Free Republic

Peter Deutsch has been giving it to Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas good. For the past few months, the Pembroke Pines congressman has been playing the Elliot Ness -- or Eliot Spitzer, if you prefer -- of the U.S. Senate race. Both Democrats, of course, are running for the Florida seat being vacated by presidential not-gonnabe Bob Graham. But the noble Deutsch doesn't just want to beat Penelas; he wants the SOB in prison, where the youngish almost-supple mayor would surely be raped on a daily basis. After learning in July that Penelas accepted questionable campaign contributions from a health care...

LEESBURG - U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch tore into his U.S. Senate Democratic rival Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas in person Sunday, accusing Penelas before a stunned audience of ``single-handedly doing as much as anyone to help George W. Bush become president.'' As a stone-faced Penelas sat beside him, staring straight ahead, Deutsch, of Pembroke Pines, looked at the mayor and called him a ''pathological liar'' for suggesting that he had labored to elect Al Gore during the 2000 presidential race.Then Deutsch repeated his accusations that Penelas has engaged in ''illegal and criminal'' fundraising in his bid for Senate.Deutsch's attacks -- the...

Did you hear it last night? A thunderous, whooshing noise coming from somewhere near downtown Miami? That was the sound of Miami's bid to host the 2004 Democratic National Convention being flushed down the proverbial toilet by Alex Penelas. Last night, our Democratic mayor held a fundraiser for Mario Diaz-Balart's Republican congressional campaign. ''Mario's a friend,'' Penelas said Monday before the $250-per-person event at Perricone's Marketplace. ``That goes beyond anything else.'' Penelas, without a hint of sarcasm, said he believes hosting a fundraiser for a Republican will actually strengthen Miami's chances of landing the Democratic convention. Miami is one of...