FL Governor, 2006 primary, discussion thread (vanity)

FreeRepublic.com ^ | 21 July, 2006 | NonValueAdded

[NonValueAdded]

Join in the discussion about who is best to follow in the big footsteps of Governor Jeb Bush.

Candidates who have qualified (those simply "announced" omitted):

• Republican
  • Charlie Crist
  • Tom Gallagher
  • Vernon Palmer
• DemocRAT
  • Glenn Burkett
  • Carol Castagnero
  • John M. Crotty
  • Jim Davis
  • Rod Smith
• Reform
  • Max Linn
• No affiliation
  • Karl C.C. Behm
  • Richard Paul Dembinsky
  • John Wayne Smith/James Kearney
• Write-in
  • Piotr Blass
  • Wilfredo Papa-Roqui Maneiro II
  • Omari Musa
  • C. C. Reed
  • Robert O. Wireugard
  • Atlee David Yarrow

(this list sourced from my supervisor of elections web site: http://brevardelections.org/2006cand.htm#gov, no warranties expressed or implied).

[samantha]

Post that to someone that wants it, you are giving me a migraine.

[floriduh voter]

If you don't like this governor's thread, you don't have to be here. If you want choice, that is one you could make but you are trying to discredit me?

Crist's cronies tried to bully Tom Gallagher into quitting.

Bullies for Crist should be his slogan.

[tutstar]

Now that you mention it, I do remember, but I had forgotten.

For the benefit of those who are relatively new to Florida here is a bit of reading on Sembler so you won't be in the dark. http://www.thestraights.com/index.htm

I just went back and looked at the contributions from Sembler to Crist and it is over $35,000.00 That kind of money doesn't go without a promise. At least in my mind if someone is shelling out that kind of $$ there is a payback coming. And I thought Sen Jim King getting $5000 from a hospice lobbyist was way out of line.

This is just the obvious $$. For anyone who has the inkling and is thinking I made up this money, I didn't. I don't do that kind of thing. Go to the FL Division of Elections site and you can search for campaign contributions. They will all show up.

Maybe I'll take a look at the lobbyists later and see which interests Crist is getting money from. I'll post it when I do, just for the fyi.

[Phyllis]

Tom Gallagher is blessed to have Fl Voter in his corner. Nobody works harder for a cause.

Come September 5, the real deal candidates will shine forth. I've made up my mind...Tom Gallagher for governor, Katherine Harris for senator. It's really a no-brainer.

[floriduh voter]

Tutstar, you are a diligent researcher and fact checker. Maybe Crist doesn't want to debate because he'll get questions about fundraising.

I hope the Fla Elections Commission isn't giving Charlie Crist a pass because they want him to win.

[floriduh voter]

NOTICE: If you visit the Florida State Boards, the guideline is that it be a place for announcements.

Save yourself some grief and be sure that if you post there, you post in the form of an announcement and keep it short.

Phyllis, thank you for your compliment. Politics is harder than ever, even for grassrooters in the trenches.

[tiredoflaundry]

placemark

[JulieRNR21]

As you may know, I have been posting campaign schedules for Katherine Harris on the FL Message Board for a few months but have refused to get drawn into any opinion posting on that board.

I believe that discussions of various candidates should only be done on threads.

That said....I want to go on record as a Gallagher supporter. In spring 2005 I met Tom & Charlie and heard them both speak before their announcements for governor.

Tom was very supportive of Teri's right to life and he was outspoken about it. I do not recall Crist taking a position at that time.

Tom came across to me as authentic and a true conservative particularly on family values. I found Crist to be more 'slick than substantive'......and my first impression has gotten stronger as the campaign has progressed.

I especially didn't like Crist's 'call' for Gallagher to drop out of the race. I say ...let the FL GOP voters decide whom they want to fill Jeb's big shoes. I think the August debates will be a big factor in that decision!

[floriduh voter]

It was a bad move by Fasano, et al, to ask Tom Gallagher to drop out. It looked like and was a bullying tactic. I believe it backfired for the Crist camp.

