Gov Jeb Bush has the momentum in the final days of Election 2002.
From www.jeb.org:
What the Media is Saying About the Race for Governor
“Bush widens lead in final days” (Miami Herald headline, 10/27/02)
“Bill McBride has stalled.” (St. Pete Times, 10/27/02)
“Evasive McBride is losing trust of voters” (Miami Herald headline, 10/27/02)
“There needs to be a compelling reason to remove a competent incumbent from office, and the lackluster McBride candidacy clearly does not provide it.” (Sun Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“Jeb Bush is the clear choice for governor on Nov. 5.” (Ft Myers News-Press, 10/27/02)
“But the new poll shows that as voters form an opinion of the challenger, they don't like what they see, especially on taxes. Herald Pollster Kellyanne Conway offered her assessment: ‘Bill McBride is in the worst position of his campaign. He hasn't ever been in a poorer position than right now. The clock is ticking.’” (Miami Herald, 10/27/02)
“‘Without a dramatic movement in the campaign . . . the governor is comfortably poised for re-election,’ Conway said. ‘Based on this poll, I don't think this race is anymore the front-burner race to watch that many people thought it was.’” (St. Pete Times, 10/27/02)
“Bush has demonstrated he has what it takes to lead the state. He's earned another four years.” (Sun Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“The governor handily leads McBride everywhere except South Florida's Democratic strongholds, and there McBride is failing to pull the support Democrats typically require to win statewide. In McBride's home turf of Tampa Bay, a crucial area for the Democrat, Bush leads 55 percent to 40 percent.” (St. Pete Times, 10/27/02)
“Bush, 49, has shown he's ready to take risks and launch bold initiatives in addressing Florida's needs.” (Sun Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“The Democratic gubernatorial candidate gained no ground on Gov. Jeb Bush over the past month and faces a steep climb to close the gap in the campaign's remaining nine days.” (St. Pete Times, 10/27/02)
“Having entered the race for Governor more than a year ago, Mr. McBride remains unable to express a cohesive vision for the state. Certainly improving public schools is a top priority for all Floridians. But Mr. McBride seems more beholden to the teachers union and its agenda to reduce class size and improve teacher salaries than he is to devising his own strategy to hold schools accountable.” (Orlando Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“Bill McBride is a man of character, but we worry about his wide range of liberal preferences, particularly his apparent intent to undo public school reforms and give teacher unions control over many education policies. Beyond that, it appears to us that his wish list of education improvements would require tax increases unlikely to be applauded by the Legislature or most Floridians.” (Tampa Tribune, 10/27/02)
“Once viewed as the most potent weapon for Democrats eager to cast Gov. Jeb Bush as a failure on schools, a measure to cap class size instead has turned into an unexpected burden for Bush's Democratic rival, Bill McBride.” (Miami Herald, 10/28/02)
“Suddenly, instead of using the measure to beat up on Bush -- as many Democrats had anticipated months ago -- McBride used campaign appearances on the penultimate weekend before the election to distance himself from the proposal.” (Miami Herald, 10/28/02)
“McBride has said for months he was eager to debate Bush, but it was the governor who emerged from those encounters as the poised, astute politician. McBride's performance served to underline his chief objective weakness, a poor grasp of the cost of government.” (Ft Myers News-Press, 10/27/02)
“McBride's troubles began last week when the GOP debuted a television ad suggesting he would increase sales taxes or even create a state income tax to pay for billions of dollars in promises. Then, his performance in the final televised debate with Bush drew harsh reviews, even from Democrats who had hoped their nominee would better defend himself against the tax-and-spend label.” (Miami Herald, 10/28/02)
“On Sunday, the issue haunted McBride again, as Bush received endorsements from The Herald, The Orlando Sentinel and The Sun-Sentinel. The papers criticized McBride for lacking specificity.” (Miami Herald, 10/28/02)
“Yet [McBride’s] performance in one radio and two televised debates revealed a demonstrable lack of command. He was unable, for example, to communicate effectively how he would pay for smaller class sizes and improved teacher pay. And he failed to detail a vision for other pressing state needs, including growth management, transportation and the protection of vital natural resources.” (Orlando Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“If Democrat Bill McBride evicts Jeb Bush from the Florida Governor's mansion on Nov. 5, it will be in spite of his wobbly performance in their three debates. McBride is asking voters to trust him to keep his promises, an appeal that has been complicated by his reluctance to trust the voters with the truth.” (St. Pete Times, 10/27/02)
