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ANITA KUMARThe congressman joins U.S. Senate opponents in signing a no-attack pact, but he props open the door of dissent.
TAMPA - The Democrats challenging Peter Deutsch in the U.S. Senate race wondered if the combative congressman would pledge to refrain from negative attacks until the Aug. 31 primary.
Deutsch, a lawyer, signed such a pledge Thursday, but added a sentence that left the door open for future comments.
"Nothing herein would prohibit candidates raising legitimate differences with the votes, issue positions or judgments made by the other candidates," Deutsch wrote.
Opponents Betty Castor and Alex Penelas, who signed the pledge pushed by Florida Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, were surprised to hear about Deutsch's amendment. But their campaigns released carefully scripted responses as they tried to adhere to the agreement.
"Mayor Penelas is too committed to the issues Florida voters care about and the integrity of the party to have changed this declaration of unity," said Danae Jones, Penelas' campaign spokeswoman. "He never would have changed the language and pledge Bob Graham asked him to sign."
Roy Teicher, a Deutsch spokesman, said Deutsch added the sentence as a clarification.
The additional line "is just to ensure that the people of Florida are given an honest discussion of the issues," he said.
Graham, who is retiring after 18 years, said several Democrats asked him to write a pledge after months of negative attacks among the three main candidates, many of them initiated by Deutsch.
"It gives the campaign a higher level of public discussion," Graham said.
Graham wrote the language, asking the candidates to promise they will "maintain a high level of decorum" and support the person chosen as the party nominee.
He released the pledge at a news conference Thursday in Tampa, but refused to interpret Deutsch's added sentence or talk about past attacks. But the pledge may be too little, too late.
Deutsch has criticized Penelas, the mayor of Miami-Dade County, for not supporting Al Gore during the 2000 presidential election and the subsequent 36-day recount in Florida. More recently, he has accused Castor of engaging in illegal coordination with EMILY's List, a national fundraising group that supports women candidates.
And Deutsch's friend, Bernie Friedman, formed his own political group to attack Castor for failing to fire Sami Al-Arian when he was a professor at the University of South Florida and she was university president. Al-Arian is now under federal indictment and accused of raising money for a terrorist group. Penelas has been critical of his opponents at some forums and debates. Castor, former state education commissioner, has avoided any attacks.
"Betty Castor has continued to run a positive campaign on the issues that bring people together," said her spokesman Matt Burgess.