Category: Florida

The other day I received my red-white-and-blue tri-fold for Request-A-Ballot for the Hillsborough County General Election. It had that political propaganda look and almost went the way of so many Frank Farkas fliers.

But the photo of Buddy Johnson and a prominent exclamation point caught my attention. “Vote in the comfort of your own home!” is not without appeal. You fill out a form; affix a stamp; send it on in; and you’re on your dutiful way. No election-day lines plus “more time to review your ballot and make your choices.”

Sounds like a deal. If you’re in traction or out of town, it’s a godsend to be sure. Your voice will be heard. If it’s a democratic responsibility to vote, it’s surely a democratic duty to accommodate voters’ special needs.

But should voting, absent any extraordinary circumstance, be as easy — and more to the point, as insular — as a Netflix order? Not to sound like a franchise fossil, but in an increasingly impersonal, wired world, we have precious few opportunities for meaningful communal interaction. To gather as a community and a neighborhood and rally around something other than sports teams.

If nothing else, in-person voting can, however briefly, return us to a simpler, more intimate time. Whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, we are forced to flee, however briefly, our narrow, self-reinforcing political universes.

We are reminded that for all of our polarizing differences, what we have in common is affirming and precious – an abiding appreciation of the ballot box and a collective sense of purpose.

There are a number of traditions surrounding voting day.

For primaries, the electorate typically shrugs and stays away in droves. The freedom to be indifferent.

For candidates, there’s the last-second flesh-pressing and, for too many, the last loop of annoying, pre-recorded, “my opponent is the anti-Christ” robo calls.

And then there are the campaign parties to monitor the results. Major hotels for gubernatorial candidates; restaurants with ample bars and meeting space for, say, congressional or county commission hopefuls.

These are eclectic gatherings of family, friends, worker bees, party activists, VIPols, political groupies and embedded media. A dynamic of back-slapping and glad-handing. Gushers of gratitude. An atmosphere rife with speculation, down time and pre-returns optimism. The thrill of vicarious victory in the ambient air.

Among those making the Democratic rounds last week: Mayor Pam Iorio. It’s a very good sign when she shows. She’s not there for a cameo. Chances are she’ll be called on for some audience warm-up and a (winning) candidate intro. This night she did the honors for both Democratic congressional candidate Kathy Castor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis.

At Valencia Garden, Iorio praised Castor for showing “integrity,” for being a “fighter,” for having “the interests of the average person” at heart and for running a “positive race.”

Over at the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore, she lauded Davis as a “man of integrity” who is “for real” and “has taken a hit, but the harder the road gets, the better he gets.”

Also among those touching the candidate bases was Frank Sanchez, who was the run-off loser to Iorio in the 2003 mayor’s election. He continues to be a political player composite: a businessman-community activist-party apparatchik who just happens to have more candidate incarnations in his future. Quite possibly four and a half years from now when the vacancy sign next appears at City Hall.

This night Sanchez would pop in at the gatherings for Castor, (District 3 county commission candidate) Chloe Coney, (District 1 county commission candidate) Rose Ferlita and Davis. He also did political analysis for the Spanish language Noticias Univision Tampa.

His take on the significance of having the next governor call the Tampa Bay area home?

“I think it speaks volumes about the political power in this part of the state,” said Sanchez. “You also have the next CFO (Democrat Alex Sink of Thonotosassa or Republican Tom Lee of Valrico). The Senate President (Lee), the last (cue an eye roll) Speaker (Johnnie Byrd). A more cohesive legislative delegation.

“There’s new-found political power for the region that can only be good for this area,” added Sanchez. “I think it can rival South Florida in terms of political clout. There’s a lot of serious stuff going on here.”

Outtakes

*According to Castor, the notably non-negative tone of the District 11 race (to succeed Rep. Jim Davis) was set early when she and runner-up Les Miller agreed in principle to keep it above board and not personal. Not to be presumptuous, but they knew the likely scenario would be a two-horse race (Castor: 53.9%; Miller: 34.1%; no one else in double figures). That agreement helped direct the overall dynamic.

*Castor’s parents had logistical issues on ballot day, because Castor’s brother, Frank , was running for county judge in Palm Beach. The candidate’s mom, Betty Castor, was with her daughter – and, yes, she was working the phones. Meanwhile, the candidate’s father, former Hillsborough County Judge Don Castor, was with Frank in Palm Beach, where he easily qualified for a run-off.

