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Reno talk prompts campaign doubts
By STEVE BOUSQUET
© St. Petersburg Times, TALLAHASSEE -- Staking out positions on an array of issues, Janet Reno said Friday that limits on stem cell research should be lifted if they interfere with science, that gun owners should be licensed and that "draconian" prison terms for drug users should be shorter.
"I didn't hear any proposals on how to make Florida better," said Barney Bishop, a lobbyist and Democratic activist who arranged Reno's luncheon speech. "I think she wants to articulate her vision. . . . I just didn't hear the political rhetoric that would make me think she's running." Reno avoided any references to Gov. Jeb Bush in her speech. Lance deHaven-Smith of Florida State University's Institute of Government, a careful student of state politics, shook his head and said "No" when asked if he thought Reno was running. "It was all about policy, mostly federal policy," he said. Reno, who served four terms as Miami-Dade state attorney before President Clinton appointed her the country's first female attorney general, played to her strengths Friday. On crime, she said the country must be better prepared to absorb an estimated 500,000 prisoners who will be flowing out of prisons in the next several years. She advocated job training programs to reduce recidivism and more drug courts. Reno said the realization that drug abusers are arrested on purpose to get help underscores the need for better treatment programs. Punishing addicts is not the answer, she said. "I would like to see us reduce some of the prison sentences that I think are draconian for those that involve use or dealing in small amounts" of drugs, Reno said. "I think if we rationalize our sentences to make them short, firm, fair and fit the crime, we can be more effective in that regard." In her speech, Reno called America "the most violent industrialized nation." Asked later if she favored stricter gun laws to curb violence, she said all gun owners should be required to prove they can use a gun safely, including owning a license. "You should be licensed for that specific gun, and you should have demonstrated the ability to safely and lawfully use that weapon," Reno said. Five Democrats have opened fundraising accounts to explore a possible challenge to Gov. Jeb Bush. The latest is U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, who filed papers Thursday, joining House Minority Leader Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami, Tampa lawyer Bill McBride and former U.S. Rep. Pete Peterson, a former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. Only Reno, the non-candidate, draws overflow crowds, TV cameras and throngs of reporters wherever she goes. She said she would announce her decision in September. To the inevitable questioner in the audience who asked if she would run, Reno said: "My responsibility right now is to figure out how I can serve best: outside, without having to put up with the slings and arrows . . . or inside." By coincidence, Reno and Peterson -- potential rivals -- crossed paths at the Tampa airport Friday. "We talked about Orlando and traveling around the state and the joys and difficulties of it," Reno said. Tallahassee lawyer Richard McFarlain, a friend of Reno's for 30 years, introduced Reno in the club's rollicking tradition, calling her "the first woman lawyer not to have an illegal alien working for her." He also suggested that Reno run for a U.S. Senate seat in New York, because, like Hillary Rodham Clinton, "she's been covering for Bubba for the past eight years."
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From the Times state desk Lucy Morgan
From the state wire
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