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Jeb Bush kicks off a new era for FloridaBy HOWARD TROXLER © St. Petersburg Times, published November 4, 1998 In 1966, it took a bizarre fluke for the colorful Claude Kirk to get elected. In 1986, Bob Martinez won after the Democrats destroyed themselves in a bitter, divisive primary. But Bush's win Tuesday is not a once-in-a-generation oddity. It is decisive. The Democrats cannot say, "It wasn't our fault, the sun was in our eyes," or make any other such excuse. We now know the answer to the great question posed by the 1994 election. When Gov. Lawton Chiles narrowly beat Bush four years ago, was it a new beginning for Florida Democrats, or was it a last desperate gasp? Try a last desperate gasp. Florida is now a Republican state. Forget the numbers that show there still are more registered Democrats. The voters have chosen a Republican governor, a Republican Legislature and an overwhelmingly Republican delegation to Congress. The Republican tide has bubbled up through county courthouses and city halls and school boards. It has swamped the state Senate, flash-flooded the state House, covered half the state Cabinet. And now, the governor's mansion. There are exactly two high-and-dry Democrats remaining in statewide politics now, U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and Attorney General Bob Butterworth. Sure, Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson won re-election Tuesday, but he was lucky to have had the opponent he had. Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford also won, but he had endorsed Bush -- he is a Democrat in name only. Can the Florida Democrats blame President Clinton for their loss? No. Across the nation, Republicans appeared headed for only modest gains in Congress and in governorships. Monica Lewinsky had no devastating effect. Did Bush win because Florida voters are becoming more conservative? No. Voters have pretty much the same attitudes they always have had. Bush was elected governor the same day that Floridians voted for gun control, environmental and conservation measures, and making public education a "paramount" duty of the state. The truth is, Buddy MacKay ran a lousy campaign for most of the race. Jeb Bush reaped the profit of a generation of Republican party-building. MacKay carried on the tradition of a generation of Democratic self-destruction. Once again, Democrats showed they would rather spend their time congratulating each other on how wonderful they are, and how nasty the mean old Republicans are, than go out and win votes. They have not recruited, organized or campaigned as well as the Republicans. Their failure is based as much in bad mechanics as in ideology. The Democrats will rebound one day. The question is whether they help themselves, and accomplish it over the next few years, or stay stuck in their current mindset, and accomplish it sometime in the 21st century. In a perverse way, Democrats can find cheer in the fact that Republicans are in charge of the whole government. The Republicans will be the ones who have to make the tough decisions and deal with any economic downturns. In fact, the Republican governor's biggest challenge may be the Republican Legislature. Bush shows every sign of wanting to be a leader, even a statesman, not a rabid partisan. But at long last, the Legislature will be free to operate without a Democrat's veto. Let's see what adventures they throw at Bush in the areas of school prayer, abortion restrictions and other social legislation. Even on routine matters, the new chief executive will find that Tallahassee often runs not according to Democrats and Republicans, but under a three-party system: the House Party, the Senate Party and the Governor Party. It will be fun to watch him learn.
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eb Bush will be the third Republican governor of Florida in this century. But his victory on Tuesday is by far the most significant of the three.
