Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Would-be gubernatorial candidates lead hundreds in an all-out assault at a fundraising dinner. Said one: "We only have one enemy.''
By STEVE BOUSQUET
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 31, 2001
GAINESVILLE -- Gov. Jeb Bush was all the rage at the University of Florida Thursday night. But it was the rage of Democrats angry and eager for a return to power.
Seven announced or would-be candidates for governor shared a stage for the first time and took turns attacking Bush's record before a sellout crowd of 650 at the Alachua County Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner. The intensity of the rhetoric suggested a long campaign lies ahead in Florida, as Bush seeks to be the first Republican governor to win consecutive terms.
One after another, Democrats tore apart Bush's record on education, race relations, tax breaks and the environment, and the crowd relished it. U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman, D-Dunnellon, the emcee, set the tone by declaring at the outset: "We only have one enemy."
She didn't say who, but the speakers picked up the cue.
"We've got to beat Jeb Bush," said Janet Reno, who got the biggest cheers of the night and several standing ovations, but who left another crowd in suspense over whether she'll run.
"We've got to build a Democratic Party that leaves no one out," the former U.S. attorney general said, calling herself "a person who cares about justice and the people of Florida" on issues such as child care, job training and teacher pay.
Reno got some of the loudest applause when she said Florida's courts must "retain their independence against anybody." The Republican-led Legislature has passed laws giving Bush more control over judicial nominating commissions and has considered more sweeping measures such as term limits for judges.
Bush escaped blame for no problem, from urban sprawl to crowded schools, no matter how long it has been part of the fabric of Florida. Reno said Florida needs a Democrat as governor "so it doesn't take two hours to drive from downtown Miami out to Kendall," a suburb.
Former ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson called Bush a "proven divider" whose policies on affirmative action, taxes and other issues have split Floridians by race and class. Referring to the North Vietnamese captors who held him prisoner of war for 61/2 years, Peterson said: "They could not break Pete Peterson, and neither will Jeb Bush."
U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa -- another undecided Democrat -- said Bush "threw in the towel" on offshore oil drilling and criticized the governor for failing to reduce overcrowding in schools.
House Democratic leader Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, said "Florida deserves better" than a governor who she said ignores those who disagree with him. More than her Democratic rivals, Frankel sought to directly link Bush to the disputed presidential election.
"We Floridians deserve a governor who not only counts every person's vote, but who believes that every person counts," Frankel said.
Tampa lawyer Bill McBride, who helped build Holland & Knight into one of the nation's largest law firms, blamed Bush for giving Florida a national image "as a state that always goes cheaper and never better." Under Bush's leadership, McBride said, "the sense of statewide community has been shattered."
State Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami called for four-year degrees at community colleges to make a better-educated work force and improve the economy. "Make me your governor," Jones said as a refrain, and teachers will earn more and class sizes will shrink.
"We are in a dogfight for the future of this state," Jones said.
At the last minute, Alachua Democrats made room on the program for a seventh announced candidate: Bob Kunst, 59, a native of Miami Beach, supporter of gay rights and the decriminalization of marijuana who insists that the "stolen" presidential election is his party's best hope.
Bush campaign manager Karen Unger accused the Democrats of making "unfounded allegations" and said that under Bush, education spending has increased by $2.4-billion.
"The governor has a record of achievement for the people of Florida and it is a record we are going to run on and win on," Unger said. "Children are learning, schools are improving and streets are safer."
The turnout overwhelmed organizers of the third annual Lawton Chiles Dinner. Alachua County Democratic chairman Chuck Floyd said he had to change locations twice, settling on the J. Wayne Reitz Union ballroom on the UF campus.
It's so early for a campaign for governor in Florida -- 15 months from the November 2002 general election -- that even party activists can barely distinguish one candidate from another, except for the nationally prominent Reno, who is familiar to many from her tenure in Washington and, to some, even for her cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Jacqueline Goldman said she never goes to party affairs. But politics in Florida have changed, she said, and her party has "a wealth" of candidates to take on Bush.
Goldman, a retired University of Florida clinical psychology professor, said Bush has to go.
"His basic intent is to dismantle all government services and privatize everything including the public school system," she said. "I think that's going to be a very good issue."
Democrats said the sold-out ballroom is a sign of early confidence by a party determined to win back the governorship, and perhaps weaken a sitting president at the same time.
Before dinner, people patiently stood in line for 20 minutes to shake hands and share snapshots with Reno, who says her months of "assessment" will end in the next couple of weeks.
Reno stood on the same square of tile floor for nearly an hour, shaking hand after hand, at times using her left hand to steady her right. No other Democrat drew nearly as much interest.
Davis, a UF law school graduate, said the Legislature's decision to create another medical school at Florida State University as a "monument to politicians" was one of the many mistakes made by the Bush administration. He said Gainesville's specialty at "exporting knowledge" will now mean that it will spread the news about Jeb Bush's record.
Davis said he would say by Labor Day, this Monday, whether he's running.
Outside the hall, a display table of political items included bumper stickers that read "Hail to the thief" and "I got Bush-whacked."
Floyd said he was overwhelmed by media interest from across the state in what traditionally has been a purely local fundraising event.
Jon Mills, dean of the UF law school and a former House speaker, said he remembered when the dinner drew "about 90 people," but Democrats are enthused. "We've got six good candidates that everybody finds interesting."