FL Senate flips on'resign-to-run' (House Speaker Marco Rubio-R has eye on running for Governor)

[seafan]

Well, now, it looks like FL House Speaker Marco Rubio's political ambitions are now trumping everything he's pushing through the Legislature. Let's not forget who this 35 year old Republican is.... He is First Apprentice to Jeb Bush.

Rubio is the sword-bearer of Jeb Bush's conservative legacy, symbolically and literally, having been given the samurai-type sword by the former governor when he was officially installed speaker.

More on that in a moment....



Now on to Rubio's latest conquest to further his political ambitions:


Senate flips on'resign-to-run'

By S.v. DÁte And Deana Poole
April 28, 2007

TALLAHASSEE — A day after defeating a provision designed to let Gov. Charlie Crist run for president or vice president without resigning his job, the state Senate quietly approved wording to let any state or local official run for any federal office without first resigning.

The chamber added the language to a mammoth elections bill that it went on to pass 37-2. The bill (HB 537) also would make the state's presidential primary earlier in the year and includes a Crist top priority of requiring paper ballots during elections, as well as other provisions that voter advocacy groups say would hurt voter registration drives and weaken voters' ability to file election complaints.

.....

The new language approved by the Senate means state and local officials could run for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, president or vice president without having to resign. The wording appears to let them run for the federal positions while simultaneously running for reelection to their current posts.

.....

The change to the resign-to-run law is being pushed by House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, who said he wanted to encourage Floridians to run on the national stage but that he has no personal ambitions himself. Senate sources said Rubio wants to make it more attractive for Crist to accept the vice presidential nomination in 2008 so that Rubio can run for governor in 2010.


The bill, which the House will take up next week, would also:

• Require most votes to be cast on optical scanners. People with disabilities still would be allowed to cast votes on touch screen voting machines.

• Dedicate $27.9 million from the federal Help America Vote Act to pay for optical scanning machines for 15 counties, including Palm Beach and Martin. Experts disagree about whether this is legal. If it's not, the state would have to pull money from other programs, Constantine said.

• Move the presidential primary to the last Tuesday in January - Jan. 29 in 2008.

• Give people who sign petitions 120 days after the signatures are submitted to the supervisor of elections office to remove their names.

• Require unions to include a list of all dues-paying members in their campaign contribution reports.

• Require write-in candidates to identify their political party.

• Permit only those with firsthand knowledge of an alleged elections violation to file a complaint.

• Impose fines up to $1,000 a year for third-party registration groups, such as the League of Women Voters, if they fail to turn over registration information to elections officials within specified time periods.

But, just yesterday. the Senate rejected out of hand Rubio's proposal...

(Wonder if Jeb made a call from Miami to the Senate yesterday to express his displeasure?)

April 27, 2007

TALLAHASSEE — The state Senate on Thursday rejected an attempt by House Speaker Marco Rubio to let Charlie Crist run for president or vice president without having to give up his governorship.
The Senate sponsor of the elections bill that would have contained the change to the "resign-to-run" law warned the chamber that House leaders want the provision in the bill, which also includes the paper ballot language that Crist considers a priority.

.....

Constantine said he does not know why the House wanted the measure, but Senate sources said privately that Rubio believes that if Crist were chosen as the vice presidential candidate in the 2008 election and the Republican ticket won, that would give Rubio the chance to run for governor in 2010.

Rubio spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin said he has not thought about a political future after his term as speaker ends next year. "His goal is to make Florida a player in the national arena," Chamberlin said. "It is not done with any office or office-holder in mind."

.....

Rubio's proposed amendment, the sources said, would remove that disincentive and possibly give Rubio an earlier chance at the top job. If Crist were to run for reelection, the earliest Rubio could run for the post would be 2014.

Rubio, 35, is seen by many Republicans as a rising star - an image he helped build with a yearlong campaign to push his 100 Innovative Ideas book, which included public meetings across the state and the mailing of hundreds of thousands of copies of a promotional DVD.
There is no statewide position Rubio can run for in 2008. In 2010, the only open statewide seat is for agriculture commissioner, with Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez all potentially running for reelection. Of those, only Sink is a Democrat.

All of this is part and parcel of Rubio's odious "add-ons" to our once-clean paper ballots bill. It is shameful that Rubio insists on pushing Jeb Bush's *big hairy audacious goals* (BHAGs), no matter who or no matter what. It's just about *Rubio*. And if he wants to speed up his chances of a run for Governor, then all else *will* fall in line.




Republican add-ons may jeopardize paper-ballots bill (Florida), April 25, 2007



Just for the sake of morbid curiosity, here's more about that *mystical sword* Jeb gave Rubio:




Thanks to Think Progress from 2005:

Last week, after “more than an hour of solemn ceremony” swearing in Rep. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as House speaker, Gov. Jeb Bush stepped to the podium to tell “a short story about ‘unleashing Chang,’ his ‘mystical warrior’ friend.”

Below, courtesy of the Gainesville Sun, are Bush’s words, “spoken before hundreds of lawmakers and politicians”:

“Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society.

“I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down.”

Bush then unsheathed a golden sword and gave it to Rubio as a gift.

”I’m going to bestow to you the sword of a great conservative warrior,” he said, as the crowd roared.

Marco Rubio is Jeb II.

Beware.

[bullimiami]

1. If the election reforms take, which Crist supports. Felons vote. Paper trails.

There wont be any more RW aholes winning in Florida. It takes a crooked election.

Crist, if he continues the way he is doing so far, may actually be able to win again, hell, I might (might) even vote for him.
Its that or a democrat winning. The Bush rape of Florida (hopefully) is coming to a close.