I support Tom Gallagher too and I have a clearer understanding of the purpose of the state boards.

I hadn't been there for a few years and freepers used to throw everything including the kitchen sink there.

[floriduh voter]

PAUL TIMMERMAN AWARE OF CRIST'S FAILURE TO ACT: As you know, Paul Timmerman has been in touch with Rep. Dave Simmons about pursuing the impeachment of Judge Greer. I hope they get that show on the road before Greer retires or taxpayers will be paying Greer $140K plus bennies forever, including his wife Pat.

Paul Timmerman sends this email for distribution to explain Charlie Crist's failure to protect Terri's civil rights.

"Friends in Florida,

Charlie Crist DID NOT UPHOLD HIS OATH OF OFFICE AS ATTORNEY GENERAL.

If he had, Terri Schindler- Schiavo would be alive today. All Crist had to do was enforce the FL. Guardianship Laws. Why didn't he? Is it for the same reason he will NOT prosecute Medicaid Fraud?

I ASK YOU TO VOTE FOR TOM GALLAGHER FOR GOVERNOR!

Sincerely,Paul

http://www.tg2006.com/

[floriduh voter]

The media isn't covering a Ukrainian donation that Crist returned.

"One of Crist's backers has been real estate mogul Donald Trump, whose guests at a Crist fundraiser included a former Ukrainian official in the country illegally, and the owner of a company under investigation by Crist's office. Crist later returned the donations from the companies under investigation, while the Ukrianian official's fee was paid by another guest.

Further controversy set in, however, with ethics complaints against Crist and his chief of staff for failing to investigate a major donor, personnel firm Convergys, that has been plagued by lawsuits and jail sentences for its role in failing to adequately protect the social security numbers of state employees."

Is Mr. Ukraine and Convergys isolated incidents?

[OPS4]

CRIST in 2006!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[floriduh voter]

Mr. Ukrainian official was in the country illegally. Note that he stayed at the Crist fundraiser in NJ and didn't have to worry about ICE picking him up. Charlie Crist in the presence of an illegal Ukrainian and that wasn't the issue. Returning the money became the issue. That is Donald Trump's world, not the average Floridian's.

[Dante3]

The more I hear about Crist, the worse he appears. His preoccupation with death is downright scary.

[JulieRNR21]

Just got this in a Right to Life email....

looks to me that a line has been drawn in the sand for those who care about the sanctity of human life!

---

Crist would vote for embryonic research

TALLAHASSEE (Gannett News Service) – Florida Republican gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Crist said he disagreed with President Bush’s veto of a bill to expand federal support for embryonic stem cell research.

The comment puts him at odds with his primary challenger, Tom Gallagher, who has courted religious conservative voters by opposing such stem-cell research policies.

Attorney General Crist said he probably would have voted for the bill, if he were in the U.S. Senate.

Crist said: "I think there’s new innovations that have come along that say you don’t have to use the embryonic stem cell in order to get the advantage of the research. I think that’s something that is going to make this a much better situation for the future of all Americans and all people. I probably would have tried to modify the bill to include that kind of new technology, but I probably would have voted for it."

Gallagher praised Bush’s veto, and Christian conservatives are expected to make the topic a wedge issue in the election. "As governor I will fight any attempt to divert taxpayer dollars toward embryonic stem cell research or any other practice which diminishes the worth and human dignity of innocent life," Gallagher said.

[NonValueAdded]

That's twice now that Crist had the opportunity to come down on the side of life and he demurred - OK, he downright said NO. That's it for him.

[tiredoflaundry]

Gallagher it is for me!

[JulieRNR21]

Also got this in the same email:

Embryo destruction is worse than abortion

by Professor Richard Stith
Valparaiso (Ind) University School of Law

(LifeSiteNews.com) -- Funding of destructive embryo research is actually worse than legal abortion.

One might argue that abortion involves not only killing but betrayal; parents destroy a child entrusted to them, but the scientist who dissects an embryo is not harming his own offspring.

