NEW PPP POLL: Obama Up in Florida

Key takeaways: 

• President Obama is beating Mitt Romney 50-46 
• President Obama is beating Romney among key groups: women, Hispanics, African Americans and younger voters 
• Neither Jeb Bush nor Marco Rubio help Romney in Florida 
• 56-percent of voters disapprove of the job Rick Scott has done — “it really speaks to how much he hurts the Republican brand in the state, something that could help put Obama over the top come November.”

…. AND VOTER SUPPRESSION COVERAGE NOT GOING TO HELP SCOTT’S DISMAL APPROVAL

A Floridian horror story [PNJ Editorial] “That’s right, folks, just when you thought it was safe to go back to the voting booth, legions of non-American, illegal voters have flooded registration rolls and soon will infect our entire democracy! That’s the fear of Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican Party of Florida, anyway. Only one problem: Just like any good zombie story — it’s not real.”

Statistics show voter fraud is a rare occurrence in Florida [Orlando Sentinel] “State records show that voter fraud simply hasn’t been a problem for the past decade…Ion Sancho, the 24-year veteran election supervisor in Leon County, said the voter database has allowed local election officials to catch potential fraud before it occurs. New registrations are checked by the state against other state records to ensure that the person actually exists before the registration is official. Fraud, he said, simply isn’t much of an issue. ‘You are more likely to walk out of your office and get hit by a bolt of lightning.'”

Moveon.org targets Gov. Rick Scott over non-citizen voter purge [Palm Beach Post] “Activists at Moveon.org have launched a campaign demanding that Gov. Rick Scott drop a controversial non-citizen voter purge, calling it “the worst attack on voting rights in the country.””

League, other organizations gear up for voter registration drive [Sarasota Herald Tribune] “The League and the youth-oriented voter-registration group called Rock the Vote will announce renewed efforts in Florida to register new voters for Florida’s 2012 elections. The new drive follows a federal judge’s ruling last week blocking penalties for third-party groups that failed to meet a strict 48-hour mandate for turning over the voter registrations to the state…an April report from her party that showed the state Democrats had beaten the GOP in voter registrations over the last three months and maintained a 4 percent edge in overall registration numbers.”

MARCO RUBIO AGAIN PUTS TEA PARTY AHEAD OF FL’S FAMILIES, VOTES AGAINST FAIR PAY FOR WOMEN Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio split votes on equal pay vote [Miami Herald] “Florida’s senators split their votes along party lines, with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson voting for the proposal, and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio voting against it. The Paycheck Fairness Act requires businesses to show that wage discrepancies between men and women are not based on gender.” 

Rubio’s Chief of Staff Still Has Ties to Lobbying Firm [FCIR] “U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., continues to move a little closer to being that ‘Washington insider’ he campaigned against in 2010. A report released this week points to Rubio’s righthand man as a chief example of a growing ethics problem in Washington, D.C.:  that revolving door between lobbyists and the people they lobby on Capitol Hill.”

MORE MACK DIRT TO SURFACE? Weldon’s late entry into U.S. Senate race sparks speculation about motive [FLDemocracy2012] “Privately, others speculate that the conservatives who enlisted Weldon, including Rick Santorum’s top aides John Brabender and Hogan Gildey, might know something about frontrunner Connie Mack that has yet to surface.”

ON THE CONGRESSIONAL FRONT — CLINTON MOCKS WEST, UNION NODS IN 22 

In CD 22, unions like both Kristin Jacobs and Lois Frankel [SaintPetersBlog] “The AFL-CIO couldn’t decide between Democrats Lois Frankel and Kristin Jacobs in the primary for the 22nd Congressional District. So it endorsed both.”

Clinton Mocks Allen West Calling Democratic Representatives Communists: ‘This Isn’t The 1950s’[Mediate] “Former President Bill Clinton mocked Rep. Allen West (R-FL) at a fundraising event for President Barack Obama on Monday night. Clinton mocked West’s claim that House Democrats were communists – he said that ‘this isn’t the 1950s’ and ‘no one has seen a communist in over a decade.'”

SAY WHAT?!? VIDEO: Rep Cliff Stearns Believes Women Should Be Charged for Abortion [MidWeek Politics] “Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns admits he believes women should face criminal charges for having abortions.”

OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW

3 locals chosen to join fellow Dems at convention [The Daily Commercial] “‘I didn’t think I would have a chance, being as young as I am,’ said Braswell, 32, the youngest of the trio. ‘I had a lot of fun campaigning and there were a lot of really good people. … I’m excited about being able to represent the Young Democrats of Lake County at the national convention.'”

Nine local Democrats are convention delegates [Gainesville Sun] “Nine local Democrats are among the state’s 300 delegates to the national convention.”

Florida: ”We’re No. 1!” for political corruption [10 News] “On Wednesday, the non-partisan watchdog group Integrity Florida will release a report identifying the Sunshine State as number one in the nation for political corruption.”