State: Candidates swamp the Tampa Bay region with TV ads

Pols love the Tampa Bay area. Viewers in the 10-county Tampa Bay TV market have been subjected to more political ads this campaign season than any other major market in the Florida, a clear sign of the region's influence.

Campaigns aired 8,205 ads, at a cost of $4.2-million, in this market from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1, reports the Alliance for Better Campaigns, which advocates free or low-cost political TV ads.

WFLA, the local NBC affiliate, was the station of choice, running 1,765 ads at a cost of $1.24-million. A close second was WTSP, the CBS affiliate, which aired 1,716 ads at a cost of $1.26-million.

Statewide, Miami-Fort Lauderdale was the second most popular market and the most expensive: 6,019 political ads have aired there this season at a cost of $6.2-million.

The only viewers who saw more ads than the Tampa Bay area were in Pensacola, which is part of the Mobile, Ala., TV market. A total of 13,182 ads ran there for the bargain price of $2.9-million.

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Here's one way to keep your supporters from getting fouled up at Florida's dysfunctional polling places: get them to vote absentee. The state GOP has aggressively encouraged Republicans to vote early for years, and this year is no exception.

The party sent absentee ballot applications last week to Republicans throughout Florida in a brochure featuring Gov. Jeb and President George W. Bush with American flags and soldiers. They followed that up with recorded phone message from Gov. Bush urging Republicans to vote by mail. "This election could be very close," the governor says in his message.

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Republican darling Katherine Harris ignited Democrats' fury in 2000 with her dual roles of secretary of state and chairwoman of George W. Bush's Florida campaign. So there was a bipartisan sigh of relief when Harris resigned to run for Congress and Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Jim Smith, who has served both parties, to replace her.

While Smith has kept out of politics since moving into the Capitol, his wife, Carole, has kept her schedule of Republican fundraisers.

Mrs. Smith threw a fundraiser last week for Charlie Crist, Republican candidate for attorney general, and it drew about 50 guests. Jim Smith also attended.

"She's a citizen in her own right," Crist said. "God bless her for helping out."

Democrats are not leaping to criticize Smith.

"We really, truly respect Secretary Smith, but after what happened in 2000, this really puts him in a delicate position," said Democratic Party spokesman Ryan Banfill. "We hope that he will be careful not to slide back to the ways of Katherine Harris."

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After stirring up a hornets' nest with sharp-tongued criticism of elections officials in South Florida, Smith left for a two-week hunting trip in England.

He had purchased nonrefundable plane tickets before Bush pulled him out of retirement. Smith said he would be in contact with his office by telephone so he could keep close tabs on preparations for the Nov. 5 general election. He returns Oct. 3.

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Gubernatorial running mate rule No. 1: Never upstage the boss.

That won't be a problem for Bill McBride's sidekick, state Senate Democratic leader Tom Rossin. Introduced for the first time last Wednesday on the steps of the Old Capitol, Rossin faced eight television cameras and a large crowd of supporters.

"If Bill thinks that he doesn't have much charisma, take a look at me," Rossin said.

McBride called his choice "an important decision, one that I want to be evaluated on." Some Democrats wanted him to emphasize diversity and offer more contrast to the Bush-Brogan ticket by choosing a younger candidate, a woman or an African-American, but he went for legislative experience in the South Floridian.

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The sort of red-meat partisan rhetoric those Democrats want was delivered on the Capitol steps by Scott Maddox, the Tallahassee mayor who came in second in the primary for attorney general. Maddox compared McBride with Gov. Jeb Bush this way: "He ran a successful business, and didn't have to rely on his father's connections in order to make a living."

-- Wes Allison, Adam C. Smith, Alisa Ulferts, Lucy Morgan and Steve Bousquet were on spin patrol. Send tips to spin patrol@sptimes.com.

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