In swarm of attention, Bush chats

The governor travels outside Tallahassee to meet residents to discuss their concerns - and the election.

By JULIE HAUSERMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 15, 2000

MARIANNA -- Saying he feels like a "hostage" with the world's media camped outside the state Capitol, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- the other Gov. Bush -- escaped to rural North Florida on Tuesday, where he held open office hours to hear from citizens. He was greeted with a standing ovation.

"Believe it or not, some people have other things on their minds than the election," Bush said.

But it didn't take him long to bring up the topic himself.

While talking to a North Florida beekeeper, Bush said: "These are my bees," and waved toward a crowd of reporters.

"I'm the hive. It just keeps getting bigger. They've surrounded the Capitol with these satellite dishes. I can't even go outside. It's like the seventh day of being held hostage. Like the Iranian hostage crisis."

Bush later said he was "disheartened" about the maelstrom in Florida.

"There's a lot of divisiveness, there's a lot of intense passion now," Bush said. "When the national folks leave and go on to the next story, some of us are going to ... still be here. I'm going to be governor when this is resolved. "Do I want my brother to be elected president? Yes, I do. But my role is to do the best job I can as governor."

Later, Bush told reporters, "I've talked to my brother, and he's at peace."

With Florida's voting rules now a world topic, Bush said he expects that, "once this is over, we'll look at all the election laws."

The governor said he supported Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris' decision to demand all certified county votes by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"I think she's doing the right thing," Bush said.

He wouldn't comment on the controversy over the voting recount, saying, "I'm going to let the campaigns decide all these things."

But mostly, Bush took a break from all the politicking and focused on the parochial concerns of Florida residents: students worried that their schools weren't well-funded, neighbors complaining about blasting from rock mines, a nursing home worker troubled by elder abuse, and the beekeeper, 40-year-old Bill Slay, who lives outside Panama City.

In a day where Tallahassee swarmed with reporters and lawyers, Bush sat in a small room at Chipola Junior College, deep in the Bible Belt, and talked to Slay about ... bee mites. But Slay's chief concern was that foreign honey competitors from Argentina and China are hurting Florida beekeepers.

Then, out of the blue, Bush brought up the election.

Slay, who said he voted for George W. Bush, suggested that "whoever becomes president will have lost because it's so divided. I think it would be in each one's interest to give to the other one."

Bush said, joking, "You mean two years-two years? "This will be a good test of leadership for either one, that they'll have a chance to draw people toward them," Bush said. "It will be equal to a 50-50 split. You can't get any closer."

After spending five hours and meeting one-on-one with dozens of citizens, Bush climbed into the state's forest-green Lincoln Navigator with a "1" license plate and roared off, back through the cotton fields and cow pastures, past all the roadside churches advertising gospel sings, back to the Capitol hive, which was growing even bigger.

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