Despite her distinguished career, if Janet Reno were to run for governor, Floridians would end up rehashing her involvement in past crises instead of focusing on what's good for the state.

The news that Janet Reno is considering running for governor next year surely made many Democrats happy -- and many Republicans even happier.

Reno has had a distinguished career, serving in the Clinton administration as the nation's first female U.S. attorney general after 14 high-profile years as Miami-Dade state attorney. Her name recognition and fundraising potential are the envy of most the other Democrats thinking of running for governor. Although Reno spent the past eight years in Washington, she knows and loves Florida.

But Reno would bring too many distractions to the governor's race. Should Gov. Jeb Bush seek re-election as expected, the 2002 race should be about his record, and about Bush's and the Democrats' competing priorities for the state's future. Reno no doubt would want to talk about Bush's record and Florida's future, too, but the Republicans and the media wouldn't let her. Instead, Floridians would find themselves bogged down much of next year with rehashes of Waco, Whitewater, Elian, Monica and dangling chads. Florida's problems are too pressing for such diversions.

With characteristic myopia, the national media are already casting our next gubernatorial race as a referendum on George W. Bush's performance as president. They are wrong. Jeb Bush is not his brother, and most of the concerns facing Florida have little to do with Washington politics. Gov. Bush deserves to be judged on his own record on education, the economy, the environment and other state issues. Floridians will not be well served if either party tries to turn the gubernatorial campaign into a referendum on President Bush -- or President Clinton.

Janet Reno is a person of great energy and accomplishment. She is part of a family with deep roots in Florida, and her commitment to public service is genuine. If the Democrats were bereft of solid candidates prepared to take on Gov. Bush, the political baggage Reno would bring to the race might be bearable. But that is not the case. As Bush has begun to look more vulnerable, several prominent Democrats have started positioning themselves for the chance to take

him on.

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