*Ultimate compliment: “I’m proud to introduce a great politician (Pam Iorio) who isn’t my daughter.” – Betty Castor

*The lounge TV at Valencia Garden was tuned to Bay News 9 for updates. Over at the Hilton, the big-screen, break-out room TV was set on ABC, where election results were shown in a continuous crawl. Only problem: the network program, “Prime Time,” had a (really) lengthy segment on strippers , complete with pixilated body parts. Nobody seemed to object.

*Later, when the 11 o’clock news came on, the animated, well-oiled, “Go, Jim, Go” Davis crowd responded in interesting fashion to live shots from the Charlie Crist victory party at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg. By far the loudest reaction – a cascade of boos – was aimed at Sen. Mel Martinez. The response was barely partisan to the on-camera Crist, who seemed more disagreed with than disliked.

*Party backing: A frenzied, ad hoc press conference and photo op on a stage ill suited for the purpose don’t lend themselves to the best results. So there was City Councilman John Dingfelder, perched precariously and holding up a Jim Davis sign so that the still photo and video backdrop behind Davis would be something other than chaos.

*Big Sugar meets Reggie Van Gleason: “How sweet it is!” – Jim Davis

*Money matters: Crist has raised some $14 million so far compared to $4.4 million for Davis. That disparity is expected to narrow as the Democratic National Party gets seriously involved.

*Clear choice: Charlie Crist: “Stay the course.” Jim Davis: “Change the course.”

*Final words, primary night:

Kathy Castor: “I’m humbled. I won’t let you down.”

Jim Davis: “I draw my strength from my faith, my family, my friends.”

Don’t count Congressman Adam Putnam among Republicans distancing themselves — literally or figuratively – from President Bush and the war in Iraq. He’s still the boyish-looking true believer in a safe, District 12 seat where the competition is as likely to be independents and write-ins as Democrats.

In a recent appearance at the Tiger Bay Club of Tampa, the three-term U.S. Representative from Bartow made it clear he wouldn’t merely welcome a campaign appearance by the president, he would be “thrilled” at the prospect. “I’d be delighted to have the president,” he underscored.

What’s more likely, however, is that the president will cherry pick a few Florida districts where he may be able to make enough of a difference to help Republicans keep their (15-seat) majority in the House. Putnam, the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, expects the president to campaign for “one or more” Republicans among: District 9 (where Mike Bilirakis is retiring); District 13 (where Katherine Harris is running, as it were, for the U.S. Senate); and District 22 (where incumbent, South Floridian Clay Shaw could be vulnerable).

On Iraq, Putnam did concede the obvious – there have been horrendous screw-ups – but he’s more inclined to lay blame on Paul Bremer (former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority) for de-Baathification scenarios than the president for overall policy implosions. He also feels that economic development, which isn’t the military’s charge, is a critical element in stabilizing Iraq. And the requisite first step, he maintains, is getting Iraq’s parliament to allow direct foreign investment.

Other Putnam takes:

*The chances of Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman as an independent candidate: “He’s going to win.”

*Immigration: “I hear more about this than any other issue. The border has too long suffered from ‘benign neglect.’ But I don’t agree with the ‘Great Wall of Mexico’ approach. It would require illegal labor to get it done.”

*Passport system: “It needs work — still doesn’t include biometrics. Maybe give everybody a Visa card. They track everything down. Let Visa figure it out.”

*North Korean and Iranian tactics: “North Korea is starving, and they use the bomb for leverage. (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad gives a wild speech, the oil markets go up and he gets more money.”

*Europe’s peace-keeping role: “If they don’t want us to go it alone, they need to pony up.”

*Repeal (54 cents-per-gal.) tariff on ethanol from Brazil? “Yes.”

*Amenable to gay adoption? “No.”

*Mass transit: “You can’t (road) build your way out of congestion. I support regional rail. Problems don’t end at the Tampa city limits.”

Politicians have long been granted license to tailor a message to suit a constituency – and shore up a base. Some just abuse it more than others.

Which brings us to Katherine Harris’ latest walk on the beguiled side. In an effort to impress the Florida Baptist State Convention, she wound up inspiring anyone who loves a good, old-fashioned theocracy.

She told the Florida Baptist Union that America’s Founding Fathers never intended for this country to be “a nation of secular laws,” and if Christians (such as herself) are not elected to office, politicians (unlike herself) will “legislate sin.”

