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Gov. Bush should stay out of election dispute

The Hernando County Commission will meet only once more (Dec. 13) before adjourning for the holidays. The board's next meeting will be Jan. 9.

Governor-elect Charlie Crist will be sworn in a week before that, on Jan. 2.

Still, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush says the outgoing governor is considering appointing an interim to fill the District 2 commission seat, pending the outcome of Nancy Robinson's legal challenge of the election of her opponent, Rose Rocco.

There is absolutely no compelling reason for Bush to act on this matter before he leaves office in four weeks. There are no urgent or contentious issues before the commission. The public's business is not being delayed or jeopardized in any way. And in the event of an emergency, the four commissioners on the board have full authority to carry out their collective responsibilities.

The multipronged legal disputes between the Robinson and Rocco factions, while frustrating because of uncertainty and hyperbole, are in their early stages. A ruling from Circuit Judge John Booth about Rocco's residency is expected before Christmas. An appeal of an earlier, related ruling by Booth should come sooner than that.

Until those decisions are handed down, and the litigants' legal reactions are gauged so that some sort of realistic estimate can be made about how long it may take to solve this dispute, it would be premature - and politically risky for Robinson - for Bush to intervene.

If Bush acts on this, he reinforces the image, deserved or not, that the Republican Party is scheming to steal this election. Voters nationwide demonstrated their disdain for such bully politics about a month ago; a misstep here could rekindle that sentiment and work against Robinson if this contest winds up being decided by a special election.

Regardless of the legal arguments about Rocco's residency and whether she was a fully qualified candidate, the fact remains that most of the people who cast a vote in this election chose a Democrat. If the governor forces a Republican on that majority, especially if it is done hastily, it subjugates the will of the electorate and places partisanship above people.

If the time comes that an interim appointment is necessary, the person who should make that decision is Crist.

In the meantime, all concerned, including Gov. Bush, should wait for the judges to interpret this imprecise election law.

[Last modified December 6, 2006, 06:28:54]