Free Republic

TALLAHASSEE -- With the furor surrounding the Trayvon Martin case and the stand-your-ground law showing no sign of a let-up, Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, announced Tuesday that he has formed his own task force to study the impact of the law. "Florida is in crisis mode," Smith told reporters. (snip) Smith said his task force will include the state attorneys from Broward and Miami-Dade, plus the public defenders from those two counties and Palm Beach County. Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley, former Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber, and incoming House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, will also...

With former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin heading to Florida this weekend to back Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, the campaign team of Democratic attorney general nominee Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach are wondering why Palin is not helping their opponent Pam Bondi. Palin, who may run for president in 2012, backed Bondi in August--right before Bondi beat Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and former Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Holly Benson in the Republican primary. “Pam Bondi has been riding first class on the Sarah Palin Tea Party Express throughout this campaign, focusing on issues that have nothing...

Florida’s attorney general questioned the constitutionality of the federal health care bill on Tuesday, calling on states to study whether to file suit to kill a provision requiring that individuals buy health insurance or pay a fine. The attorney general, William McCollum, a Republican who is running for governor in 2010, said that the so-called mandate was “an affront to our country’s principles.” He added that the fine might be illegal because, in his view, it is disconnected from any commercial act. “It’s a tax on living,” Mr. McCollum said in a telephone conference call with reporters. “It’s a tax...

Cornyn: Fla. Senate race 'open field' By POLITICO STAFF | 2/9/09 4:25 AM EST  Pressure Mounts On GOP Supporters The three Senate Republicans who say they’ll support the $827 billion economic recovery plan are facing pressure from both sides of the debate. A group of stimulus opponents led by Free­Republic.com founder Jim Robinson and Move America Forward chairwoman Melanie Morgan plans to protest outside the office of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) at 10 a.m. Monday before moving on to the offices of Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. Meanwhile, the group Americans United for Change is running...