Candidates to get air waves for free

Giving free air timeto political candidates sounds like a pipe dream, so maybe it's appropriate that the idealists at Tampa community radio station WMNF-FM are offering just that.

The station at the left end of the dial -- 88.5 -- will turn over at least an hour of broadcast time Wednesday to candidates.

"The air waves belong to the public and yet most airwaves . . . charge an arm and a leg for candidates for ad time so we figured we could start a trend here," said WMNF news director Rob Lorei. "It's not perfect and I wish we could give away more but it's a way to say not only to the candidates but to the rest of the media, hey, you ought to give away an hour of air time. You can afford it."

The commercial-free station tried it before the Sept. 10 primary and got 34 candidates involved. "Basically they're recording their stump speech," Lorei explained. "It's unfiltered. We're not putting any spin on it." The candidates simply call the station and leave their two-minute pitch on voice mail.

"Hopefully the idea will catch on and other radio stations and TV will do it," Lorei said.

For the Republican Party of Florida, how much is enough?

Gov. Jeb Bush is holding his lead in the polls. Republicans appear poised to pick up at least two more seats in Congress. But the fundraising continues.

GOP chairman Al Cardenas wants supporters to send at least $200 as a "last-minute gift" before Thursday, the last day the party can accept money for use in the Nov. 5 election.

"The last general election in Florida was decided by 537 votes," Cardenas writes. "Democrats from all across the nation are seeking revenge on Gov. Jeb Bush and our entire GOP ticket. I am convinced that we can fend off their last-minute attacks and late surge at the polls, but only if we deploy the most aggressive voter turnout campaign in Florida history."

In a state Senate district that runs from the Georgia state line all the way down to Citrus County, Rep. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, and Sen. Richard Mitchell, D-Jasper, are locked in a down-and-dirty battle marked by some especially ugly advertising.

In one series of ads Mitchell paints Argenziano as the enemy of the state's senior citizens.

"It's just a lie," Argenziano said last week as she planned retaliation. Argenziano angered the state's business community last year when she supported generic drugs, bulk purchasing and other measures to help senior citizens save money on drugs. "I'm the one who stood on the floor to challenge sending $31-million to take care of orange trees."

Could this campaign get worse?

Sen. Jim King, the incoming Senate president, thinks so: "Before that one is over with, you'll want to throw up."

The polls may give the edge to Jeb Bush in the governor's race, but the stars give it to Bill McBride . Carole Hemingway, a "political astrologer" from Maine who charts politicians and political races, has concluded the Taurus (McBride) will edge out the Aquarius (Bush).

"With transiting Uranus turning direct on Nov. 4, the day before the election, hold onto your hair," Hemingway said. "You can anticipate a climate of fast-paced, sudden developments where everything is happening at once, right up to the last minute of this nail-biting election."

Florida being Florida, we'd expect nothing less.

-- Steve Bousquet, Lucy Morgan and Adam Smith were on spin patrol.

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