McBride: Bush talked big but delivered less

The Democratic candidate says Florida now has governance on the cheap.

By LUCY MORGAN, Times Tallahassee Bureau Chief

© St. Petersburg Times
published March 2, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- Bill McBride, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate few Floridians know, accused Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday of choosing a "minimalist" path for the state after promising much more to voters.

"I think Jeb Bush is a fine man who is taking us down the wrong road," McBride told members of the Capitol City Tiger Bay Club. "I want better, not cheaper."

Displaying vast improvement since his first political speech bombed last summer, McBride laughed at those who joked about his "cheap haircut," admitting it cost $8 and at a shop in Thonotosassa, the small Hillsborough County community he calls home.

McBride also talked about the varying advice he has gotten from those who like his somewhat chunky size and others who want him to lose 30 pounds.

"From obscurity, I've come a long way," McBride said. "I don't believe it's about personality and I don't think I have a problem with not being in public office before."

Laying out his life from childhood in Leesburg to college at the University of Florida and life as a Marine, McBride said his "top sergeant" from time spent in Vietnam now lives in Spring Hill and plans to campaign with him.

Noting that his two children attend public schools, McBride said Bush promised to improve the state's education and economy but has tried to do it without spending money.

Looking back to Bush's 1998 campaign, McBride said he could easily support everything Bush said he was going to do, but now believes Florida got the 1994 Jeb Bush instead of the 1998 version.

"I'm stunned that a person who campaigned to bring people together has everyone at each other's throats," McBride said.

"I don't dislike Jeb, he's just got a wrong view of Florida, a minimalist, cheaper view."

He challenged Bush's claims that more jobs have been created in Florida, pointing to statistics released Friday showing the Tampa Bay area and the rest of Florida have actually lost jobs. "The truth is we're not doing very well," McBride said.

Republicans accused McBride and his main challenger, Janet Reno, of running campaigns on "empty rhetoric," challenging both to disclose their visions for the future instead of merely criticizing Bush.

Reno, the former U.S. attorney general, spoke to the same group a couple of months ago, but a straw poll taken Friday went overwhelmingly for McBride. Although many in attendance did not vote at all, 58 people voted for McBride; 6 for Reno, 1 for state Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, and 1 for state Sen. Daryl Jones, D-Miami.

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