Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Senate Campaign News 20040804 The debate between the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate that was televised state-wide was the story of the day. Before the debate began, Peter Deutsch distributed pictures from Betty Castor's ad and the one produced by Emily's list that show Castor in the same clothes talking to the same group of people, something that would seem to substantiate his claim of coordination between the two entities. The Castor campaign said that the case was the footage was bought from the same photographer, which is why they were similar. In the debate, Deutsch compared Emily's List to Republicans in 2000 when "out-of-state people came to this state and stole the election. We let it happen once. I don't think we're going to let it happen twice in this state." Issues that came up during the debate included Iraq, health care and education. Alex Penelas continued to be the anti-war candidate and called for a complete withdrawal of troops from Iraq by the end of 2005. Castor and Deutsch did not specify a time-line, but said that they would like to get more international help to reduce the U.S. burden. On education, Castor came out against the national standards testing in the No Child Left Behind Act. Deutsch supports it, but says that it is underfunded. Deutsch used his universal health care plan to set himself apart from his opponents on that issue. The Tampa Tribune quotes Castor as saying that the War on Terror has been hampered by "the tax breaks that we are giving to the wealthiest Americans." Who knew? Fireworks lacking in Senate debate (Tampa Tribune) Deutsch compares EMILY's list ad to 2000 recount (Associated Press) Unified front belies rancor (St Petersburg Times) Democratic Senate candidates get through debate without bashing (Palm Beach Post) 3 Democratic Senate candidates focus on experience during debate (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) Senate debate walks party line (Miami Herald, registration required) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Tampa Tribune published a biographical article on Penelas Penelas Strives for Balance Between His Party And His Roots (Tampa Tribune) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The field of Republican candidates is down to seven now that Karen Saull is dropping out of the race. In a phone interview with Press Journal she said "The Republican Party has closed me out," Saull wrote. "I guess I am not a member of their ‘boys club.’ Obviously it seems they have a problem with a woman’s voice being heard. ... Based on (party officials’ remarks), I will no longer run for Senate in 2004." The funny thing about that quote is that the head of the Republican Party of Florida is a woman. The odd thing about the articles in the Press Journal is that today's article makes this reference to an article yesterday: It followed her reading a story in Tuesday’s Press Journal in which state Republican Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan and fellow Senate candidate Mel Martinez said they didn’t know her. But if you read yesterday's article, there is no such statement. It does say that Carole Jean Jordan has not met Saull. The only reference to Martinez is the article refers to Representative Mark Foley's endorsement of him. Saull's name is on absentee ballots that have been sent out and she has to take action to have her name removed from the August 31 ballot. Newspaper: Saull drops out of U.S. Senate Race (Associated Press) Vero millionaire has odd campaign style (The Press Journal, registration required) Vero Beach's Saull ends Senate bid (ibid) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill McCollum completed a two-day campaign outing to the panhandle, a part of the state that hasn't seen much of the Senate campaigns. McCollum woos GOP faithful during panhandle visit (Orlando Herald, registration required) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, I posted an article to Red State about the entries and exits of Republican candidates into the Senate Race. This sets up an article (that I will post within the next day that profiles) each of the major candidates and how they've been interacting. The twisty path to Florida's U.S. Senate primary (Red State) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LATER  I - I e-mailed the authors of the Saull stories, asking about the statments referenced in today's article that weren't in yesterday's.  Henry Stephens replied quickly and explained that the print version had a sidebar of quotes.  That sidebar didn't appear in the online version.  He very helpfully e-mailed me the quotes and asked the paper's webmaster to post them.  The Martinez quote is "I wouldn't know her if she walked into the room right now ... I would simply tell you that I have not seen her on the campaign trail at all." The sidebar also contains quotes from Jeb Bush, Mark Foley and others. LATER II - The Daytona Beach News-Journal has a hard-hitting editorial on yesterday's debate.  A sampling: They lobbed puffball questions and engaged in everything but a group hug during their first major televised debate, looking past the day Florida voters choose their nominees to the day they choose a senator. ... Voters interested in informing themselves about the candidates' positions had to strain to determine any difference at all. All three would break the federal ban on stem cell research. All three would oppose amending the Constitution to outlaw marriage between homosexuals. All three would end Bush's tax cuts for wealthier Americans. All three reject Republican attempts to protect doctors from being sued by patients they've harmed. Democratic Candidates need to show who they are (Daytona Beach News-Journal) Florida Senate Campaign, Politics comment []9:23:27 AM   trackback []