This Jim Davis might...
Posted on 07/07/2005 9:04:37 AM PDT by JohnnyZ
TALLAHASSEE -- Attorney General Charlie Crist has obliterated the record for fund-raising in Florida, hauling in $3.8 million in just six weeks in a strong start to replace term-limited Gov. Jeb Bush next year.
His primary Republican opponent, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, announced last week he had raised a bit more than $3 million in 43 days. Both amounts appear to be more than the previous record of $3 million raised by Bush in a 90-day period for his 1998 campaign for governor.
Last Thursday was the deadline for campaigns to tally their contributions and expenditures for state and federal financial reports. Monday is the deadline to file the voluminous reports listing each donation and expenditure.
Both candidates have already raised much more than the Democratic contenders. U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, has raised $800,000 for the year. State Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, has raised a similar amount, though his campaign won't release firm totals until today. Former Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox has not released an estimate of his fund-raising.
A strong fund-raising start may carry symbolic weight for Crist. It's a disincentive for other potential candidates. Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, generally perceived to have been Bush's favored replacement, has shown no signs of entering the race.
And the $3.8 million gives Crist bragging rights that augment his lead in most polls. The fund-raising fervor will almost certainly eclipse Bush's record of $7 million-plus raised in both 1998 and 2002.
"It's mind-boggling," said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause of Florida. "That's the way the money in politics trends have been going. I just don't see an end to it."
Crist supporter Brian Ballard, an A-list Tallahassee lobbyist, said the $3.8 million cements Crist as the front-runner.
"I think Tom Gallagher established his candidacy around the fact that he was the fund-raising king of Florida and he did everything he could for two years to line up fund-raisers," Ballard said. "The message is that not only does (Crist) have a double-digit lead, not only does he have greater political skills and a greater base in the conservative part of the Republican Party, he is the best fund-raiser in the history of Florida politics."
Gallagher campaign spokesman Brett Doster scoffed at the idea that Crist only worked two months to raise the money.
"To suggest that Tom has been doing this for two years and Charlie has been doing this for two months is bunk," Doster said. "Charlie Crist has been campaigning nonstop for the last four years."
Doster also tweaked Crist for "raising money with folks like Donald Trump" and for having trial lawyers host many fundraising events for Crist.
"I don't think that will be favorable with your rank-and-file voter," Doster said.
Richard Pinsky, a Republican consultant, said Gallagher still must be dismayed to see Crist ahead in the money game.
"Gallagher has been lining this money up for a year and a half now," Pinsky said. "Charlie has been putting his machine in place for a short time and actually did better."
The news may not bode well for Democrats. Not only do the two favored GOP candidates carry higher name recognition and much larger fund-raising capabilities, the Republican Party of Florida has raised $7 million itself this year, and some of that money will help Crist or Gallagher in next year's election.
By comparison, the Florida Democratic Party had about $80,000 in the bank last week -a bit more than 1 percent of the RPOF's stash.
"I think both the Crist team and the Gallagher team should be enormously proud that the Republican slate is outperforming the Democratic slate," Doster said.
Absolutely no doubt in my mind that Crist will be the next governor of Florida.
I think Gallagher should take his $3 mil and move over to the Senate race. He could easily take out Nelson.
That seems like the right thing to me too.
I don't think Harris can take out Nelson.
She did fine locally, but statewide, there'd be too much rehash of past events.
Crist is not an optimum choice for governor. I do not plan to vote for him.
Why? and who do you plan to vote for?
Does Jim Davis have presidential ambitions if he wins the governor's race. Just asking, because Garfield got elected.
I would imagine any governor of Florida (or Texas or California or New York .... or Idaho) would have presidential ambitions. Not for 2008 though.
What do you think, kids? Will Crist maintain his lead and will Gallagher treat this as a game of chicken and jump over to the Senate race? Does Jim Davis have a shot in Hell?
"If Alex Penelas had waiting for this race he might have had a better shot."
"Will Crist maintain his lead and will Gallagher treat this as a game of chicken and jump over to the Senate race?"
As in if Penelas had waited for the 06 gov race instead of running in the 04 Senate race, he might have had a better shot at the nomination (a state race in an off year would presumably hinge less on ideological purity and on A.P.'s conduct during the 2000 Gore debacle, and the competition is less stiff in '06, and a better chance at getting Cubans to vote for him in the primary and in the general without Mel drawing those votes) and thus a better shot at being elected statewide.
"As in if Penelas had waited for the 06 gov race instead of running in the 04 Senate race, he might have had a better shot at the nomination."
This Jim Davis might...
Gallagher for Senate, yeah... He'll smash the competition with his Sledge-O-Matic. =8-0
Charlie Crist is a good candiate, and he showed guts when he was the sacraficial candidate against Bob Graham back in 1998. I wish him well.
Jim Davis has a shot, though it's uphill for him. He isn't the worst of the House 'Rats, but he's bad enough.
Potential problem? Just wondering.
From the St. P paper:
"He has tackled the question in public twice now, with more politeness and directness than such an invasive query deserves.
Still, there is a lesson in watching Republican Gubernatorial Candidate and Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist deal openly with an issue that has dogged him covertly for years:
Is he gay?
It's an oddly uncomfortable episode that reflects Florida's own contradictory relationship with gay people, gay rights and the question of whether an openly gay person can, as a practical matter, hold a major office in this state.
Crist first faced The Question publicly Jan. 15 during a meeting of the Tampa Tiger Bay Club in which a woman asked, "I have heard that you were gay, sir, and I wanted to know if that was true." The second time he faced The Question, it was in response to a request from Tampa radio personality Dave McKay, who had asked Crist on his show Jan. 18 to pop the query, "Are you a homo?"
Both times, Crist denied being gay. With McKay, he expressed wonderment that anyone would ask.
But anyone who remembers how Florida's newest U.S. senator, Mel Martinez, criticized his straight-arrow Republican primary opponent Bill McCollum as "pandering to gays" knows Crist likely had to address the speculation before his expected candidacy for governor could begin in earnest.
And with a record percentage of hate crime attacks connected to victims' sexual orientation last year in Florida, Sunshine State Republicans can still get a lot of mileage from accusing candidates of getting too close to gay people."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.