Orlando Sentinel

Floridians to pick top dog: Bush or Rubio.

- Scott Maxwell

In one week, Donald Trump resurged, Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio got beaten like drums (Clinton in the polls and Rubio by Chris Christie), and Jeb Bush found a lifeline. Perhaps the most remarkable developmen­t is that, with two more Republican candidates dropping out, both Florida guys have made it to the final six.

This is like the part of “Survivor” where the two tribes are small enough to merge … except, in this contest, viewers hope the contestant­s stay fully clothed.

To keep this column Floridafoc­used, know this: There is one spot for a GOP establishm­ent guy.

And it’s basically down to a dogfight between the Sunshine State boys, Jeb and Marco.

Jeb is like the old family bloodhound. He’s reliable and loyal.

But he’s getting tired and, when newcomers visit, he doesn’t really impress.

But he’s determined to prove he can still hunt down ’coons, Clintons and socialists.

Marco, on the other hand, is one of those little, excitable, yippy dogs. The first time people see him, he dazzles.

But play with him for a couple of hours, and you see that yipping is the only trick he’s got.

Christie exposed Rubio’s onetrick nature with devastatin­g results in the last debate, challengin­g Rubio to give any unique thoughts beyond his “memorized 25-second speech.” Rubio couldn’t and imploded.

After plummeting in the polls, Rubio gave a more energetic memorized speech about doing better next time.

So what’s all this mean to you? Well, this Jeb/Marco dogfight may come down to you, the Florida voters, when these two guys return for a homecoming in Florida’s March 15 primary. That might be appropriat­e. After all, Florida Republican­s should best know which of those two should be top dog.

Double down on duh

Flori-Duh. It’s impressive that Florida generated two finalists in the presidenti­al race. It’s less impressive that Florida also generated the following two headlines the same week: “Florida man charged with throwing alligator into Wendy’s” and “Florida Man Loses Car Keys, Locks Himself in Trunk While Looking for Them.”

Evaluation-Duh. Something sure stinks in Orange County’s school-teacher ratings.

Last year, the county rated 80 percent of its teachers “highly effective.” This year, it’s 2 percent. The Hindenburg experience­d a less-violent drop.

The district offers a lot of jargon-ladled explanatio­ns and notes that the teachers union was involved in the grading system. But if Superinten­dent Barbara

Jenkins and School Board Chairman Bill Sublette really believe that only 2 percent of their teach-

ers are top-notch, they should be ashamed of their workforce. The statewide average is 37 percent.

The truth is: I don’t really think they do believe that. And neither does anyone else.

This is just more proof that, in Florida, education scoring systems — whether for students, schools or teachers — are wildly unreliable.

Legislatio­n-Duh. In Wednesday’s column, I wrote that Rep. Jason Brodeur’s proposal to imprison psychiatri­sts who discussed guns with suicidal patients was probably the most “bone-headed bill in the history of the Sunshine State.” Well, I want you to know that I didn’t make that claim lightly.

In fact, before writing that, I came up with a list of “The 3 Most Bone-headed Bills ever proposed in Florida.” It also includes pistol-shaped Pop Tarts and state-mandated movie watching … with honorable mentions going to the “droopy drawers” bill and efforts to legalize dwarf-tossing.

You can find the full list at Orlandosen­tinel.com/takingname­s.

Health-Duh. Perhaps you’ve seen that Florida officials are trying to promote the Sunshine State as a destinatio­n for “Medical Tourism” — an industry that caters in part to wealthy foreigners looking to get medical services, elective or otherwise.

There’s some real economic value in this. But there’s also a pretty sick dichotomy at play here.

Last year, the entire session melted down when the state House refused $50 billion in federal dollars to provide health care for working-class citizens — the people who actually live here. They didn’t want that. But they do want to spend millions of those working-class citizens’ tax dollars trying to attract wealthy Middle Easterners looking for a tummy tuck.

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