Mitch Perry Interviews Nan Rich

Creative Loafing political reporter Mitch Perry interviewed gubernatorial candidate Nan Rich at the Hillsborough County GLBTA Democratic Caucus. Rich reminded Perry and LGBT activists of her differences with Charlie Crist.

Gun Control

Rich brags about her F rating on gun control with the the NRA. Rich notes that Crist had an A rating by the NRA.

Gay Rights

Rich points out that she has been a long-time supporter of gay rights. Crist supported the gaya adoption ban in 2009.

I'm sure he's changed his opinion now, but you have to stand on some foundation. You can't just change 180 degrees."

Rich pointed to this gem from 2008. Crist told CNN that Sarah Palin is more qualified than Barack Obama.

“I think she’d do a great job,” Crist said. “Realize that she really is the only executive that’s running, the only one that has been the head of a government in Alaska, she’s held an exeutive position as a mayor, an executive position as a governor, made those kinds of decisions.”

“Hey I think she’s ready,” Crist concluded.

Ouch.

David McKalip Implodes

David McKalip has a zero political IQ. Anyone with half a brain knows you don't run for political office and attack Peter Schorsch. At least not without expecting Schorsch to come after your campaign. Schorsch fired off this tweet.

The story in which Dr. David mckalip refers to me as a "political terrorist" via clmitchperry. cltampa.com/dailyloaf/arch… sayfie

Creative Loafing political reporter Mitch Perry blogged about Schorsch asking McKalip about the Obama witch doctor email he sent out. McKalip flipped out at the Suscoast Tiger Bay forum.

"Of course I wouldn't send that e-mail. I apologized for sending that e-mail ... it was offensive," McKalip said.

McKalip then aggressively turned the question around, saying that his fight. to stop 'Obamacare' resulted in people trying to suppress free speech. He doubled down on his comments to Beau Zimmer of WTSP-TV, saying he wasn't going to tolerate "political terrorists" who in his opinion are just shills for big government and want to intimidate everyone else into silence.

Schorsch later responded that "As evidenced by the tone of his campaign, Dr. McKalip has obviously

Schorsch's question about the racially insensitive witch doctor picture that McKalip sent out was perfectly reasonable. McKalip is running for St. Petersburg City Council. McKalip seemed shocked that Schorsch would dare ask him such a question. The question is certainly fair after McKalip's campaign manager made a joke online about President Obama being killed.

Nick Finzer, McKalip's campaign manager, wrote a comment on WTSP's website that said, "I think I'd like to see Obama run down by a bull. Except that would make Biden President."

No serious candidate would have a meltdown after being asked about his most controversial political moment. No candidate with any real skill would hire a campaign manager stupid enough to joke about the death of the President. David McKalip isn't a serious candidate. He is a racist tea party lunatic.

Tampa Mayor Debate

Creative Loafing will be hosting a debate for candidates running for Mayor of Tampa. Mitch Perry will be the moderator and the candidates appearing are Bob Buckhorn, Rose Ferlita, Dick Greco, Arthur Richardson, Tom Scott and Ed Turanchik. The first half of the debate will be Perry fielding the candidates questions. The second half will be questions from the audience.

You will have to reserve a seat in order to attend the debate. What is interesting is calls for seats are screened by Perry. On a certain level: it is understandable why Perry wouldn't want Tea Partiers yelling at the candidates and slamming on the doors of the Creative Loafing offices. My question is why hold the debate at Creative Loafing. Why not move the debate to the USF campus. Creative Loafing would have a bigger venue and security.

My fear is Perry is going to ask softball questions and fill the audience with influential Tampa residents. We shall see.

Time
Thursday, February 10 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Location CL Space
1911 N. 13th St. Ste. W200 (above Spaghetti Warehouse in Ybor Square)
Tampa, FL

Meek and Greene Set to Debate

Creative Loafing's Mitch Perry wrote that Kendrick Meek needed to debate his Democratic rivals to gain media traction. Apparently, someone got that message to Meek. On June 22, Meek and Jeff Greene will hold a television debate in the West Palm Beach market.

Greene has started too late and has too much weird baggage to win the Democratic nomination. He is a former Republican recently turned Democrat. That didn't work so well for Arlen Specter. Owning a 145-foot yacht and five mansions isn't going to endear Greene to the Democratic base. It is hard to imagine Greene having friends Heidi Fleiss and Mike Tyson stump for him on the campaign trail. Although, it would certainly be entertaining.

Meek needs to get on television and make himself known to Florida voters. For too long, Meek and run a safe and boring campaign. The result is it put the media to sleep why the Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist showdown was going on. The risk is Greene could win the debate. Meek will lose the election if he doesn't start getting bold. The debate is a good first step.

Mitch Perry on No Talk Radio

No Talk Radio interviews Mitch Perry about his new job as Creative Loafing political reporter. Alison Morano, Panelists Susan Smith and Michael Shaw talk about the President Obama's Joint Session of Congress speech.

Creative Loafing Hires Mitch Perry

Creative Loafing has hired Mitch Perry, assistant news director, to replaced departed pllitical editor Wayne Garcia. Perry is an excellent hire for Creative Loafing.

"I've always wanted to do print -- it's kind of an exciting move for me," said Perry, who expects to write a weekly column, edit community bloggers who contribute to Creative Loafing's Web site, moderate podcasts and write larger feature stories. "I had a couple of sleepless nights after the decision -- I was ready for a change, but when the time came, it was tough to do -- but now I'm psyched."

Perry will quit WMNF to work full-time at Creative Loafing. Perry has written blog posts at CL. Perry help revitalize WMNF's news department. His organization skills are greatly needed as CL attempts to become an internet-based content provider. I am curious if Perry will take CL's political coverage into a more progressive direction. Creative Loafing's problem is Stephen Hammill, online producer, has told in-house bloggers that quantity (of traffic) is more important than quality. This has resulted in posts with nude celebrity photos and other cheesy content. Making CL into a softcore porn sex site is not the business model for a successful alt-weekly. People can get real porn on the internet. Creative Loafing needs to go back to the investigative journalism and sense of fun that was the John Sugg era.

I wish Perry luck at his new job.

Update: the Perry quote was reported by St. Petersburg Times media columnist Eric Deggans. The reporting on Creative Loafing web editor Stephen Hammill was done my me. Sources have told me Hammill has become obsessed with web traffic.