OH, THE RNC HYPOCRISY 

Talking up capitalism while dining at public trough [Tampa Bay Times column] “Since he graduated from Miami University in Ohio, when he wasn’t wiling away the hours think tanking, Ryan has spent his entire adult life working as a congressional staffer, or since 1999, a member of Congress, collecting a government check and health benefits. He has never met a payroll, or fretted over a company budget, or sold so much as a widget.” 

You didn’t build that, but you are helping to pay it off [Tampa Bay Times] “Delegates from Massachusetts, where Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was governor, are staying at the Tampa Marriott Waterside, about a third of the cost of which was picked up by the city of Tampa to lure a convention-caliber hotel. And many revelers have taken in meals and entertainment at Channelside, whose private owners enjoy a low-cost lease for the land under it, which is owned by the Tampa Port Authority.

Florida AG Bondi’s constitutional challenge [Palm Beach Post column] “As Florida Attorney General, it’s a good idea to make sure that one of the many borderline unconstitutional initiatives you’re defending doesn’t come up for judicial review on a day when you speak about your devotion to the Constitution. Unfortunately, that was Bondi’s fate at the Republican National Convention.” 

Dismal Tampa transit system strands delegates, points to Fla. rejection of U.S. rail funds [Greenwire] “Buckhorn added that the mayor of Detroit recently thanked him for the federal money that city will receive for rail that had been slotted for a Tampa to Orlando high-speed line, until Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) turned back $2.4 billion in federal grant money.”

ROMNEY “LACKS BOLD MOVES” Cautious message of Mitt Romney’s convention lacks bold moves [Tampa Bay Times] “But nobody offered up the kind of bold or difficult proposal that Republicans kept touting. And Romney told us nothing Thursday night that we did not already know about his plans: cut the deficit, less taxes and regulation, more school choice, more trade and more energy production. Many of his top surrogates even seemed guarded in their criticism of Barack Obama, careful not to take it too far.”

Democrats pour into Tampa to criticize Ryan’ speech [Politico] “They’ll criticize him on Medicare, say he had a hand in the country’s credit downgrade that he tried to pin on Obama, tried to ‘sabotage’ the president’s work to heal the economy and talks a good game on women’s issues, but has a record that runs contrary to his words. There are also brand-new attacks: They plan to paint Ryan as disingenuous for criticizing the stimulus after requesting money for projects in his district. And the General Motors plant that Ryan said closed because of Obama actually started closing in 2008, before he took office.”

New OFA Video: “Say” [OFA] “When you learn about Romney’s plan, you know why he doesn’t have much to say.”

The Truth About Romney Economics: Cindy from Dade [OFA] “Cindy worked at Dade when Romney Economics came to town.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO FLORIDA Obama plans big Florida swing next weekend [Tampa Bay Times] “President Barack Obama plans will travel to St. Petersburg next Friday and spend the weekend campaigning across the state.”

FLORIDA PREPARES TO SEND LARGEST, MOST DIVERSE DELEGATION TO CHARLOTTE Christian Ulvert Explains the Delegate Process [Univision] “First time Democratic At-Large Delegate Christian Ulvert sits down with Univision News to explain the process of becoming a delegate and what a delegate does.”

CONGRESSIONAL POLLING SNAPSHOTS

Democratic poll says Allen West-Patrick Murphy race a virtual tie [Palm Beach Post] “Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy is in a virtual tie with U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Palm Beach Gardens, in a new poll being trumpeted today by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee”

More bad news for David Rivera: internal polling shows Dem. challenger Joe Garcia up by nine [SaintPetersBlog] “The FBI and local police are investigating a Democratic congressional candidate who may have been paid by Rivera to criticize other Democrats seeking his seat. Democratic challenger Joe Garcia has been added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue Program.” And, now, internal polling shows Garcia leading by Rivera by nine points.”

OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW 

The drive is alive [Gainesville Sun Editorial] “Florida is one step closer to keeping voter-registration drives alive. A federal judge signed an order Wednesday stating that he will issue a permanent injunction to prohibit state government from enforcing onerous time limits on third-party or independent efforts to register voters.”

It’s Time to Get the Voter Registration Numbers Correct in Florida [Professor Dan Smith] “Florida Times-Union reporter, Matt Dixon, tried to measure the impact of the law in a story he wrote earlier this week that has gotten a lot of press, including a reprint of his findings in the New York Times and on Rachel Maddow’s Blog.  The headline of his article screams, ‘Democratic registration all but dries up since new Florida laws’ But let’s take a closer look at Dixon’s methodology.”

For Florida, environment a hot issue [Tampa Bay Times editorial] “Floridians understand the necessity of protecting beaches, preserving wetlands and improving air quality. Mitt Romney should spend at least as much time talking about those issues as about expanding oil drilling on federal lands and offshore.”