NO ONE KNOWS MORE ABOUT THE SARASOTA/MANATEE POLITICAL SCENE THAN THE SARASOTA PHOENIX
The Max Goodman packaged make-over of Sydney Gruters
Photography by Alex Stafford, Hair by Brian Goetz, Make-Up by Bethany Holmstrom of Fresh Salon & Spa.
"Citizen Schorsch: The Story of Florida’s Most Notorious Political Kingpin"
THE GOODMAN PACKAGED SYDNEY GRUTERS ATTACK DOG PETER SCHORSCH
As the RPOF political operative Max Goodman begins to package Sydney Gruters other than being the wife of Florida State Senator Joe Gruter, the Goodman/Syndey Gruters ’s attack dog Peter Schorsch begins to trash Gruters’ opponent for U.S Congress, Eddie Speir.
Eddie Speier, who has become the target of Syndey Gruters smear attack with his extended Speir family. Speir and his wife Claire are parents of two children and recent grandparents.
Pedicini and Schorsch
Like the Ybor City RPOF political operative Anthony Pedicini, who for years has used Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch as an attack surrogate on numerous occasions, Goodman has been doing the same for his client, Sydney Gruters.
THE GOODMAN/PEDICINI SCHORSCH CONNECTION
Goodman’s connection to Pedicini is well documented, as Goodman is working together with Pedicini in the Republican establishment James Buchanan campaign against the Republican America First candodate Vic Rohe to replace the term-limited Joe Gruters in the Florida State Senate.
Schorsch’s client, Goodman, has replaced Pedicini as the political operative for the Republican establishment operating out of the Tallahassee swamp, replacing the failed Carlos Beruff approach of turning the Manatee County Commission into a shit show.
Goodman is issuing a sweeter brand of Kool-Aid to the politically naive in an effort to turn Manatee County back into the Beruff County Commission shit show.
GOODMAN SELLS THE NEAL KOOL-AID
Goodman’s approach is to take the softer Pat Neal approach, which Neal used with political operative Mac Stevenson to turn county government into a shit show, just as he did over the years by turning Sarasota County into “Paradise Lost” while stuffing county commissioners in his pocket.
It would almost be laughable if it were not so outrageous that some individuals drinking the Goodman Kool-Aid call Goodman “a class act.”
Goodman in the middle of Gruters and David Jolly the then Republican now running for Florida Governor as a Democrat
Goodman is just a party-hardy bottom feeder parachuted in from Maryland to push the Republican Party establishment agenda, which includes Sydney Gruters as the future U.S. congresswoman and Mike Rahn and Tara Poulton as Manatee county commissioners.
Boyd the flunky for the Neal/Beruff Gang of "Pay to Play" developers
As for Goodman’s strategy for Gruters, it consists of being endorsed by Republican establishment politicians like State Senator Jim Boyd, being packaged as a country club white social elitist, having his attack dog Schorsch throw shit against the wall to damage Speir, while raising millions to stuff mailboxes with glossy brochures.
GRUTERS/GOODMAN SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST SPEIR
If anyone has any doubts that the leading Republican America First candidate for Florida’s 16th Congressional District, Eddie Speir, is not a major threat to the Republican establishment operating out of the Tallahassee swamp, look at the hit pieces Schorsch is putting out on behalf of Sydney Gruters.
As the Gruters campaign gets down in the gutter with the “pay-to-play” publisher of Florida Politics and its smear campaign, it is fully evident that the Florida Republican establishment has a serious problem with Speir.
When they have Schorsch coming out of the closet writing not one piece of trash, but two pieces that end up in the garbage can — a place Schorsch himself has climbed out of in the past — any political observer knows the Republican establishment has a problem with Republican America First candidate Speir.
"Citizen Schorsch: The Story of Florida’s Most Notorious Political Kingpin"
SCHORSCH’S PAST PERSONAL AND FINANCIAL HISTORY
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Sydney Gruters’ attack dog, Schorsch has a personal and financial history that includes repeated evictions, a car repossession, multiple arrests for driving with a suspended license, and 16 misdemeanor charges for writing bad checks.
In his consulting work, multiple clients accused him of taking payments and failing to deliver services, in addition to leaving thousands of dollars in unresolved obligations.
But his troubles didn’t end with accusations of fraud and bounced checks. He also had a gambling addiction and owed thousands of dollars to the government and creditors.
The most damning aspect of Schorsch’s career collapse back in the day was a break with his consulting firm’s founder, Jack Hebert. It was an internal implosion tied to Schorsch grooming and dating Hebert’s teenage daughter. Although no charges were filed, the girl was still in high school, and Schorsch’s predatory behavior was never fully investigated.
This story regarding Schorsch’s personal and financial history was reported not only by the Tampa Bay Times, but also by NPR’s David Folkenflik and Miranda Green of Floodlight.
Miranda Green
Green reports on the intersection of dark money, the fossil fuel industrial complex, and the manipulation of news to spread misinformation. A Florida news site covers politics — often for a price : NPR
According to the Tampa Bay Times, multiple former clients accused Schorsch of accepting payment, failing to provide the promised services, and leaving thousands of dollars in unpaid obligations.
Neil Brickfield, a former commissioner, said Schorsch was paid to print and mail thousands of brochures that never materialized.
“It was the closest thing to a professional shakedown that I’ve ever come into contact with,” Brickfield said.
