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For such a big office, ideas are pretty small

The four candidates for governor are not presenting many positions that are interesting or innovative. And the primaries are 10 weeks away.

By Times editorial
Published June 25, 2006

Anyone who thinks those dry position papers and campaign promises made by candidates for governor are only so much hot air should remember 1998. That's the year Gov. Jeb Bush won his first term after pledging to cut taxes, toughen punishment for crimes committed with guns, extend an environmental land-buying program and overhaul public education with standardized testing and tuition vouchers for students in failing schools. For better or worse, the new governor pushed all of those initiatives through the 1999 Legislature - and the results are still being felt as the eight-year Bush era comes to a close.

Now if only the four men running to succeed him were as thorough and creative in their own policy proposals. The Sept.5 primary is some 10 weeks away, but most of the candidates' initiatives so far are unrealistic or simplistic or both. Republicans Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher and Democrats Jim Davis and Rod Smith are smart politicians with experience. They can do better.

So far, the biggest factor in the race remains the man who is not on the ballot. Crist, the attorney general, and Gallagher, the chief financial officer, plaster Bush's picture on their campaign Web sites as they each try to portray themselves as an extension of the governor. They solidly support the incumbent's obsession with standardized testing and the privatization of government services. Davis and Smith counter that Florida's schools still fall short in many areas and accurately note that some of the biggest privatization initiatives have been disasters. It's only natural that a two-term governor with bold ideas would cast a long shadow over the race, but for the first time since 1990 this campaign for governor should not focus on Jeb Bush.

Yet none of these candidates has come close to mastering the vision thing. At a debate on Friday in St. Petersburg, the four men sat comfortably in overstuffed chairs and talked in generalities about big issues such as growth management. Their position papers are filled primarily with small ideas or tired rhetoric. Crist remains fixated on an expensive "antimurder" bill aimed at tugging at the hearts of voters horrified by the murders of three young girls. The Republican-led Legislature has repeatedly rejected his proposal to send thousands of probation violators back to court, and it is difficult to see how this resonates with voters when the overall crime rate is at a historic low.

The education discussion is no less disappointing. Crist embraces an arbitrary requirement that school districts spend 65 percent of their money in the classroom, which is too simplistic and has little support. Gallagher wants to expand tuition vouchers even though the Florida Supreme Court ruled one of those programs unconstitutional. Davis would raise teacher salaries by counting on uncertain funding sources and an odd endowment that would tie up $1-billion forever. Smith wants to restore the intangibles tax on stocks and bonds that the Legislature just repealed and isn't likely to reinstate.

Where are the innovative ideas to improve public education and raise overcrowded public universities another notch? Where are the bold solutions to the homeowners' insurance crisis? Where are the grand plans for making housing more affordable, diversifying our economy and protecting our environment?

It is time for the candidates for governor to start thinking as big as the job they seek to hold.

[Last modified June 25, 2006, 05:48:46]