Reno wins debate because of lead, not responses

She projected little energy, rarely smiled and stumbled over her words a few times. But Janet Reno won the only televised debate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary by default.

As the frontrunner she didn't need to wow television viewers, and neither of her Democratic opponents dominated the debate or took even a mild swipe at her.

This was less of a debate than it was an echo chamber.

For one long hour, Reno, state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami and Tampa lawyer Bill McBride gave nearly identical answers to question after question. By the end, viewers learned little about them except that each is articulate, likes kids and seniors, and thinks Republican Gov. Jeb Bush has been a failure.

One would have thought each candidate was also sitting on a 20-point lead, they played it so cautiously.

McBride, a first-time candidate little known to many voters, came off as the warmest of the group, smiling broadly and talking about his elderly mother. But McBride needed to break out.

Even an early August internal poll touted by his campaign showed him 19 points behind Reno. Overcoming numbers like that in the final weeks of the primary would require one of the greatest political upsets in modern Florida history.

Tuesday's debate offered him his biggest opportunity for free TV exposure, and McBride checked his swing. At one point, he suggested either of his opponents could beat Bush in the November election.

"I want you to like both (my opponents), but I just want you to like me a little bit more," he said, repeating a standard stump line to brush off a question about where he disagrees with his Democratic challengers.

Reno and Jones echoed his sentiment that the main issue was defeating Bush. "We're going to come out of this primary united. The three of us are going to be together," Reno said in one of the evening's many me-too statements.

Only rarely do debates affect the course of an election -- Al Gore's 2000 performances and Lawton Chiles' folksy responses to Bush in 1994 come to mind -- and Tuesday's event in Palm Beach Gardens will be quickly forgotten.

No one made mistakes or looked dwarfed by anybody else. No one stood out, either. What passed for a colorful moment was the telegenic Jones concluding the debate by hoisting a hard hat on his head to tout his campaign to rebuild Florida after "Hurricane Jeb."

Only the most attentive viewers would have spotted any differences among the candidates. Asked about the pressing environmental issues facing Florida, Reno and Jones cited the Everglades and the state's water supply. McBride cited unchecked growth.

Reno and McBride also took the subtlest of swipes at each other when Reno noted she has proposed a specific prescription drug plan (McBride hasn't), and McBride said he has offered a detailed plan to increase education funding (Reno hasn't).

Democrats will elect their nominee to take on Bush in two weeks. Barring some dramatic development, it appears TV commercials will decide whether Reno lopes into the general election or faces a real challenge.

McBride's campaign strategy amounts to a study of the power of TV: Just show people enough 30-second snippets about him and his pro-schools message, the plan goes, and Reno's daunting lead collapses.

The theory is that Reno's support is built on little besides name recognition, and voters just need an alternative. The Reno campaign is taking his candidacy seriously enough that she launched her own TV ads Monday, after months of downplaying the need to run ads in the primary.

Asked after the debate whether he had persuaded many undecided voters to support him over Reno, McBride smiled.

"Once you give people of goodwill all the information they need, they'll make the right choices. What I needed to do is to let them know what I cared about and who I was," he said. "I think I did that tonight. I feel pretty comfortable with where we are."

Jones, a 12-year veteran state legislator, is usually the candidate with the most specifics. At times Tuesday night he tried speed-talking to fit what he wanted to say within the one-minute time constraints.

With little campaign money and barely showing up in public opinion polls, the debate finally gave Jones the same stature as Reno and McBride. Borrowing a page from Ross Perot and Bill Bradley, he seized the opportunity to throw out his campaign Web site and toll-free number.

Reno, best known to most voters as the stern attorney general they used to see on CNN, did little to soften that image. Only toward the end did she start smiling. She was the only candidate who gave her closing statement without appearing to refer to notes.

The debate confirmed one thing. The Democratic nominee won't emerge bloodied by their primary challengers. Jeb Bush is taking care of that all by himself.

-- Staff writer Steve Bousquet contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at (727) 580-2867 or adam@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright