Bush campaigns among enemy

Jeb Bush takes his campaign to Florida's most Democratic county, hoping to win over voters who spurned him in 1998.

By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 4, 2002

Politically speaking, no place on earth has been less friendly to Gov. Jeb Bush than Broward County, home to more Democrats than any other county in Florida.

But that didn't stop Bush from bringing his campaign for re-election here Wednesday, where he eagerly courted separate groups of Hispanic, African-American and Jewish voters in a place where Democrats Janet Reno and Bill McBride have been working for months.

"I'm not conceding any votes," Bush said. "I'm not suggesting I'm going to carry precincts where I got 10 percent of the vote four years ago, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to make my case."

He made his case forcefully. In a speech to about 75 black residents, he defended elimination of racial preferences in hiring and in university admissions, attempting to turn controversy into an advantage. He said leadership means "taking on tough choices from time to time, and it requires making people angry."

Bush cited his support for historically black colleges and his efforts to help small minority firms gain state business, and he said his accomplishments were not well-known enough.

A pointed comment from a clergyman brought a surprising response. When the Rev. Clarence Glover said the Bush administration has spent too much money punishing juvenile lawbreakers and too little money treating them, Bush conceded the point, and promised to try to restore earlier budget cuts.

"There is a perception problem, and some of what you say is true as well," Bush told the pastor, saying cuts in prevention were significant.

Glover said afterward that he appreciated Bush's candor, but added: "What he does is more important than what he says."

Bush told the black delegation he opposes his brother's White House policy of detaining Haitian refugees indefinitely, and he said he has worked to make it easier for ex-felons to restore their voting rights.

Hearing that, one of the spiritual giants of Broward's black community gave Bush a rousing vote of support. The Rev. Mack King Carter of New Mount Olive Baptist Church, whose flock is overwhelmingly Democratic, said it was time black voters learn about Bush's record and look beyond partisan labels, and that the perception of Republicans as "racists" is wrong.

The audience was not selected at random. Everyone was invited by Dorsey Miller, a Broward Republican who serves as Bush's African-American outreach coordinator.

Making his case was much easier among a group of Hispanic supporters in Dania Beach, where Bush was joined by his wife, Columba. The bilingual governor alternated between English and Spanish, telling an audience gathered around him in an atrium that it is not true that Republicans don't have a heart, or "no tiene corazon."

Bush described a "field of dreams" in Florida where people, regardless of their ethnic background, can succeed. He said the vision depends on an education system that gives every child an equal chance "whether they have a vowel at the end of their name or a consonant."

The state Republican Party Wednesday launched a series of TV ads targeting Hispanics, calling it one of the largest campaigns of its kind in the country. The Spanish-language ads will appear over the Fourth of July on Spanish stations in Miami, Tampa and Orlando, cities with the largest concentrations of Hispanics.

Both parties are working to win over non-Cuban Hispanics, whose population has risen sharply in Florida and who lean Democratic. "This is the very first part of what will be a very large campaign targeted specifically to the Hispanic audience between now and November," said Towson Fraser, a Republican Party spokesman.

Bush lost Broward in 1998 by nearly 88,000 votes, a ratio of nearly 2 to 1. But that showing was much better than in his first race in 1994. Then, Bush narrowly lost statewide to Democrat Lawton Chiles in a race in which Broward votes were viewed as decisive.

"People are going to think Jeb Bush is running for county commission down here," said George LeMieux, the local Republican Party chairman.

-- Political editor Adam C. Smith contributed to this report.

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