 |
||||||||
 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
 |
Great campaign for mayor taking shape in Tampa
© St. Petersburg Times Buckhorn or Sanchez? Sanchez or Buckhorn? Who can resist a good election? The race to become the next mayor of Tampa is a good election, even 11 months out. If the election were today, you have to figure the top two finishers would be Bob Buckhorn, a City Council member, and Frank Sanchez, a Tampa native who has returned from a national and international career. No disrespect intended to the other two announced candidates, City Council member Charlie Miranda and County Commissioner Chris Hart, or to anybody not announced yet. It would be great to see one of them finish in the money because half the fun of politics is watching people defy the predictions. Miranda is a great guy. He is principled, practical and funny. I hope he brings back his folksy campaign signs ("Who Cares? Miranda Cares.") He gets a respectable vote. As for Hart -- he has the double disadvantage of starting late and coming from an elected body that spends much of its time looking like nitwits. As the only Republican in the nonpartisan race so far, he gets some automatic support. But as a fallback he should keep his fingers crossed for a nice patronage post. I stand by the original question: Buckhorn or Sanchez? Sanchez or Buckhorn? This is a strong matchup between two men, both in their early 40s, who cut their teeth on Democratic Party politics. They have that much in common. Too bad that the nature of things is that their antipathy will probably grow over the next year. I would be curious to see them work together on something. Buckhorn is the better-known quantity. He was an aide to former Mayor Sandy Freedman and has been on the City Council since 1995. He has long hoped to become mayor. He has worked tirelessly on groups of potential voters, especially neighborhoods and African-American communities. In recent years, Buckhorn has gotten the biggest headlines for being against things, and for criticizing lapses of the current mayor, Dick Greco. Most famously, Buckhorn helped ban the business of "lap dancing." Sanchez's career track is impressive. He is a specialist in mediation overseas. Working as a private consultant, he helped negotiate border disputes in South America. In the Clinton administration, he was an assistant secretary of transportation handling foreign negotiations. If you like Buckhorn, you should point out that Sanchez was gone from Tampa a long time and has missed a lot. There is something to be said for local knowledge, a guy who knows which mistakes not to repeat. If you like Sanchez, you should point out that Buckhorn has been against things, but what is he for? Sanchez has spent a lot of time bringing people together, and what better for a mayor? You also should point out that Buckhorn worked for the former mayor, Freedman, while Sanchez is the favorite of the popular current mayor, Greco. Oh, yeah. The Greco-versus-Freedman thing is inescapable. Buckhorn is not Freedman, though. He has spent a lot of time reassuring people of that, especially in the Tampa Police Department, where Freedman's policies were unpopular. It will be interesting to see how much they hold her against him. Tampa is rich with theories about how each man cannot possibly win in a runoff, and how he will. That the neighborhoods and African-American communities are not nearly as solid behind Buckhorn as he believes, and that they are. That Sanchez will get all of Miranda's voters in a runoff, and that Buckhorn will win a low-turnout runoff because of motivated supporters. In sum, it is a good election, and something for us junkies to look forward to beyond November. -- You can reach Howard Troxler at (727) 893-8505 or at troxler@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
Times columns today Howard Troxler Gary Shelton Sara Fritz From the Times Metro desk |
