Cheryl's Life

Crist gay? Not that it matters but

I wonder how the Republicans feel about that

http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2006/10/27/cq_1720.html?pagewanted=print

October 27, 2006
Race for Fla. Governor Showing Signs of Tightening
By Rachel Kapochunas
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, the Republican nominee for the state’s open governor’s seat, moved out to what appeared a solid lead in polls a few weeks ago.

Crist benefited from the general, long-term Republican trend in the state, and the enduring popularity of the Republican he is running to succeed, term-limited Gov. Jeb Bush. Perhaps more importantly, he escaped relatively unscathed from a Sept. 5 primary that he won by a wide margin, while the Democratic nominee, Rep. Jim Davis, was bruised by campaign attacks leveled against him in a primary that was closer than expected.

A Quinnipiac University survey released Oct. 10 showed Crist leading Davis, a five-term House Democrat from the Tampa Bay-area 11th District, by 53 percent to 43 percent.

Yet Davis still appears very much in the running. A more recent Quinnipiac poll showed Crist with just a 2 percentage-point lead, 46 percent to 44 percent.

And the contest has gained a shadow of controversy, in part because of widespread public discussion about Crist’s personal life stemming from news reports speculating about his sexual orientation.

This matter did not gain prominence in the GOP primary, but has drawn public attention in the wake of the sensational scandal involving former Republican Rep. Mark Foley, who quit Congress and his bid for re-election Sept. 29 after revelations of inappropriate advances he had made to teenage male pages.

The unmarried Crist has for years deflected allusions about his personal life. The subject gained momentum when an alternative South Florida newspaper, the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, reported Thursday that a male GOP staffer claims to have been intimate with Crist and also named the attorney general’s longterm male partner. The paper interviewed Crist, who denied the claims made in the story.
Political scientist Lance deHaven-Smith at Florida State University told CQPolitics.com Thursday that the contest was bound to narrow as Election Day approached. Florida, despite the Republican trend, still can produce highly competitive statewide races — with no better example than the forever-controversial 2000 presidential contest — and voters were likely to become more invested in the contest and take sides as the race comes to a close.

But deHaven-Smith added that the Crist rumors have certainly played a role in Davis’ catch-up. “I would think that the Foley scandal has had an effect,” said deHaven-Smith, who added that questions regarding Crist’s sexuality may have also shifted some “white born-again evangelicals” toward Davis, as defined in the Quinnipiac poll.

The competitiveness of the race was evident Tuesday, when the candidates met for their first televised general election debate. Though personal behavior was not on the agenda, each candidates sought to cast his opponent in a highly negative light on policy issues.

“Charlie wants to continue to stay the course, he wants to continue to force local property owners to pay the entire cost of growth,” said Davis. “And that’s why developers have put $5 million dollars into his campaign.”

Crist attacked Davis on prescription drug costs — flipping the usual partisan alignment on reimporting lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, a concept that overall is favored by more Democrats than Republicans.

“I want to make sure that we import prescription drugs that are safe from Canada ... lift the ban that exists on that now,” said Crist. “Unfortunately, my opponent voted against allowing that to happen. Tonight he tells you he wants it to happen. I’m not really sure what to believe.”

Crist continued his campaign’s effort to portray Davis as a “do-nothing” congressman, a claim repeated in recent television advertising by the state Republican Party. The debate offered Davis a chance to refute that portrayal.

“It’s not just about showing up. It’s about standing up. And for four years as attorney general, Charlie did nothing to stand up to these insurance companies,” said Davis.

Last week, Davis called for the state GOP to pull a commercial which claimed Davis only passed three bills in 10 years. Davis argued that was not a complete list.

The Republicans began airing an additional ad Thursday targeting the state’s large Latino constituency — especially the Cuban-American constituency that has long leaned Republican because of that party’s perceived harder line against Cuba dictator Fidel Castro.

In the commercial, Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-American, said in Spanish: “While Jim Davis traveled to Cuba to meet with officials in the Castro dictatorship and utilized his position in Congress to oppose sanctions against the Havana regime, Charlie Crist was working for our families.”

Davis, though, has been trying to leverage many voters’ dissatisfaction with high property taxes. Traveling on his “Backyard Rebellion Tour,” he is touting his plan to lower property taxes by $1 billion next year and lower hurricane insurance premiums by an average of 40 percent.

The strong voter mobilization machine Republicans have built during their rise to power and have refined during Bush’s tenure as governor could give them a leg up in the crucial area of voter turnout. DeHaven-Smith believes that Republicans are likely to still turn out in large numbers Nov. 7, despite the negative impact of the Foley scandal.

But he adds that Davis’ choice of former state Sen. Daryl Jones, an African-American who staged a primary bid for governor in 2002, as his candidate for lieutenant governor may help boost Democratic turnout.

CQ rates the race as Leans Republican, but is carefully watching developments. Please visit CQPolitics.com’s Election Forecaster for ratings on all races.

© 2006 Congressional Quarterly

posted by CherylRenee @ 9:53 PM