National Politics Round-up

This is our regular feature where every day I do a post with the top 5 Florida political blog posts about national stories. They are ranked according to quality, importance of the story and relevance to the present.

1. Brian Winfield - Justice for Ryan and Something More: "A jury convicted one of Ryan Skipper’s two killers of first-degree murder just hours ago. It’s all over the evening news. My how times change. Today was the second of two trials, both resulting in a life sentence for each of Ryan’s killers. Three young Florida men whose lives are ended in one way or another. There is no joy, no celebration, no closure, but there was justice and that’s something."

2. Reid Report - Meanwhile, a lesson for Democrats: "Bottom line: the base didn’t come out for the Dems yesterday, in Virginia in part because the candidate, Creigh Deeds, was such an incompetent, he ran away from Barack Obama rather than toward him (Obama has a 52 percent approval rating among those who voted in Virginia according to exit polls, and 57 percent in New Jersey. Sorry, RedState…) In New Jersey, there was simply no rallying the troops for a former Wall Streeter who was as unpopular as he was unpleasant."

3. Blast Off! - Clarence Thomas: oral arguments are pointless: "I guess it's not surprising when a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court who hasn't asked a question of a lawyer in oral arguments since 2006 says that he doesn't see a reason even to have oral arguments. But as a lawyer, I find it a little distressing to hear it said so plainly."

4. Pushing Rope - Max Baucus Facing His Public Option Moment: "Sen. Max Baucus has reiterated he supports the public option. In the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus said he voted against Sen. Chuck Schumer's public option amendment because there wasn't enough votes in the Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid believes there are 60 votes to stop a Republican filibuster of the public option. Reid would only need 51 votes to pass a public option health care bill. ABC News reports Baucus got wind of Reid's plan and went ballistic."

5. Reid Report - Snowe job: is President Obama putting ‘bipartisanship’ before principle?: "It’s not clear whether the 'bipartisanship above all' strategy is coming from Rahm Emanuel, who is essentially on record as wanting something –anything — for the president to sign, regardless of what’s actually in the bill — or whether the fecklessness is coming from higher up the food chain, including from the president himself."