Kevin White Indicted

Former Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White has been indicted. White accepted bribes of $10,000 in cash, steak dinners and a 2003 Lincoln Navigator. White received 10 charges, including bribery and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

George Hondrellis was indicted for paying bribes to White. Hondrellis used the bribes to White to secure a spot for his towing company in the rotation. White was the chairman of the Public Transportation Commissioner at the time. Hondrellis also bribed White's father with money and the Lincoln Navigator.

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DiMaio Lawsuit Thrown Out

The lawsuit against the DNC by Victor DiMaio has was thrown out of Tampa federal court by Judge Richard Lazzara.

"The Supreme Court has consistently recognized that national political parties have a constitutionally protected right to manage and conduct their own internal affairs, including the enforcement of delegate-selection rules and the decision as to which state delegates it will recognize … ."

The ruling is not surprising. The courts don't want to deal with intra-party issues. Lazzara told DiMaio, in his ruling, "the party's national convention, and not a court, is the proper forum for determining this intra-party dispute with regard to the seating of the State of Florida's delegates." That doesn't deal with the issue of the DNC has no intention of allowing Florida Democrats to seat delegates at the convention. Suing the DNC isn't going to win them over, either.

This is a novel idea for the Florida Democratic Party. How about admitting they were wrong about going along with Republicans to move up the primary. Humility and less grandstanding is called for. With Bush's and the GOP's unpopularity. The DNC knows they can win the general election without Florida. A map I have seen of Hillary vs. Romney shows her easily beating him. Romney still picked up Florida. Even under the best conditions Florida is tough to pick up for a Democratic presidential candidate. The reason is because the Florida Democratic Party can't win anything. Former FDP Chairman Scott Maddox's claim to fame was getting office space and computers.

Howard Dean was able to effectively use to 50 state strategy. The idea is to be competative everywhere. If Democrats don't win red districts they make Republicans spend money they could have used elsewhere. Florida Democrats haven't figured out what to do with the Panhandle. They're incompetence hurts a Democratic presidential candidate. The DNC will bend over backward for California. The state is a huge source of the party's fundraising and 55 college electorial votes. Florida is home of the recount and two Jeb Bush terms. If the Florida Democratic Party wants to be taken seriously, they should spend less time worrying about having an early primary and start winning state races.

More Florida Primary Fun

Political consultant Victor DiMaio and attorney Michael Steinberg have named the Democratic National Committee and the Florida Democratic Party as defendants in a lawsuit. Both are registered Democrats. They have asked the U.S. District Court in Tampa if it is legal for Florida delegates to be disenfranchised from the Democratic National Convention.

"Personally, my greatest fear is we end up with no delegates at the convention," DiMaio said during a news conference. "We have no say in determining who's going to be the next Democratic candidate for president."

The Democratic nominee will probably assert his or her influence on Howard Dean. It is unlikely that the DNC will say no to the possible future President. However, I have learned never to bet against Florida fucking up an election.

Steinberg wants to court to come to a decision before the deadline. It's unlikely a judge will rush a decision that has national consequences.

Florida House Minority Leader Dan Gelber wrote this letter to Howard Dan.

Today, toe-tapping Republicans with their excesses and over-reaching, are imploding on the national stage. Leave it to Democrats to create a distraction born out of a nuanced disagreement over some arcane party rule. The truth is our disagreement today isn't about some principled belief as the primary schedule is hardly premised on some inviolate notion of fairness. On all things important – protecting public education, providing quality health care, defending the middle class – we are in lock step. So let's try to avoid creating another "ooops I did it again" moment, and focus on positioning our party for a 2008 victory. You can be certain that the Republicans view our flare-up as a welcomed opportunity to gain an Election Day advantage. We should all be cognizant of that, and make sure, whatever we do and say, that winning in November remain our priority.

Two things:

1. I'm sure the Republicans want the Democrats to implode in Florida.

2. I'm not certainly that Florida will lean Democrat in 2008. Bill Nelson and Alex Sink are the only Democrats whom won statewide races. Nelson beat Katherine Harris. He would have been unemployed if Jeb Bush or Charlie Crist ran as his opponent.