Legislature

Presidential politics, war cast shadow over Tallahassee

SMITH E-mail: Click here

© St. Petersburg Times
published March 5, 2003

TALLAHASSEE -- It may be the budget crisis of 2003, but looming over it for Jeb Bush is 2004.

What a balancing act he has: the worst budget picture in at least a decade, his controlling party deeply divided and the pressure of re-electing his brother to the White House next year.

The family connections were apparent throughout Bush's somber and sometimes listless State of the State speech Tuesday. With his brother serving as the wartime president, Jeb Bush sounded like the wartime governor. In fact, he talked more about the looming war than his own budget.

"His defiance of the world cannot stand," the governor said of Saddam Hussein, sounding much like his father did in 1990 ("This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.")

Bush has made it clear this week that re-electing his brother is a crucial part of his agenda as he enters the grimmest legislative session of his tenure.

First came his selection of Toni Jennings as lieutenant governor. She brings to the job broad respect among lawmakers and great savvy about how Tallahassee works. But equally important, say Republicans looking ahead to future elections, is her home base of Orange County, a crucial swing county that Al Gore won in 2000.

Then on Tuesday, he announced his plan to try to kill the Constitutional amendment mandating smaller class sizes. He wants as soon as this fall to put it back on the ballot, with "massive tax increases" attached, and count on voters to rescind it.

It's a risky move aimed at avoiding a tax increase just as the presidential election heats up in Florida.

Bush and many legislative leaders acknowledge that reducing class sizes can't be done without more money -- increasing taxes or eliminating sales tax exemptions. But he's an ardent opponent of tax increases, and the last thing he wants to do is raise them just in time for the 2004 campaign.

He fought hard to defeat the amendment in November, but couldn't quite pull it off. Now he's determined to avoid tax increases this year, and then kill the amendment before lawmakers have to hammer out their next budget.

Senate President Jim King, along with many other Republicans Tuesday, said he was reluctant to try to rescind the amendment so quickly after it passed. He and others questioned whether Floridians really failed to understand the amendment when they passed it, particularly since Bush himself repeatedly warned about its potential price tag.

"Our job is to take what has passed and try to facilitate it," said state Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa. "The time to fight this was a year ago, not right now."

Lawmakers on Tuesday were more receptive to asking voters to reconsider the amendment in 2004, after lawmakers have worked at implementing the ballot initiative. But that too could be politically sticky.

"It would be a presidential election year, and I'm not sure it's the smartest thing we could do either," King said.

Florida being Florida and the governor being a Bush, much of what happens in Tallahassee over the next couple years will be viewed in the prism of presidential politics. That's especially true with Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Graham planning to to challenge the governor's brother.

Even as a long shot to win the Democratic nomination, Graham stands be a key player in the 2004 race.

"What Republicans wonder about is Graham as the vice president on the ticket. That would make Florida even more competitive than it already is," said Mike Murphy, a Jeb Bush campaign media consultant who in was Tallahassee for the governor's speech.

-- Adam C. Smith can be reached at (727) 893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com .

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

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