Your Evening Sift

Thursday night in the SoFla blogosphere and for once I hope that everyone is doing something other than reading the evening Sift. The speech begins shortly. Make sure you're listening...

A- A new poll shows that Raul Martinez has surged ahead of a sweaty Lincoln Diaz-Balart, according to Mambi Watch.

B- Justice Building Blog explains why keeping the dream alive doesn't mean voting for a black man because he's black.

Barak Obama is a black man, but that is the least and worst reason to consider voting for him (or against him).

Vote for him because he comes from a broken family, and became a man who is raising two daughters with his wife. Vote for him because he is smart. But he used his Harvard degree not to obtain wealth on Wall Street, which was his right to do. But because he saw wrong in the neighborhoods of his home, and went back to do right.

In short, examine Mr. Obama's character and his ideas and his promises, and vote for him or don't vote for him, and don't even consider the color of his skin. That decision, either way you make it, fulfills the dream of Martin King and validates the greatness of this country.

C- Rakontur's marketing techniques get a write-up in BusinessWeek.

D- Wow. Great photo of a palm grove reflecting in a pool of water at Fairchild Tropical Garden, from Volunteering at Fairchild.

E- Coconut Grove Grapevine gets his hands on an old Coconut Grove Monopoly game.

F- Miami & Beyond talks about how entrenched Miami-Dade commissioners are and uses a Morin cartoon as a backdrop.

It's near impossible to get rid of a commissioner, even at the ballot box. They get appointed as a carbon copy of their predecessor and after that is almost a life appointment. The only exception seems to be a criminal indictment and we have had a few of those, thankfully. Challengers have a hard time competing with incumbents who have a larger public presence, draw a lot of financial contributions from companies doing business with the county and also have discretionary county funds at their disposal, which they use to curry favor with their constituents.

We need term limits for commissioners, because obviously voters just don't care enough or can be bought in enough quantities.

G- FinsNation previews this weekend's tonight's Dolphin/Saints game.

H- Blast Off! is one of the bloggers who is interviewed for this short video filmed out in Denver this week.

I- Miami-Dade Dems is patiently waiting for Obama's speech to begin at Invesco Field. Talk about a dedicated blogger!

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