Florida’s primaries on Tuesday definitely rearranged the field of presidential hopefuls. Two of them are gone — John Edwards and Rudolph W. Giuliani — and another has emerged as the front-runner in the Republican race, and just a few months after being all but counted out. Sunshine State voters crowned John McCain the G.O.P.’s man to beat. Since Tuesday’s primary was closed to the independent voters that gave Mr. McCain the edge in New Hampshire, Florida’s results showed that Mr. McCain actually goes over well w... lire la suite
Lien du post: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/blogtalk-florida-shuffles-the-deck/
On domestic policy he is not a conservative. As between Romney and McCain, Republican voters in Florida were asked to choose between a recent convert (if you will) and a false flag. Take abortion: McCain has touted his Senate record, but that misses his tone and affect. In 2000 he told The San Francisco Chronicle that “certainly in the short term or even in the long term I would not support the repeal of Roe v. Wade.” He backed off after conservatives howled, but the same lack of commitment on the question was revealed in his support of stem cell research. ... Some Republicans aren’t getting carried away by the prospect of a McCain nomination. Hugh Hewitt of the National Review is still holding out for Mitt Romney, who placed second in Florida.
Ahead of Florida's primary next Tuesday, the blog Political Post calls The New York Times's editorial endorsement of John McCain in the Republican race as Mr. McCain's “kiss of death in Florida.” The N.Y. Times's endorsement of Senator McCain will likely give the Romney campaign sufficient fodder with which to win the Florida primary on Tuesday. McCain faces the challenge of appealing to the base in the Florida primary which is open only to Republicans and offers no help from independents. The Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in Florida because the party's national committee vowed not to seat any delegates from the state as punishment for moving its primary to a pre-Feb. 5 date. However, Mrs. Clinton issued a statement stating that she would ask the powers that be at the national convention this summer to seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan (a state she won with hardly any competition), reports John Kennedy at the Orlando Sentinel's blog. While drawing praise from Florida Democratic Chair Karen Thurman and Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Clinton’s move brought only derision from Obama, who sees her move as being a pre-primary ploy to woo Florida voters. “No one is more disappointed that Florida Democrats will have no role in selecting delegates for the nomination of the party’s standard bearer than Sen. Obama,” said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. “When Sen. Clinton was campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, she made it clear that states like Michigan and Florida that wouldn’t produce any delegates `don’t count for anything.’” Plouffe speculated that Clinton’s move is inspired by the threat that she will lose Saturday’s South Carolina primary to Obama and is looking to rebound in Florida — even though a victory here includes no delegates.
There's something not quite right about the Yankees and it has been like this for a long time. They are missing the "it" factor that the post '96 teams used to have and that thing in which the Red Sox now seem to possess. After losing to Florida in '03, the Bombers seem to have hit a wall and can't break through to get back to the series. We've seen a ton of the Kevin Brown and Flash Gordon type meltdowns for way too long, but after the "Bugs," incident with Joba last year in Cleveland, I'm convinced that the Baseball God's have put the Malocchio on this team. I say all hands on deck at this point outside of the three starters we have left, plus Jeter , ARod (contract), Posada and Mariano, The Yanks should be willing to move anybody, including some of their top prospects to try and break the malaise that has infected this team and bring another very good hitter into this lineup that has the "it" factor.
Citigroup (C) seems to be running out of deck chairs. The day after the company’s stock fell below $10, the Wall Street Journal reported Citi is considering yet another shuffle in its executive suite. That should fix things. This time, Citi’s chairman, Win Bischoff (who?), will be replaced by none other than lead director Richard Parsons, the same guy who presided over one of the most notorious conflagrations of shareholder value in the history of American industry. In a weird way, he could be just the man for the job.
Summary: An introduction and elevator pitch are critical to getting a meeting. You can also provide a “ten-slide” deck that tells a compelling story about your team, product, traction, and plans. A PowerPoint plan (“deck”) is less important than an elevator pitch, and an elevator pitch is less important than an introduction. Read What should I send investors? Part 1: Elevator Pitch for tips on crafting an elevator pitch. Many investors will just skim a deck and take a meeting if the introduction and elevator pitch are good. But you can still send a deck. A deck lets investors learn more about your company. It demonstrates that you’ve thought about the company in detail. It’s an industry norm. And you need one for presentations anyway. Include a “ten-slide” deck with your elevator pitch. The best deck template in the universe is David Cowan’s How To Not Write A Business Plan—use it. There are other templates from excellent sources on the Web, but this is the best. The product isn’t revealed until the fifth slide of this methodical sequence—that’s annoying. Fortunately, the elevator pitch and Summary slide kill the suspense by summarizing your company and product before an investor jumps into the deck. Keep the slides simple, visual, and minimal, with 30 point or larger font. The slides will look great when you present; see Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic. (We’ll cover presentations in a future article, this article is about the deck you send investors.) Email a PDF that combines each slide and its notes on a single page; slide on top, notes on bottom. Please don’t email a PowerPoint file unless your deck contains critical animations or movies.
Standing on the deck, we see the bergs getting bigger and closer. Looking up at the captain’s quarterdeck, I wonder if they know what the hell they are doing? Can they be so stupid to not see the impending crises in front of us? Are they focused only on those directly in our path hoping to navigate our way through, fingers crossed?
Summary: A deck can help you get a meeting but it can also get in the hands of the competition. Whether you send a deck depends on who wants the meeting most. If you want the meeting more than they do, provide what they want. If they want the meeting more than you do, provide what you want. Finally, keep your secrets secret. In What should I send investors?, we suggested sending investors a deck that describes your business plan. A reader subsequently emailed us and asked: There are pros and cons to sending a deck. We can’t tell you whether you should send a deck. At times, we have sent decks and, at other times, we have avoided sending decks. There is no right answer but there are pros and cons that you can consider as you make your decision. Your deck can get in the hands of the competition. Your deck probably won’t get in the hands of the competition, but you should assume it will. An investor’s notes can also get in the hands of the competition. And if an “evil” investor cares enough about your company to email your deck to the competition, he cares enough about your company to schedule a meeting and take notes. Send a deck if you want the meeting more than they do. Whether you send a deck depends on who wants the meeting most. Use this simple test: If you do send a deck, keep confidential things to yourself. In What should I send investors?, we wrote: “Write “Proprietary and Confidential. Please do not distribute. Prepared for Blue Shirt Capital,” on the cover of your deck (some companies write it on every page). Investors are less likely to forward it if their name is on it. And ask any recipients, in writing, via email, to kindly not distribute the deck outside their firm.
Florida citrus growers may have dodged at least the worst of the crop damage that a major cold snap brought to the shivering Sunshine State. But it has snowed overnight in some areas in Florida. The bitter cold has enveloped many areas of the nation, with Louisiana going into emergency operations to save people from the cold weather blanketing that state. When temperatures get down to 28 degrees for four hours, a tree can be ruined. While forecasts said it could get that cold overnight, temperatures hovered in the 30s in central and South Florida where most orange and grapefruit growers are based. "Overall, this is preliminary, but it looks like we have dodged a bullet," said Rusty Wiygul, director of grower affairs for Florida Citrus Mutual. He said there will be pockets of minor damage. Temperatures in many areas of northern Florida dropped into the 20s early Thursday, following the 30-degree temperatures some northern parts of the state saw Wednesday. Cross City was 20. Farther south, Orlando was 31 and it was 39 in Miami. Snow flurries were reported near the Daytona Beach coastline, the first in Florida since 2006.