Later in the interview she debunked the merits of that quaint American concept: church-and-state separation. To separate religion and politics, explained Harris, is “wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers.”

Oh.

No real surprise that last week’s gubernatorial debates eventually morphed into self-serving, thrust-and-parry exercises that may have left viewers more confused than informed. But what was clear was this: None of the candidates are FOR special interests.

Have you – or anyone you know – ever been swayed enough by a pre-recorded, political-message phone call to vote for the candidate behind it? Conversely, have those unsolicited, annoying calls ever caused you to take it out on the responsible, interrupting candidate? Thought so.

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher trails Charlie Crist in the polls and in the coffers. The Gallagher campaign, it would seem, also lags in chutzpah.

That was apparent after a group of 10 Republican state legislators formally requested that Gallagher drop out of the race for the sake of party unity. And, no, these were no fence-sitting party loyalists, but Crist-backing partisans reprising the old “Do-the-right-thing-for-your-party” refrain.

From Gallagher’s vantage point, there’s nothing to like about neither the self-serving ditty nor the deja view.

He already took one for Team GOP in 2000. Back then he yielded to pressure from Jeb Bush and former party chairman Al Cardenas to drop out of the senate primary in favor of Bill McCollum. The then-congressman, once gift-wrapped in party unity, proceeded to unravel in a clumsy, losing race to the vulnerable Bill Nelson.

Now Gallagher is being asked again to step aside for a candidate who would ostensibly benefit enough from a unified party.

Ironically, had the request been sooner and more sincere – and had it been heeded again – it might have positioned Gallagher as the GOP U.S. Senate alternative to dead-candidate-campaigning Katherine Harris. And if poetic justice counts for anything, it could have finally matched Gallagher against Senator Nelson, comfortably awaiting re-election by default.

It’s still too early for the University of Florida to accurately gauge what its national championship in basketball will mean to its bottom line. Licensee royalty reports are not in yet, and it’s still early for alumni-giving updates. But both figure to handsomely reflect the Gators’ finest athletic hour since the football team won it all in 1996.

According to UF Associate Vice President for Marketing and Public Relations Joe Hice, the anecdotal evidence is impressive. “People are talking about the university more — we know that,” he says. “It also makes a great starting point for a billion-dollar fund raising next year.”

But while Steve Spurrier’s championship team of ’96 helped put Florida on the map, Billy Donovan’s hoops champs can help put the Gator Nation brand on the globe.

“This helps us outside the U.S.,” says Hice, who was among the 6,000 Gator fans who watched the NCAA final on an O’Connell Center Jumbo-Tron. “Basketball is an international sport. So now there’s more awareness of us around the world, especially Europe. Interestingly, we have an (graduate school) office in Beijing, and our people were greeted with “Go Gators” cheers after beating UCLA.”

And for media insiders, yes, this is the same Joe Hice who made a name for himself in journalism and public relations circles in the Tampa Bay Area in the early ’80s. The hardcore UF alum has come full circle – and hit the ground running in Gainesville in this, his first year as associate vice president.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer, more talented guy.

It’s being billed as the “irony of ironies.”

It’s the Cuba-China plan for oil drilling on Cuba’s side of the Florida Strait, less than 50 miles from Key West. India also could collaborate. And it’s all legal. Since 1977 — and renewed less than six months ago — the United States and Cuba have agreed by treaty to be rational about something: we will divide the Strait and preserve each other’s economic rights. That includes, perforce, the commodity of commodities — oil.

But the U.S., of course, is precluded from any involvement. Too environmentally close to drill, which is true, and too politically explosive to explore sensible options, which is a travesty. Except for the treaty, ironically, normal diplomatic compromise has been largely oxymoronic throughout the 43 fruitless years of the Cuban trade embargo.

Time to go unilateral again.

To that end, Florida’s Democratic Senator Bill Nelson has introduced a measure that would block renewal of that (recently renewed) 1977 treaty and deny foreign companies access to U.S. markets if they were to persist in drilling off the coast of Cuba. The denial and revocation of (foreign executives’) visas is part of the Nelson bill.

Not exactly the Dale Carnegie approach to foreign policy. In a world with too many countries already looking geopolitically askance at the U.S., the timing couldn’t be worse for such Strait talk.

