Gov. Charlie Crist has been scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night, along with Sen. Mel Martinez, prior to John McCain’s appearance to accept the nomination.

There’s been speculation that a Thursday night slot is proof Crist is out of contention as McCain’s running mate choice, because the veep nominee will be the star of a night earlier in the week.

But University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato says there’s no point in trying to analyze the schedule for clues—“Those tea leaves can be shuffled at a moment’s notice,” meaning the schedule can be changed, he said.

“It’s all designed just to keep everyone guessing and speculating, generating more coverage.” Sabato said. “Of course, we comply—like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football.”

Thursday, the night Crist and McCain will speak, will be devoted to “reflect [McCain’s] vision of an America in pursuit of peace and seen as a beacon of goodwill and hope throughout the world,” the GOP said.

Florida Democrats may seek to remove the Democratic candidate who filed for the state House seat being vacated by Trey Traviesa, so they can choose a stronger candidate.

The reason: When the candidate, Lewis Laricchia, qualified to run for the office he wasn’t a Democrat, even though he signed a legally required, sworn statement saying he was.

“We have a candidate who might not be a candidate,” said incoming House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands, after the Tribune informed him of Laricchia’s registration history. “Because he wasn’t a Democrat at the time he filed his papers to qualify, he is not properly qualified to be a Democratic candidate.”

On the date he qualified, June 18, Laricchia was registered no-party. He switched his registration to Democratic July 16, nearly a month later, according to the state Division of Elections.

Democrats think that may be grounds for removing him from the ballot. They could then come up with a stronger candidate to replace him on the ballot to run against the comparatively unknown Rachel Burgin, chosen by county GOP leaders to replace Traviesa.

Jennifer Davis, a spokeswoman with the state Division of Elections, said the division’s legal office thinks the discrepancy wouldn’t disqualify Laricchia from the ballot. She said case law concerning another oath candidates must sign, swearing that they meet the qualifications for the office, has held that the candidates must meet those qualifications at the time their term of office would begin—not at the time they sign the oath.

The Dems didn’t bother recruiting a candidate to run against Traviesa—he was considered unbeatable. But he withdrew last week, well after qualifying for the seat was over. That meant Hillsborough County Republican party leaders, with their ballot now blank, could decide on a nominee to replace him.

Now the Dems would like to have a viable candidate instead of Laricchia, who’s an unknown. But they can’t choose a candidate unless they can get Laricchia off their ballot, leaving it blank, and he has said he’s not leaving voluntarily.

Read more here

The state Supreme Court will hear arguments Sept. 8 in the case against Amendment 5, the so-called tax-swap initiative, on the November ballot.

The case pits the state and a PAC headed by former Senate President John McKay, architect of the complicated plan, against school boards and superintendents as well as Associated Industries of Florida, the big-biz lobby in Tallahassee, who argue it shouldn’t be on the ballot.

Amendment 5 would wipe out 25 percent to as much as 40 percent of property taxes—the part that goes for schools—replacing that money for at least one year with other revenue sources such as a sales tax increase.

WASHINGTON – Harvey Waite, 68, the husband of U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, died today following his bout with pancreatic cancer.
His death was announced by the Brooksville Republican’s congressional office.

Details about the funeral service and viewing will be announced later.

In an interview with The Tampa Tribune in May (see here), Brown-Waite said she had wrestled with doing her duties in Washington and running for re-election after her husband’s cancer diagnosis. But she said he had urged her to “absolutely not” decide to abandon running for another congressional term.

“‘I want you to run. I want you to win,’ he said, ‘almost as much as I want to beat this cancer,’” Brown-Waite said.

She said she told him: “I’ll run if you fight hard to beat the cancer.”

Harvey Waite was born on Long Island, New York. He served in the United States Army from 1958 to 1961, and returned to New York where he served as a state trooper. The couple was married in 1978.

Following his retirement from the state, he and his wife moved to Florida, eventually settling in Hernando County in 1995.  He was active in several local organizations, and prior to his cancer diagnosis worked as an Investigator in the Public Defenders Office.

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