Bill McCollum: Trump's comments about judge a 'stupid thing to say'

via @learyreports

Bill McCollum says Donald Trump’s comment about the Mexican heritage of a federal judge was a “stupid thing to say,” but McCollum isn’t sure it’s racist, as Jeb Bush and other Republicans say.

“I don’t know,” the former Florida attorney general said in an interview.

“Let’s put it this way, it gave the appearance of impropriety. Was it racist? It could be interpreted that way. Certainly it could be. Donald Trump is such an enigma and a personality unto himself that I can’t read into what his intents are. I’m not a psychologist.

“If I were wearing my lawyer hat, I’d say if he thought it disqualified the judge in some way because of (Trump’s) position on the wall or immigration or whatever, that’s a matter to be brought up in court. You don’t go out in the press and criticize the judge. That’s just not right.”

McCollum supported Jeb Bush then Marco Rubio in the presidential race. Now he’s behind Trump.

“Considering the nature of where the Supreme Court is headed and the opponent he has in this case, I’m certainly supportive of him. I’d rather see him elected than Hillary Clinton. At the end of the day, most Republicans are going to feel the same way.”

Still, McCollum said Trump’s antics are a concern. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a campaign like this before.”

“On the other hand,” he added, “I’m concerned about Hillary Clinton and her tenure as Secretary of State and her leadership qualities and her questionable veracity about things. We don’t have the best choices necessarily for president, but the reality is, one of them is going to be president of the United States, so I’m voting for Donald Trump.”

 

Mason-Dixon poll shows no clear favoring in U.S. Senate race

@JeremySWallace

There is no clear front runner in either the Republican or Democratic primaries for U.S. Senate in 2016, a new Mason-Dixon Florida Poll shows.

According to the poll of 500 registered Republican voters, U.S. Rep. David Jolly was the choice of 16 percent. Florida’s Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera was second with 10 percent of the vote. U.S. Reps. Ron DeSantis and Jeff Miller were the choice of 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Todd Wilcox was sitting at 2 percent.

Maybe more telling is how many voters are undecided about the field. The poll showed 55 percent said they were undecided about who they would pick.

If former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who has said he is considering the contest, gets in the race, he could scramble the field. McCollum would immediately jump to the top of the list. When asked if McCollum were running, 22 percent said they would support him. Jolly would drop to 11 percent. DeSantis would be third with 8 percent, followed  by Lopez-Cantera and Jeff Miller at 7 percent and 6 percent. Still 45 percent of Republican voters said they were undecided even with McCollum in the contest.

The Democratic field is even closer. U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson was the choice of 33 percent of registered Democratic voters. U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy was the choice of 32 percent. But like the Republicans, a lot of voters remain very undecided. The poll showed 35 percent were undecided.

The race doesn’t change much if U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham gets in the race. If she gets into the contest, Murphy would lead the field with 26 percent. Grayson would get 24 percent and Graham 11 percent. But the undecideds grow to 39 percent.

The telephone poll was conducted from July 20 to July 25 and the margin of error is 4.5 percent. 

Bill McCollum is, in fact, considering a U.S. Senate run

via @adamsmithtimes

Republican former Attorney General Bill McCollum confirms that he's been calling prominent Republicans about possibly running for U.S. Senate.

"I certainly have an interest, but I'm just considering it," said McCollum, 70, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate against Bill Nelson in 2000 and in 2010 lost the Republican gubernatorial primary to a wealthy newcomer named Rick Scott.

McCollum said his phone started ringing with people encouraging him after Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater surprised most of the Florida's political world by announcing he would not run, and then even more when a mid-April Mason-Dixon poll showed him easily beating other potential candidates (pulling 20 percent support among Republican voters, compared to the next strongest Republican, U.S. Rep. David Jolly of Pinellas who had 8 percent support).

McCollum was by far the most recognized of seven names polled, with 29 percent of Republicans saying they had a favorable opinion of him, 7 percent unfavorable, 29 percent saying they recognized the name and had a neutral opinion, and 25 percent not recognizing him.

