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A Times EditorialThe four candidates for governor are spending too much time fighting old battles and not enough on specific solutions to Florida's problems.
There apparently isn't room anymore for mainstream moderates in the Florida Republican Party. Monday night, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher spent their final debate before next week's primary election arguing over who is really more conservative. They should have spent more time talking about what they would do as governor and less trying to convince voters they are clones of Gov. Jeb Bush - because they aren't.
Gallagher continued to hammer away at wedge issues such as abortion and civil unions, hardly the top issues for most Floridians. To Crist's credit, he wouldn't take the bait on hypothetical questions. The antitaxers also argued over who voted for which taxes in the past, and both turned loaded questions into issues of trust. Entertaining, but not very informative.
This election is about Florida's future in the post-Bush era. Crist and Gallagher are familiar statewide candidates and officeholders, so one debate is not likely to significantly shift public opinion. But the two Democrats, state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua and U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, are running their first statewide campaigns and are not well-known outside their home bases. Their debate, originally set for tonight, has been postponed because of Tropical Storm Ernesto. When they do meet, the stakes will be higher for them to introduce themselves and sketch out their vision for Florida instead of rehashing old voting records.
There are still a large number of undecided Democrats who will decide this election, and they want to know more about what the candidates would do about key issues:
- Homeowners insurance. Davis offers a policyholders bill of rights that includes some good suggestions, such as creating a new advocate for policyholders and demanding a performance audit of state-run Citizens Property Insurance. But he offers no broad plan for making insurance more available and affordable. Smith's plan is more comprehensive, but a state study casts serious doubt about the viability of his proposal to cap insurers' liability for damages at $100,000 after major hurricanes. It appears to be far too expensive.
Crist and Gallagher did not spend nearly enough time on insurance Monday night, although both now have specific plans. Where are the ambitious, workable solutions?
- Property taxes. Both Democrats oppose the simplistic Republican proposals to deal with soaring property tax bills and address the inherent inequities in Save Our Homes. Neither offers a clear plan for tackling the unfairness of the current situation, which produces wildly different tax bills for identical homes. Let's hear some specifics.
- Education. Crist and Gallagher fully embrace the FCAT. Smith and Davis would transform the FCAT into a diagnostic tool instead of a high-stakes test that has become an obsession. But their FCAT plans are fuzzy at best.
Davis and Smith were each a bit shaky at times in their last debate - particularly when compared to the unflappable Crist. They became bogged down in verbal shorthand only political insiders could follow. Their last debate will be their best and last chance to introduce themselves to undecided Democrats and offer a coherent vision for Florida's future instead of focusing on the rear-view mirror.