Brochure for Bush prompts AARP disclaimer

A flier associating the governor and the organization causes AARP to state that it does not endorse candidates.

By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 15, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- A Republican Party mailing that urges older voters to support Gov. Jeb Bush prominently features the trademark logo of the AARP, which prompted the influential senior lobby Monday to "clarify" that it does not endorse Bush.

The full-color mailing landed in mailboxes all over the state over the weekend, part of an aggressive GOP strategy to persuade various voters to get absentee ballots and vote early. Similar mailings were aimed at Hispanics and veterans, among others.

The brochure shows Bush wearing an AARP button and standing at a lectern with the AARP logo on it and an AARP banner behind him. AARP executive director Bentley Lipscomb said the picture was taken at a March 2001 rally outside the Capitol that focused on the need for new nursing home laws. The picture was published in Florida newspapers. That put the photo in the public domain, though Lipscomb said it was "almost overkill" to use three pictures of Bush and AARP logos in the brochure.

The brochure superimposes a picture of a smiling and waving Bill McBride and the words, "Before you vote -- compare the facts." The piece touts Bush's prescription drug plan affecting 58,000 low-income seniors and tougher crime laws.

"We are well aware that the AARP does not endorse, nor was it meant to be construed as an endorsement," said Bush campaign spokesman Todd Harris. "We told them in advance that we were going to do this, that it was a picture taken at a public event, and they did not object to it."

Older voters, from postwar baby boomers to people in their 80s, are prized in any statewide election. But AARP, a tax-exempt group with 2.6-million members in Florida, is neutral in the governor's race, said Lipscomb.

"AARP cannot stop the mailing of this document," the group said in a statement. "We do not believe we have legal recourse to stop the Republican Party from using this picture because it is a factual picture that was taken at a public event. AARP does want to make it perfectly clear that we are not endorsing Gov. Bush nor any candidate for any elected office."

The Florida Democratic Party called the brochure another "devious plan" by Bush, who recently used that term in a discussion of the class size amendment. Democrats have repeatedly used the phrase for the past two weeks.

Lipscomb said Democrats could have published a similar brochure. He said McBride was at a forum in West Palm Beach last week with an AARP logo on the lectern and an AARP banner behind him. "But he didn't have the round sticker on," Lipscomb said.

© 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