You've probably seen that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush may run for the U.S. senate seat fellow Republican Mel Martinez will vacate in 2010. Don't be fooled by talk of Bush fatigue. Jeb is urbane, articulate about policy, and very warm toward and popular among Hispanics - everything that the core of his party is not. His governorship is widely perceived as a success. If Jeb runs, he will win the Republican nomination without opposition. He will likely defeat whoever Florida's weak Democratic party throws up against him. However, I am not sure how well Jeb will function in the senate if he wins. In my brief experience of interviewing him, even before the CSX stuff, I found him to have a prickly, highly executive demeanor. And I think my experience dovetails with the conventional wisdom about him. Jeb seems to like being in charge. I wonder if he would become frustrated by the senate - and its co-equal coterie of egos. Anyway, I think any candidate who hopes to beat Jeb will need to attack the perceptions that he was successful as governor, a perception I personally don't think the evidence supports. I think Jeb's record allows him to be portrayed as the embodiment of corporate socialism, as a champion of the political and business cronyism that has wrecked this country. In that sense, he's vulnerable to critiques from the political left and right. Read the extended edition for some free advice on how to do that. Caveat emptor, of course:
It was just a little sticker on a glass door of a restaurant. The sticker displayed a view that is the antithesis of mine. It bothered me. I found myself thinking about it instead of enjoying my meal. It was on the front door, not my table. I bet a lot of people miss it when they enter. You would think I could just eat and forget about it. I couldn't.
Lorrie got busy with school, work, and other household-related matters, and she says she won't be able to finish answering my questions. That's fine. I want to make a couple of points in bringing this to a close.
I'm greatly indebted to Chuck for putting me onto Petra Norris' must-read local real estate blog. She has a great post up that includes a spreadsheet listing the decline in home value, as determined by actual sales. It's divided up by zip code. And while every Lakeland-area zip code has seen significant sale price declines, 33812 has seen 2007's average sold price of $250,299 crater to $162,200 in 2008. That's a 35 percent drop, if my math is correct. Holy moley.
Diana's Dresses - Dress For Humanity II display will be at The Lakeland Center Monday, Sept. 15 to December 26 (but not Thanksgiving or Christmas Day). The Lakeland Center has more information including time and price (this display "generates funds to assist the less fortunate" with The People's Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc.)
OK. I promise not to say anything too snarky or gratuitous today. It's all business. I want to address a key line of rhetorical attack that Ms. Healy and some of our friends and neighbors in the Winter Haven government and chamber and Orlando area have used throughout this saga. Here it is, distillled, in a quote from Ms. Healy's most recent column:
photo credit: racreations The Los Angeles City Council took a bold step July 22 when it voted to ban plastic shopping bags in grocery and retail stores by July 2010 if California fails to impose a 25-cent fee on every shopper who requests them. I support the ban- not the fee for shopping bags. Here in [...]
Bio: Billy Townsend was a longtime government, political and general assignment reporter in Polk County and the wider I-4 corridor. He wrote extensively about Polk's unique regional identity and the issues shaping it, including USF Polytechnic, the Heartland Parkway and the CSX rail deal. Billy recently left professional reporting to take a corporate writing job, but he keeps close tabs on news of all stripes (especially political news) and the changes in modern journalism. Billy's wife is Julie Townsend, executive director of the Downtown Lakeland Partnership.They live with their three children in the Lake Morton area. His work at Lakeland Local is his first as an amateur hyperlocal writer.