Tying to drive from Tally to the ‘burg in under four hours, I thought up the idea for a new series of posts called “Takeaways from Tallahassee” in which I will do my best to offer some analysis, in bursts of insightful nuggets, on what is really going on in the state capital. Here are my five takeaways from Inauguration Week.
No matter what you may hear about official numbers regarding attendance in Rick Scott’s inaugural events, participation was still rather low-key. Yes, Tallahassee is a company town and that company is government, but it’s still a Democratic town and a lot of folks stayed home or sat on their hands.
Besides Rick Scott’s friends and family, the most excited participants in the inaugural festivities really were the establishment Republican lobbyists but not because they were celebrating; it’s that they actually get and understand Rick Scott. The brutal truth is Jeb Bush was the son of a president and, at the time of his inauguration, did not entirely respect the old hands that really run this town. By that same token, many of the senior Republican lobbyists didn’t exactly respect Charlie Crist. But these guys respect Rick Scott. Many of them still work with or were themselves business executives. In Rick Scott, they see a kindred spirit.
The political powerplay of the month does not belong to Rick Scott or Marco Rubio, but to Pam Bondi. Her hiring of Dave Aronberg to serve as a Special Counsel dedicated to prosecuting “pill mill” cases is the Florida equivalent of Barack Obama naming HIllary Clinton as Secretary of State. Bondi just took her most likely political opponent in 2014 and made him part of her team. And it’s just good public policy. Absolutely brilliant.
(There’s a new term being bantered about in Tallahassee: “Aronberg Democrats” – progressive-minded politicians, lobbyists, staffers and operatives not worried about reaching across the aisle to work with the new administration.)
I ran into the St. Petersburg Times‘ capital bureau a couple of times and was struck by what an interesting mix of personalities they have working for the newspaper of record. The additions of Michael Bender and Janet Zink to Steve Bousquet and Adam Smith reminds me of how the Red Sox and Yankees go out every off-season and sign blockbuster free-agent deals. In other words, the St. Petersburg Times does not rebuild, it reloads. (Of course, the Times really does need to do something about the Buzz – the redesign of that website was a step backward, not forward.)
Most important person in Tallahassee? It may be Rick Scott, but a close second is Mike Haridopolos. Dean Cannon may have his shock troops in the Florida House, but there’s been an arch-conservative Florida House for almost 16 years. To have a staunchly conservative Senate is an entirely different matter. Every move being made in Tally is evaluated on its prospects in the Senate (which partially relies on how it impacts Haridopolos’ run for the US Senate). Scott and Haridopolos may be the most important two men in Tallahasee, but the real “star” is Jennifer Carroll. She really does light up a room — or an auditorium, as I witnessed on Sunday. As LG, she may not have much to do, but if all she does is walk the Capitol and travel the state promoting the Scott agenda, she will still be a force.
Then again, without a Bush in office and with Charlie Crist licking his wounds in St. Petersburg, the overall wattage in Tallahassee has dimmed a little. It’ll be interesting to see who lights up the town.
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