the score so far...

Mitt Romney (Oops, just kidding!) Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucuses,

Romney won the New Hampshire primary, and...

Newt Gingrich won in South Carolina last night. (Final tally: Gingrich 41%, Romney 27%, Santorum 17%, Paul 13%.)

Some tweets from last night's results that I found interesting:

Some thoughts on last night's television

Lots of excitement on TV last night: Leonard and Penny might be getting back together, a great series of completely-immature-yet-still-hilarious double entendres from Sheldon, and a funny gag involving a life-size cardboard cutout of Zachary Quinto.

Oh, what's that? You came to Sunshine State Sarah for something other than a recap of Big Bang Theory's 100th episode? Heh. OK, fine. There was also some political stuff on last night too. Here's my thoughts...

BREAKING: Rick Perry dropping out of race; endorsing Newt Gingrich

Fox News just announced that Governor Rick Perry will announce today that he is dropping out of the presidential race, and that he will endorse Newt Gingrich.

Walt Disney World, The Place Where Dreams Come True...Unless Obama is in Town

President Barack Obama is visiting us here in Orlando today, to give a speech "unveiling a strategy that will significantly boost tourism and travel" and "aid job growth." Apparently the strategy includes a series of executive orders that will not require Congressional approval.

Rubio Announces He Is Withdrawing Support of PIPA

Senator Marco Rubio issued a press release this morning, announcing that he was withdrawing his support of the Protect IP Act (from his Facebook page):

Sarah Palin sorta-kinda-almost endorses Newt [VIDEO]

Tonight on Hannity, Sarah Palin gave the Newt Gingrich campaign one heckuva sound bite. After praising his performance at last night's debate ("I do think that Newt is the one that won the debate"), Palin danced on the edge of an endorsement:

Florida Bloggers in the News

Lots of exciting developments for some of your conservative Floridian bloggers...

Packed House for Plakon

Last Thursday evening, we had an amazing crowd for State Representative Scott Plakon's campaign kickoff. Over 250 people crowded into the clubhouse at the Alaqua Country Club - I had to park two blocks away. Plakon is clearly very popular here in Central Florida.

Photo by Bob Moylan

We had a little entertainment, courtesy of John "For The People" Morgan, who stopped by near the end of the event, but mainly, it was a wonderful chance to catch up with some great local conservatives and business leaders before the new legislative session starts.

On the note of session starting...

Hypocrisy: (noun) From the Greek term for "Senate Democrats"

Today, President Obama appointed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) while the Senate was in pro forma session. The CFPB is an unaccountable bureaucratic nightmare that was birthed from the Dodd-Frank bill, and Republicans are rightfully criticizing this latest abuse of power by the Obama Administration. 

The criticism of this appointment is warranted for several reasons:

Dear RNC, More of This, Please [VIDEO]

I'm glad to see that the RNC is coming out swinging against Barack Obama now. Here's their latest web ad:

Come Support Scott Plakon on Thursday

State Representative Scott Plakon is kicking off his re-election campaign this Thursday, January 5th. Contributions in any amount are welcome. 

Hope you can join us. Here's a message from Representative Plakon and a link to the invitation with all the details: