Here's today's headline from the
St Pete Times on the Dem candidate Davis:
For battered Davis, worst lies ahead
(In short, even they know he's toast.)
From that news article:
How can U.S. Rep. Jim Davis possibly beat charming Charlie Crist, the telegenic, lavishly funded Republican gubernatorial candidate who stuck to the ideological center throughout a sometimes bruising GOP primary?
A) He probably won’t.
...Davis emerged as the Democrats’
wounded Democratic nominee Tuesday.
He had underestimated Rod Smith’s strength from the start, saw his 20-point primary lead evaporate, and now faces an even tougher — much tougher — general election campaign.
What won’t work well for Davis is trying to cast Attorney General Crist as a right winger out of step with average Floridians. ...
Davis’ campaign is nearly broke, and seriously bloodied. Smith’s allies in the sugar industry spent $4-million casting the Tampa Democrat as cold-hearted about two wrongfully imprisoned African-Americans, opposed to minimum wage increases, and a no-show in Congress.
Crist is already touting his efforts to solve the 1951 murder of civil rights pioneer Harry Moore, while Davis starts the general election needing to repair the damage done to him among African-Americans and other party faithful.
“He’s got to give the Democratic base a reason to be excited about him. That’s pivotal,’’ said Derek Newton, a Democratic consultant in Miami who noted that Davis is still only vaguely known outside of Tampa Bay.
That three [other] unknown Democrats chalked up a hefty chunk of the primary vote speaks volumes about how little known Davis and Smith were.
With Gov. Bush busy in recent weeks raising money for the Florida GOP’s general election, expect to see ads hammering the Democratic nominee soon.
The popular governor will be hitting back as Democrats try to argue Floridians want a new direction from Tallahassee.
Meanwhile, it’s at best uncertain how much national Democratic money will flow into Florida’s governor’s race.
Unlike 2002 when Bush was a top target, few Democrats outside the state see Florida’s governor’s mansion as a likely pick-up. Democrats are much better situated to win Republican-held governorships in at least five other states — New York, Ohio, Colorado, Alaska, Arkansas, and Massachusetts.
But
Florida is so crucial to the presidential race in 2008 that the money will certainly flow if the polls show a tight contest.
Beleaguered Florida Democrats have more reason for optimism than they’ve had in years. There’s a national embarrassment named Katherine Harris on the GOP ticket, a Republican gubernatorial nominee who won’t energize social conservatives, a terrible climate for Republicans nationally, and two Cabinet candidates — Alex Sink for chief financial officer and Walter “Skip” Campbell for attorney general — who are formidable contenders.
... Davis has no time to savor his primary win. The toughest campaign comes now.
Adam C. Smith can be reached at asmith@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8241.