Yet, someone choosing abortion need not be completely set against life. She typically does not want abortion with all of her heart. Rather, she is filled with panic; if circumstances were better, she would let her child live.

By contrast, the scientist seeking funding for embryonic stem cell research wants to destroy life ­- and convince the public to pay for it. His lethal aim is not even contingent in the sense that "if only there were another possible route to cures," no embryo killing would occur.

Embryonic stem cell research is wholly dehumanizing. The embryos become resources to be calculated and consumed. They are degraded before they are destroyed. Like human embryos created by cloning, they do not die as unwanted children, or even as human beings, but as things to be used and used up. No greater negation of human dignity is possible.

Full column at http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jul/06071901.html

[Theodore R.]

What's also sad is that GWB's unpopular veto will almost certainly be cast aside in 2009; no matter who succeeds him, the next president is likely to favor this procedure.

[JulieRNR21]

It was a bad move by Fasano, et al, to ask Tom Gallagher to drop out. It looked like and was a bullying tactic. I believe it backfired for the Crist camp.

---

Several letters to the editor published in the Tampa Tribune today - in response to the article detailing the letters that Sen. Fasano , Rep.Kottkamp and 8 other Legislators sent to Gallagher, asking him to withdrawal from the Governor's race.

I don't think this was the reaction the Crist Campaign was expecting.


Published: Jul 22, 2006

Voters Deserve Choices

Regarding "Gallagher Is Asked To End Race" (Metro, July 14):

I am a registered Republican, and I was shocked and a little disgusted
after reading the article about Tom Gallagher being asked to withdraw
from the primary race. I don't know who I will vote for in the primary,
but I want to be able to vote. These legislators and Charlie Crist, who
was presumably behind these letters, have no right to assume the Florida voters will so easily give up their voice in this election.

If Crist wants the Republican nomination, he needs to earn it. He needs
to tell us why he deserves it. He needs to publicly tell us where he
stands. Why can't the voters see the two candidates debate? Gallagher
has offered to debate Crist numerous times, but Crist refuses. Why? The
public wants to see these two debate issues instead of mudslinging. The
public deserves to know what their candidates stand for.

(name)
Tampa

Best Interest Of Party?

After reading the article about Tom Gallagher being asked to withdraw
from the race for the Republican nomination for governor, I am trying to
understand why 10 of our legislators would do such a thing. They claim
to be looking out for the party to unite the GOP so they will have a
better chance in November, but how does this make the Florida Republican Party look?

I am a registered Republican, I vote in primaries and I was looking
forward to hearing information from both candidates and choosing the one I thought would best represent the Republican Party. But instead of
hearing the candidates debate the issues, this is what I am given.
Charlie Crist needs to give me a reason to vote for him by telling me
where he stands and not try to win this race without an election.

(name)
Lutz

Questions Conservatism

The letter by Charlie Crist's supporters asking Tom Gallagher to drop out of the race is proof-positive his campaign is scared. He is scared because he knows he stands against the majority of the Republican Party on overturning Roe vs. Wade, or when Gov. Bush and the conservatives in Florida fought for Terri Schiavo's life. In addition, Mr. Crist keeps running scared from Tom Gallagher's repeated efforts for a detailed debate schedule.

The attorney general needs to stop running and tell conservatives in Florida why he has stood against us on the issues we hold dearest to our hearts.

(name)
Clearwater Beach

Letter Was Act Of Fear

I find myself, as an undecided Republican, asking why these legislators
would seek to remove the choice from Florida voters. They claim in the
letter that they are concerned with the direction the Republican primary
campaign and how it will affect the party's chances come November. I
have to agree with them in their concern because this has been a
campaign of mudslinging without a focus on the issues. I am tired of
hearing claims that Crist is the best hope to succeed Jeb and Gallagher
is more conservative. I want to hear issues, and so far Crist has
refused to debate the issues with his opponent.

This letter from the 10 legislators is, in my opinion, an act of fear
and yet another refusal by Crist to take a stand and try to show the
people why he should be elected.

(name)