“But nobody can deny that the governor, for the first time in state history, has pointed a searing spotlight on failing schools. And that has helped galvanize communities to improve achievement in public schools rather than turn a historic blind eye to their shortcomings. Mr. McBride would dim that spotlight, and instead put most of the state money now used to reward academic success into reducing class sizes – even though researchers are divided on whether smaller classes actually help all students.” (Orlando Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“The Republican governor's Democratic opponent, Bill McBride, on the other hand, appears to have no concept of the economic realities facing Florida. It's truly frightening that a major candidate for governor would support constitutional Amendment 9 limiting school class sizes, and other spending initiatives, without any understanding of the financial chaos they would bring to the state. It's absurd to think the chaos would be mitigated by his proposed additional 50-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes.” (Sun Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“We believe that Gov. Bush has earned the right to continue to lead the state. He is better prepared to steer the course of our diverse, fast-growing state and face the challenges that will arise.” (Miami Herald, 10/27/02)
“McBride, 57, campaigns with the down-home, good ol' boy style popularized by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles, but Chiles he's not. In fact, McBride is the Democratic standard-bearer only because Democrats with substantially greater qualifications dropped out of the race. They did so when former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno entered it and appeared to be a shoo-in for her party's nomination.” (Sun Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“The A-Plus plan isn't perfect, but it's an improvement over the previous system, in which accountability was next to nonexistent, and to which the public schools could return if McBride is elected.” (Sun Sentinel, 10/27/02)
“The poll includes this remarkable finding: McBride's ‘unfavorable’ rating has soared in the days following his miserable debate performance and the debut of Republican ads attacking him as a tax-and-spend liberal, rising from 20 percent last month to 34 percent. Perhaps even more devastating, more people trust Bush than McBride on the major issues, including the very theme of McBride's whole campaign: fixing the public schools. Bush leads that 48-45. (Miami Herald, 10/27/02)
“Last week's televised debate was the perfect microcosm: Viewers were left with the impression of a candidate [McBride] with a questionable grasp of the issues and a squirmer so afraid of being tagged a liberal on taxes that he opted instead for disingenuousness.” (Miami Herald, 10/27/02)
“Mr. McBride has failed to put substance and definition to himself, his policies or his vision, which could make up for his lack of a political track record. Other than on education, he hasn’t spelled out a coherent vision for Florida’s future.” (Miami Herald, 10/27/02)
“But Mr. Bush has done this much: He has set Florida on a new path. He has change our conversation about education, revamped an endangered affirmative-action policy, held the line on taxes, helped to steady the economy, reached out to international partners and challenged traditional thinking about the role of government. In short, Mr. Bush has articulated a new vision for our state – and he has begun to turn that vision into reality. He deserves a chance to continue the job.” (Miami Herald, 10/27/02)
“The governor’s fiscal philosophy is much more realistic than McBride’s. McBride has failed to set out a reasonable fiscal plan. Given his promises to increase state spending, his proposal to fund much of the increase through an additional 50-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes is laughable.” (Ft Myers News-Press, 10/27/02)
“As governor, Mr. Bush introduced accountability in education and competition in government services. Though it was harsh medicine at times, his A+ Plan drove schools and students to perform better than they thought they could; his “Opportunity Scholarship” or voucher plan created options for some students to leave failing schools while allocating extra funding for lagging schools to catch up. The governor’s One Florida initiative replaced race-based decisions in government and higher education with outreach and financial aid for minority businesses and students. This thwarted a divisive drive by California activist Ward Connerly to put an anti-affirmative-action amendment in the Florida Constitution. Mr. Bush showed courage in blunting the Connerly drive.” (Miami Herald, 10/27/02)