Although the Tampa Bay Times did publish an exposé on Schorsch called A Wilting of Great Promise, today the piece remains mysteriously hidden from public view and is only openly available through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. A wilting of great promise
Schorsch defended himself, stating: “I am not an elected official. I’ve never asked for public trust, so if I drink too much, eat too much, snort too much, fight too much … or do too much of whatever else, then I do that at my own peril,” Schorsch wrote.
SCHORSCH WILL WRITE ARTICLES FOR A PRICE OF ADVERTISING
It has become a known fact among political observers in Florida that Schorsch, or one of his sixteen writers, will, for the price of advertising, write either a hit piece or a favorable piece for a client.
Ogles and Mendoza
Jacob Ogles and Jesse Mendoza are two local Schorsch Florida Politics reporters, who carry water for those local politicians counsultants like Goodman willing to pay for some "Pay to Play" journalism." . Check out recent puff pieces for Sydney Gruters by Ogles and Mendoza.
Goodman is not the only political consultant or politician willing to pay so-called media outlets to put out a false narrative for politicians running for office or for issues being promoted.
The Sarasota Phoenix recently received an inquiry from a major political operative in Florida seeking to place a puff piece for one of his clients and was willing to pay to do so. It was declined.
Public records show that since 2010, at least 157 politicians and dozens of PACs have paid Schorsch’s company, Extensive Enterprises Media, nearly $900,000 for advertising, consulting, and related services.
Schorsch’s company was estimated to generate between $2.5 million and $3 million annually. In one recent appeal to politicians, consultants, and campaigns reviewed by Floodlight, Schorsch offered a $5,000 package that included ads and native content regarding key endorsements and fundraising.
Political professionals say paying for coverage at Florida Politics is simply the cost of doing business. Without it, they say, campaigns cannot communicate their seriousness to potential donors or partners.
“That’s not journalism, but it is masking itself as journalism,” says Neil Brown, who was editor-in-chief of the Tampa Bay Times when it investigated Schorsch over similar concerns a decade ago. “And I think that is problematic for democracy.”
Tracey McManus, a Tampa Bay Times reporter, accused Schorsch of “ethical bankruptcy.”
Veteran Florida journalist Marc Caputo, now a political reporter for The Messenger, offered a terse verdict on Florida Politics: “There’s a lot of grift that’s happening there.”
SCHORSCH MODEL “REALLY, REALLY SCARY”
Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani paid $2,250 in 2017, but later withdrew, calling the model “really, really scary” and warned that blurred lines between reporting and sponsorship erode public trust.
One anonymous Republican lawmaker went further, alleging that Schorsch threatened him with attacks if he did not pay.
Schorsch said he had no recollection of such an offer, a response he has repeated when facing similar claims, but the most alarming charge raised by critics centered on a potential criminal conspiracy to subvert campaign finance laws.
POTENTIAL CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY
Campaign finance laws require candidates to disclose expenditures, but an open secret rarely discussed publicly is a common workaround in which Florida Politics and stylistically adjacent publications bear chief complicity in avoiding these regulations.
Instead of paying media outlets directly — where disclosures would trigger clearer labeling — campaigns engage in what some legal experts describe as potentially criminal activity by paying consultants to evade election law.
SCHORSCH CLIENTS ARE MAJOR POLITICAL OPERATIVES
Though not widely known among the public, Schorsch’s many clients include top figures in Florida’s political consulting industry, including Brett Doster, Bertica Cabrera Morris, and John Dowless.
According to Floodlight: “Multiple media reports describe consultants like these routing the laundered cash they receive from their client candidates to purchase unlabeled content placement in Schorsch’s Florida Politics. The result is material that resembles independent journalism while functioning as promotion, often without explicit disclosure to readers.”
The Floodlight article continues: “Multiple political professionals describe this not as an exception, but as the standard operating model within Florida’s political ecosystem, with Florida Politics at the forefront.”
According to Floodlight, "In 2022, Schorsch launched Southeast Politics targeting nine states, including Texas, Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Critics from legitimate news outlets immediately raised alarm bells, labeling Schorsch’s outlet a grift machine and a good-old-boy protection racket."
Yet the system persists within Florida’s political structure — a structure largely catalyzed by one party that has maintained control of the governor’s office, the legislature, and the courts for decades. As a result, there is limited institutional pressure to challenge the arrangement in any sustained way.
Which explains something else:
Why do people who disagree with Schorsch work with him?
Why do critics stay quiet?
Why didn’t the system truly challenge itself?
Why does “pay-to-play” journalism, masking itself as journalism, continue to exist?
Is it because if Schorsch — or even one politician — were to be seriously investigated for money laundering or extortion through political consultants by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the allegations were found to be true, the entire consultancy industry would collapse, along with the way a massive number of politicians have operated campaigns throughout the state?
Or is it that Schorsch knows where all the bodies are buried — and who dug the graves?
So, the question is not simply how influence peddling happens. The real question is this: Will justice ever be served for the victims and for the public as “pay-to-play” journalism continues to corrupt Florida politics?
Spier and his wife Claire
One item that appears certain--Eddie Speir doesn't need a Max Goodman to package him or Peter Schorsch's "Pay to Play" journalism. It appears Syndey Gruters does.
Jon Susce
The Sarasota Phoenix team is the last media guardian in the Sarasota/ Manatee area and beyond laying bare for all to see how the Sarasota/ Manatee area and beyond is controlled by a UNI Party financed by millionaires and billionaires turning Florida into Paradise Lost..
As usual, Jon Susce offers great insightfound nowhere else in Suncoast and State Republican politics." Kevin Wright of the Manatee Republican Liberty Caucus.