Senate candidates square off in first debate tonight
A new poll shows Betty Castor and Mel Martinez tied, each with 45 percent, 9 percent undecided, and 1 percent to a minor candidate.
By STEVE BOUSQUET and ANITA KUMAR
Published October 18, 2004
The last time Tim Russert moderated a Florida political debate he made a lasting impression.
Two years ago, the moderator of NBC's Meet the Press bored in on Bill McBride, the Democratic candidate for governor, with a volley of withering questions dealing with the cost of the class-size amendment that McBride supported.
"What number do you pick?" Russert asked McBride.
"It's somewhere in between the $8-billion and the $27-billion," McBride answered.
"Twelve or 15?" Russert demanded.
"Well, I think that's a fair estimate, yes, sir," McBride said.
McBride looked surprised and lost the debate before getting beaten by incumbent Gov. Jeb Bush in a race that was not close.
The stakes will be higher tonight as Russert moderates the first debate between U.S. Senate candidates Betty Castor and Mel Martinez, who are deadlocked in a battle to succeed retiring Sen. Bob Graham.
Russert will moderate the first of two live statewide TV debates between the Senate candidates. The one-hour debate will be broadcast live on Florida's NBC affiliates, including WFLA-Ch. 8 in Tampa, at 7 p.m.
C-SPAN plans to show the debate on tape-delay.
Castor, the Democrat, former state education commissioner and former president of the University of South Florida, and Martinez, the former federal housing secretary and Orange County chief executive, spent the weekend preparing for the debate. They expect a series of questions about Sami Al-Arian, the former USF professor who was under investigation for ties to terrorism when Castor was USF president.
Al-Arian, who was indicted last year on terrorism charges, has been the central figure in television ads aired by both candidates.
Russert also is expected to ask about the war in Iraq, the economy, prescription drugs and other issues. Castor has tried to lower expectations.
"It's making me nervous, that's for sure," she said. "Here I'm up against a big trial bar attorney."
Martinez said he looks forward to the debate.
"I know Mr. Russert is a tough questioner," he said. "That only invites the best in somebody."
Martinez initially refused to participate in a Russert-moderated debate, saying he wanted Florida journalists to question the candidates.
The former U.S. housing secretary spent about three hours Sunday in preparing for the debate at the Orlando offices of campaign adviser John Sowinski, spokeswoman Jennifer Coxe said.
Castor also spent much of Sunday preparing and was quizzed by staff members.
Castor spokesman Dan McLaughlin said the debate is crucial because it's the first debate and hurricanes had prevented voters from paying close attention to the race.
"I think it will loom large because it will be first time people will see candidates talk about the issues," McLaughlin said. "Mr. Martinez faces tough questioning from Mr. Russert, which he tried to duck."
The debate comes as a new Mason-Dixon poll, released Sunday, shows the race tied. Castor and Martinez each received 45 percent, with 9 percent undecided and 1 percent to a minor candidate. A Mason-Dixon poll had Martinez leading by five points a week ago.
"We've said all along it's going to be a close race," Coxe said. "It's going to be nip and tuck up until the election."
Castor's campaign attributed the shift in poll numbers to voters being turned off by Martinez's TV ads attacking Castor. On Sunday, Castor's campaign fought back against a Martinez television ad in which Gov. Jeb Bush criticizes her for linking Martinez and President Bush to Al-Arian.
Graham and former state university system Chancellor Charles Reed insisted Castor did all she could to remove Al-Arian from USF when she was president.
"It's absurd to say she didn't do everything she could do," Reed said in a conference call with reporters. "She took decisive, tough action. She opposed this guy. What else was she was supposed to do?"
Castor, who placed Al-Arian on paid administrative leave when he was under federal investigation, said she didn't get the information she needed from federal authorities to fire the tenured professor.
Martinez's ad is the sixth in the general election that mentions Al-Arian. Gov. Bush volunteered to help Martinez after he saw Castor's latest ad which accuses Martinez, one of the chairmen of the president's 2000 campaign in Florida, of allowing Al-Arian to campaign with the president.
"It's very unfortunate that this has become such a trigger issue in the campaign," Castor said during a Sunday interview program in Miami.
Reed, who now heads the California university system, criticized Gov. Bush for involving himself in the race. He said Bush was not in elected office at the time and could not have possessed direct information about the situation.
"How Jeb can say he knew something about it is way beyond me," Reed said.