But then Florida’s other senator, the Republican Mel Martinez, reverts to parochial form. As in pandering to South Florida’s Cuban-American exile crowd. No, he hasn’t signed on to the Nelson bill. But Martinez’s press secretary, Ken Lundberg, explains – to the degree possible — his reasoning: the Nelson measure “could present problems with the entire Cuban embargo. There’s no question there are some who might use this (oil issue) as leverage to reopen the entire situation.”

Dios mio! Say it ain’t so, Mel.

The real issues here are energy, the environment and America’s credibility in trying to rally support for sanctions against a truly legitimate target — the uranium-enriching Iran of the apocalyptic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And Martinez is concerned about how the counterproductive Cuban embargo may be impacted?

We’re beset by the unholy alliance of energy crisis and civilizational clash and Martinez is still stuck in a time warp, fighting the Cold War.

When consultant Mary Repper retired from the partisan political wars a few years back, it surprised a lot of folks. She was well regarded and successful. She helped a lot of candidates, Democrat and Republican, male and female, black and white. Most of them won; a few were eye-opening upsets. But after more than 20 years of being equal parts Zig Ziglar, Dick Morris and pit bull, she called it a career. The defeats, however infrequent, had taken their toll.

“Losing is just unacceptable to me,” she said at the time, “and it just rips my heart out. When it gets that way, it’s time to move on.”

That was 2002. She was 59.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. There she was at the Valencia Gardens in front of an animated, expectant crowd of political true believers, well wishers and worker bees. They were awaiting the formal introduction of their candidate, Al Fox, who is running for Congress. Repper was there because she’s the head cheerleader — and campaign manager for Fox.

He is who she came out of retirement for. Someone whom conventional wisdom says can’t win. Can’t beat the well-financed, name recognition-blessed Kathy Castor for Jim Davis’ District 11 seat. But if anyone could, it would be – Senate Minority Leader Les Miller.

It’s that daunting a challenge.

Fox is a 61-year-old rookie candidate and long-time Washington fixture who has returned to his Tampa roots. He’s been around the issues, but his biggest claim to fame is that he founded the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation and has made dozens of trips to Cuba – including the one that brought along former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. He’s amiable, candid, not politically glib and refreshing in a long-shot, nothing-to-lose kind of way.

And he knew that to have any kind of chance he had to have somebody like Repper. Or better yet, Repper.

“I had never met her,” recalls Fox. “But I knew I needed somebody like that. So I called her. She said, ‘No. Period. End of story.’ But two weeks later I tried again. Meanwhile, she had been talking to folks. So she says ‘No’ again, but that it would be ok to call her from time to time. That told me we had a shot. We all (spouses included) had dinner. She was in.”

And Repper knew what she was in for.

“I know the odds are considered long, and he’s the dark horse and all of that,” concedes Repper. “But here’s what brought me back. I had been doing this stuff for years, and yet had never met anyone who matched Al’s sense of, well, just doing the right thing. He has the courage to take strong stands, and he’s genuine enough to lack political posturing. The more I got to know him, the more I felt I had a responsibility to work for him. He deserved to be represented by somebody who can help.”

And while Fox is best known for opposing the Cuban embargo and for normalizing relations with Havana, he’s hardly a one-trick pony, Repper maintains.

“Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he has more knowledge than everyone in this race put together,” avers Repper. “And I’m familiar with them all.”

But what about his Washington insider and lobbyist background?

“Bring it on,” says Repper. “I think it gives him more credibility. He knows how things work. And every single person in the race was at one time a lobbyist.”

Among those with early input on the Fox campaign was Patrick Manteiga, the editor and publisher of the Ybor City trilingual “La Gaceta.” He encouraged Fox to keep after Repper.

“I told him, ‘She’s exactly what you need. It puts you on the map. It makes people wonder why. People need a reason to believe.’

“I’ll also say this. Al Fox is an unusual character,” underscores Manteiga. “Most politicians don’t want to aim at the hard stuff while running. He’s even met with immigrant protestors.

“Politics normally doesn’t give us a lot of surprises,” acknowledges Manteiga, “but anything can happen.”

To date, the candidate campaigns have mainly made news through fund-raising figures. Castor leads everyone with more than $670,000. Miller has brought in $320,000, while Fox has raised $206,000.

Some of Fox’s take has gone to those “Who is Al Fox?” billboards now popping up around town.

To some, he might be Don Quixote.

But make no mistake, that’s not Sancho Panza at his side.