A Times Editorial

One party, one voice

The insurance commissioner's GOP primary could have been a meaningful race. Now with Tom Gallagher out, Republican moderates have no voice.

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 16, 2000

Tom Gallagher looked and sounded remarkably chipper Thursday for a man who had just fallen on his sword.

Actually, he didn't quite fall. He was pushed.

Having insisted only a week ago that he still wanted nothing more than to be elected to the U.S. Senate, Florida's education commissioner is now the Republican leadership's consensus candidate for his old job as treasurer, insurance commissioner and fire marshal. And because he was good in that job, he becomes the leading candidate as well. Democrat John Cosgrove, a term-limited state representative, has solid credentials, but he has never before campaigned statewide. Gallagher has, five times. Nonetheless, the switch wasn't his idea but the genius of Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican chairman Al Cardenas, who appear to have been -- how shall we say this? -- strongly persuasive.

From their standpoint, it was brilliant on two counts. With Senate President Toni Jennings having abruptly quit the race, the Republicans were not assured of nominating a candidate they or the public could trust as insurance commissioner. Now they are, although Tim Ireland and Greg Gay may not see it that way just yet. Moreover -- and perhaps more importantly -- it spares them a divisive Senate primary and frees U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum to begin the November campaign now against Democrat Bill Nelson, the present insurance commissioner. Cardenas and Bush were frank in crediting Gallagher with a "sacrifice."

"We owe more than thanks. We owe him a lot," said Cardenas.

If they mean that, they owe him more independence than he was allowed as education commissioner. Gallagher's obeisance to Bush's greatly flawed school-rating and voucher scheme has not been the high point of his career.

Though his latest career path change is unquestionably smart politics for party leaders, it may seem something other than that to many of the 3.3-million rank-and-file Republicans who had expected to choose the Senate nominee themselves. There are significant philosophical differences between Gallagher and McCollum. Once again, Republican moderates are left with no alternative but a Democrat. They, and the state, are poorer for that. If that's going to happen every time a primary threatens to be meaningful, perhaps the GOP should trade in its primaries for conventions where the grass roots might at least have some voice.

Bush said Thursday he might think better of earlier primaries, but that's an idea with problems of its own. September primaries and October runoffs may be inconvenient for politicians who need to kiss and make up before facing the other side in November, but to hold them earlier would make the political process even more ferociously expensive. It would also require the Legislature to convene in January instead of March. When Florida last had spring primaries, the Legislature didn't even meet in election years. There's no going back to that, however much some people might wish that it never meet.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.