"I'm being told by other people in the party that there are concerns that the other potential candidates are not well known as we need to hold the seat," McCollum said of the potential field of Republicans that includes Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, and U.S. Reps. Ron DeSantis and Jeff Miller.

McCollum is in no rush to decide anything, saying he would likely make a firm decision "sometime this summer."

"Maybe someone else will emerge in the meantime," said McCollum, a longtime former congressman from the Orlando area who works at the Denton law firm focusing on state attorney general issues.

--ADAM C. SMITH, Tampa Bay Times

AG revolving door: Bill McCollum lobbies, Pam Bondi's office helps his client

@MVanSickler

When the cruise line Royal Caribbean sought to amend a 1997 consumer protection agreement with the Florida Attorney General’s office, it hired a lawyer familiar with the agency’s inner workings.

Former Attorney General Bill McCollum called on the staff of his successor, Pam Bondi. Six months after the June 2013 meeting, Bondi’s office granted McCollum’s request.

Royal Caribbean’s advertised rates would no longer have to include fees for services, like baggage handling and loading cargo. The fees, which can inflate a trip’s cost by more than $100, could be listed separately from the company’s advertised rates.

On at least two other occasions, McCollum met with Bondi’s staff to discuss two more clients — NJOY, an e-cigarette company, and HealthFair, which sells health screenings from mobile clinics.

McCollum isn’t just Bondi’s predecessor; he also leads the Republican State Leadership Committee, which has championed Bondi’s advancement.

McCollum served as vice or acting chairman of the Washington-based group from June 2012 to January 2014, records show. During that period, it contributed $650,000 to Bondi’s re-election campaign, more than 10 percent of what she raised, and chipped in another $16,000 in gifts so she could attend conferences with other Republican attorneys general.

When asked what role he had in those expenditures, McCollum said the staff, not the board, decides how campaign contributions are made. He didn’t address the gifts. Story by Michael Van Sickler here. 

 

Gator's the state reptile; Bill Nelson's the "state liberal," pro-Connie Mack PAC says in ad welcoming Obama to FL

Freedom PAC welcomes President Obama to Florida today with a light-hearted ad that calls Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson the "state liberal." The PAC, which supports Republican challenger Connie Mack, says the ad is running in select markets, which will could include Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and Orlando (where Obama is visiting).

The script: "President Obama is taking a break from his liberal agenda to visit Florida... Here's a few things you should know - The state flower is the Orange Blossom. The state reptile is the Alligator. The state tree is the Palm. And the state liberal... is Senator Bill Nelson. Nelson voted for ObamaCare and chose to side with President Obama 98% of the time. Now, you have a choice - support Connie Mack for US Senate."

One little visual error: The ad shows a coconut palm when talking about the state tree. The actual symbol is a the less-iconic-looking sabal palm.

Here's a pic of the sabal palm for all y'all in the upper 48:

LeMieux's Mack-mocking ad campaign continues, wants congressman to release travel records

George LeMieux's Senate campaign is going after Connie "Half Mack" Mack again, this time over how the congressman bides his time. LeMieux wants his fellow Republican to release his travel records to show whether he spends more time in Florida or in California with his wife, Rep. Mary Bono Mack.

The web ad, the second of its kind, tries to make the former senator's son into a cartoon-like lightweight. Whether it works or not will be seen. Mack has the edge in fundraising and name recognition. But he has some baggage as well.

The Mack campaign called the latest ad a "desperate move from the Democrat, trial attorney playbook of attacking someone's marriage and again proves that George can't ever talk about the issues or how to defeat Bill Nelson." The last web ad from LeMieux didn't exactly go viral, racking up just under 7,200 YouTube views since the end of February.

Mack's campaign is boasting about the endorsement of former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and the hiring of Republican adviser Brett Doster, who works for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign as well. Between the two, Doster is more important news.

 

Game changer alert: Connie Mack's gotta Super Pac.

