Rick Scott's Choice For Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll

Orlando Republicans welcomed Rick Scott and his new pick for Florida Lt. Governor, Jennifer Carroll. Rick gave a short speech which he read from notes. Ms. Carroll then stepped to the podium and spoke without notes. She did an outstanding job, befitting her experience as a multi-term State House Representative.

Obviously race and gender played a role in her selection. But I really liked her presence and warmth which seemed genuine. After talking with other folks there, we all seemed to agree that she was a fantastic choice. Mr. Scott will be well served in giving her as much face-time with voters as possible.

I by chance was approached by The Orlando Sentinel reporter asking me if I thought she would really make much of a difference, "Isn't Lt. Governor largely a ceremonial position?" My reply was that in the past this was true. But look how Vice-president Dick Cheney and Vice-president Joe Biden have played significant supporting roles. Add to this that Rick Scott is used to running large corporations. That means he's learned how to delegate responsibility.

Time will tell, but I think all indicators are pointing to a good ticket for voters to support.

The Vested Powers Have Spoken: We Control The Election Process/Newcomers Need Not Apply

Judging from the latest polling in the Florida governor's race, it appears that the party insiders have taken the lead. Both Jeff Greene and Rick Scott have been condemned by the power brokers as 'not one of us, so you can't trust them.'

Let's set aside the charges of fraud leveled at these upstart candidates (no one has been indicted, let alone convicted of anything). More often than not, when you hear accusations of bad business practices coming from career politicians you can bet the elected official has a hidden agenda.

The fact of the matter is that you will need to be a multi-billionaire to upend the wishes of the state leaders of Democrats and Republicans. And to amass this much wealth, you're going to have to engage in some ruthless business practices.

The real issues facing voters are quickly fading into which power club is going to run our state. I'm not real comfortable with this and here's why.

The huge amounts of money that the Democrat and Republican party's rely on to mold public opinion come from lobbyists and special interests. This is not good because they are then beholden to the sources of this cash and that obscures the debate on issues.

The answer to this payola scheme is not more laws. We've been writing them for decades and nothing has changed.

What needs to happen is we MUST get involved (read takeover) the Democrat and Republican state party's. That means gaining voting rights for your favored group via their local county executive committees.

I will shortly be launching a website that will detail how this can be done. The window for this insurgency is quite short. Please add me as a friend on Facebook (Nick Egoroff) so I can keep you informed.

Till then, good luck with the mudslinging and accusations.

Chairman Jim Greer Continues Strong-Arming Florida Republican Party

This evening Brevard County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Jason Steele was interviewed about Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer's attempts to shut down the 2010 Republican Party Primary process. Greer has been trying to shut out former House Speaker Marco Rubio from opposing Gov. Charlie Crist for in the US Senate race (link to broadcast below).

I wanted to add my comments as well, because this ominous trend of Republican brass attempting to intimidate candidates in primary elections holds tremendous challenges for us as Party grassroots activists. Greer contends that some primaries are just to expensive and distracting. Instead he wants to go ahead and pick for us the candidates that we should vote for.

The problem with this is that now, especially when the Party is trying to figure out if it wants a more moderate (some call it Democrat Lite) Republicanism or a more conservative brand, the decision is not going to be made by the Party members themselves. This is precisely what Primaries are supposed to solve. But Boss Greer has other intentions.

In this interview I was struck by the lack of any coherent or logical argument by Greer to support his position. His constant 'uh's' and superficial replies either show him to be unable to argue his position or else he just considers that his opinion is the only one that matters.

Unfortunately the interviewer did not ask the hard questions of exactly what voice do the Party members have in this system. We must challenge Greer and the rest of the Party bigwigs that they are not to strip us of our rights to have fair and open primaries.

I commend Chairman Steele for beginning a drive to get county chairman to pass resolutions against these tactics. But even more I think that we as Florida Republicans have just as much right and duty to make sure our voices are heard as well.

Here is the phone number for the RPOF in Tallahassee (850)222-7920. And here is their email form http://www.rpof.org/contact.php (caution: you must go to this link and then use their form to email). I'd like to ask everyone to tell Chairman Greer to keep out of the Florida Primary.

Chairman Greer also makes a 'misstatement' of fact in the interview. One was that no resources of the RPOF have been used to favor Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio. Actually the RPOF has utilized it's massive email lists to repeatedly trumpet Crist as the best choice for the US Senate. Not one email has gone out reminding members of Rubio's candidacy.

Please listen to the interview below and draw your own conclusions.

http://www.wmfe.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9501&news_iv_ctrl=1441

P.S. I'm writing this immediately following the interview. As yet the podcast is not yet loaded onto the site.

Nick Egoroff
Orlando Liberty Organizer

Sunny Skies Cast Shadows Over OCREC Member Deon Long

Weather could not be better for Saturday's Tea Party protest rally at Lake Eola. At 12noon the amphitheater will fill with thousands of patriots staging a peaceful revolt against the powers that be: namely our elected officials that with bailouts and stimulus money are ruining our economy. Come early as the rally starts promptly and ends at 2:30pm.

But just a couple of short hours later the Republican Party of Florida will convene the star chamber (also called the RPOF Grievance Committee) for a trial of Deon Long. Mr. Long has been a consistent supporter of the Republican causes as both the leader of the Black Republican Caucus and fundraiser for the RPOF. Appointed to positions by former Gov. Jeb Bush and serving with distinction as a spokesman for the Party, he has cut an impressive image of minority growth within RPOF.

Unfortunately Deon Long has incurred the wrath of Orange County Republican Chairman Lew Oliver and state RPOF Chairman Jim Greer. After daring to question the questionable practices of Chairman Oliver in last December's Board election, Chairman Greer was called into staunch opposition to Chairman Oliver. Thus the smear campaign of Long began replete with unproven allegations of financial misconduct and lack of loyalty to the Party.

The hearing of this case will take place in Lake Mary, Fl. Deon will not be the only one hauled up before this august body. Several other long time Party members from around the state will face similar charges of 'disloyalty.' A busy day for grievances to be sure.

Usually emails of this type end with some call to action. Sadly this does not appear to be necessary. According to my inside sources, the verdict has already been arrived at. If Mr. Long and others are to be hounded from the Party for merely questioning authority, think of what will happen in the future!

Nick Egoroff
Orlando Liberty Organizer
Orange County Republican Precinct Committeeman #319