Freedom PAC, a new shadow political committee has announced it will be the second of its to play in Florida's nationally watched U.S. Senate race by supporting Congressman Connie Mack.

Mack, a target of the Super Pac called Saving Florida's Future in February, could use the help. He's losing straw polls these days and his performance has underwhelmed enough fellow Republicans that Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater is considering hoping in the race to unseat Democrat Bill Nelson.

While a recent endorsement by the American Conservative Union is some help to Mack, the Super Pac is worth so much more. If anything will keep Atwater from entering the race, it's the prospect of facing a political committee that can raise and spend unlimited sums from corporations to help an opponent.

The SuperPac is also a perfect antidote to the cash-gap between Nelson and Mack, who has $1.3 million in the bank. Nelson's campaign has $9.5 million. Nelson will also be a likely recipient of Saving Florida's Future help.

Connie Mack's gas prices-are-too-damn-high letter to President Obama

Inbox:

MIAMI - With gas prices soaring to over $4 a gallon in Florida this week, Congressman Connie Mack sent an open letter to President Obama upon his latest visit to Tampa today:
 
Dear Mr. President:
 
In the Tampa area today, regular gas is priced at the Sunoco on North 22nd is $4.09 and $4.19 at Bollinger on Tyrone in St. Petersburg. The price of gas has now soared to well over $4 a gallon in Florida, and is poised to climb even higher because your energy policy has failed the American public.
 

Hidden video: Connie Mack criticizes Ryan Plan while pitching Penny Plan

When Congressman Connie said Paul Ryan's budget was a "joke" last week, it was his strongest criticism yet of his fellow Republican's proposal. But it wasn't the only criticism. The liberal group American Bridge obtained/shot hidden video of Mack last week at a tea party meeting where he pitched his penny plan and hip-checked the Ryan plan.

"The Ryan budget, that doesn't balance for 20-24 years. We can't afford to wait that long. We need to get serious about balancing the budget," Mack says in the video (about 4:50 in).

"My plan is the only plan that's in the Congress that would balance the budget within a 10-year window," he said, noting it's supported by senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul.

 

Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times poll: Mitt Romney by 11% over Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich swaggered into Florida as a Republican front-runner, but now he’s close to slipping out as an also-ran against a resurgent Mitt Romney.

Gingrich is badly trailing Romney by 11 percentage points, garnering just 31 percent of likely Republican voters heading into Tuesday’s presidential primary, according to a Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald/Tampa Bay Times poll released late Saturday night.

President Barack Obama should be wary as well. Romney beats Obama by a 48-44 percent spread — a lead inside the error-margin, however — in a theoretical general-election matchup, the poll shows.

In the Republican primary, Romney’s lead looks insurmountable. It cuts across geographic, ethnic and gender lines. And the poll indicates Romney’s attack on Gingrich as a Freddie Mac insider is a hit with GOP voters.

“What does Gingrich need to do? I would say Romney would need to implode,” said Brad Coker, pollster with Mason Dixon Research & Associates, which conducted the survey from Tuesday through Thursday.

“If there’s no 11th hour surprise,” Coker said, “this race is looking right now like it’s over.”

Late Saturday, former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain endorsed Newt Gingrich, but it's unclear how that could help Gingrich make up such a big deficit.

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul — who did not campaign in Florida — are running well behind and have little chance of pulling into serious contention in the nation’s largest swing state, which holds 50 of the 1,144 delegates needed to help secure the GOP’s nomination at this summer’s convention in Tampa.

Late Saturday, former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain endorsed Newt Gingrich, but it's unclear how that could help Gingrich make up such a big deficit.

Romney is running strongest in Southeast Florida, from the Keys to the Treasure Coast. About half of all voters favor him here. Gingrich gets about a quarter of the vote. Similarly, 52 percent of Hispanic voters favor Romney, compared to just 28 percent who support Gingrich.

Full story here

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/28/2613266/poll-romney-holds-big-lead-over.html#storylink=cpy