McBride campaign entwines with teachers union

The unusual interlacing of his campaign and the teachers group is assailed by the governor as an "umbilical cord." In the small hours of the morning after last week's election, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride raised his voice over more than 100 cheering supporters to thank his wife, Alex Sink, and then called another woman to the stage.

As cameras flashed, McBride held upraised hands with Maureen Dinnen, the president of the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union. Then he called up Pat Tornillo, the union's boss in Miami-Dade County, to thank him, too.

Education has been the centerpiece of McBride's campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor. But education is more than a big issue. The union is involved in his campaign at every level, from strategy to communications.

Not in recent history has a Florida candidate been so publicly entwined with a single interest group, political analysts say.

The link became even stronger Monday when Cathy Kelly, the union's director of government relations, was named McBride's campaign manager. She's on loan to the campaign until the Nov. 5 election. The union will pay her salary but lend her services to the Florida Democratic Party, which in turn assigned her to the McBride campaign.

McBride credits the union with enabling a "very ordinary man like me" to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

"People will write the story of this election, and they will say that the school teachers and crossing guards and the cafeteria workers and education support professionals and the working men and women of Florida have had enough," McBride told nearly 200 FEA members in Orlando Saturday.

"It was hard to get their endorsement because they wanted to make sure I shared their same values. But once I got it, they were real warriors and real soldiers. Even back when we were at 5 percent in the polls, they were out on the street corners, waving signs."

-- Through a special political action committee whose contributors are secret, the union spent more than $2-million to produce and air two TV advertisements that helped elevate McBride from Tampa lawyer to statewide candidate, erasing Reno's 30-point lead.

-- The union and its affiliates gave $292,229 to the state Democratic Party, which heavily subsidized McBride's campaign, and $15,626 directly to McBride. It also provided more than $50,000 in in-kind donations to the party, such as fliers, posters and consulting.

-- Tony Welch, the union's communications director, also is on loan to the McBride campaign. Like Kelly, his salary is being paid by the union and his services lent to the state Democratic Party, which is assigning him to the campaign.

Dinnen and her staff helped McBride craft his education policy, and she has advised him on his choice of running mates. As the campaign manager, Kelly will oversee all aspects of McBride's race.

Kelly worked on U.S. Sen. Bob Graham's winning gubernatorial campaigns in 1978 and 1982 and on his Senate campaign in 1986. She replaces Robin Rorapaugh, who has left the campaign. A statement from McBride lauded Kelly's knowledge of Florida politics and organizational skills. Rorapaugh and McBride reportedly had personality differences.

The Bush campaign hopes to portray McBride as a pawn of the teachers union. Bush has clashed with the union over teacher pay, school grading and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which McBride has pledged to change.

Monday, Bush called the union McBride's "umbilical cord," and said he doesn't believe it represents most teachers.

"The union matters because they've provided a vehicle for him to get millions of dollars that are not reported, where we don't know where the money's coming from," Bush said.

"They've made it possible for him to be a viable candidate, and he has said that the union officials would have an office in the governor's office, which is breathtaking if you think about it. . . . We're talking about a quid pro quo here that is kind of disturbing."

McBride's spokesman and Dinnen said McBride was speaking figuratively. "He was saying that his door is going to be open, and he is going to seek our advice very openly," Dinnen said.

McBride continued his pro-education message Monday, visiting a prekindergarten center at Prayer Tower Christian Academy. Bouncing kids on his knee, he talked up the importance of strong state support for pre-K education programs.

With 120,000 members, the teachers union was McBride's first and most important major supporter. In January, it formally endorsed him over Reno. Because it dominates the Florida AFL-CIO, an endorsement from that group quickly followed.

Lance deHaven-Smith, a public policy professor at Florida State University, could not recall a case in modern Florida history where a union had such a dramatic impact on a campaign. It opens McBride to criticism that he is too close to one interest group, he said.

"Teacher support may translate to the conclusion on people's part that McBride is very good on education," said deHaven-Smith. "It may be a test of people's perception of the teachers union."

My mother taught public school for twenty-five years, and noted the decline in standards paralleled the rise of unions.

My sister left public education after twenty-five years for the immense satisfaction of private teaching.

Teachers' unions are for teachers, so teachers can work less and be paid more.

Otherwise they'd be called student unions, or education unions.

Union "donations" to candidates are similar to the way Edgar Bergen "donated" his voice to Charlie McCarthy and "donated" his hand up Charlie's clymer to make him move.

McBride is a puppet of a RICO PAC.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Go Jeb.

As cameras flashed, McBride held upraised hands with Maureen Dinnen, the president of the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union. Then he called up Pat Tornillo, the union's boss in Miami-Dade County, to thank him, too.

Believe me, McLawyer just lost a bunch of votes from TEACHERS in Miami-Dade with this move, praising Pat Tornillo, who is so intensely disliked by some Miami teachers that they dropped out of the union.

The link became even stronger Monday when Cathy Kelly, the union's director of government relations, was named McBride's campaign manager. She's on loan to the campaign until the Nov. 5 election. The union will pay her salary but lend her services to the Florida Democratic Party, which in turn assigned her to the McBride campaign.

This would be EXTREMELY disturbing news to many FL teachers who are paying "union dues" - uh, I meant - McLawyer's campaign staff's SALARY.

"People will write the story of this election, and they will say that the school teachers and crossing guards and the cafeteria workers and education support professionals and the working men and women of Florida have had enough," McBride told nearly 200 FEA members in Orlando Saturday.

Many "working men and women" are supporting Gov. Bush. These Bush supporters include nurses, health workers, police, firefighters and FL teachers. A more "ordinary" group of working people - supporting this current gov - one could not find.

But it was far more than sign-waving. Consider:

-- Through a special political action committee whose contributors are secret, the union spent more than $2-million to produce and air two TV advertisements that helped elevate McBride from Tampa lawyer to statewide candidate, erasing Reno's 30-point lead.

-- The union and its affiliates gave $292,229 to the state Democratic Party, which heavily subsidized McBride's campaign, and $15,626 directly to McBride. It also provided more than $50,000 in in-kind donations to the party, such as fliers, posters and consulting.

-- Tony Welch, the union's communications director, also is on loan to the McBride campaign. Like Kelly, his salary is being paid by the union and his services lent to the state Democratic Party, which is assigning him to the campaign.

Most teachers have NO CLUE their union dues money is spent this way. Gov Bush should create a tv commercial simply raising this question: Do you know where your dues goes? (And, have a simple quiz.) Every teacher in this state would fail it. Teachers actually believe their dues money goes toward services for teachers. Not hardly.

"They've made it possible for him to be a viable candidate, and he [McLawyer] has said that the union officials would have an office in the governor's office, which is breathtaking if you think about it. . . . We're talking about a quid pro quo here that is kind of disturbing."

McBride's spokesman and Dinnen said McBride was speaking figuratively. "He was saying that his door is going to be open, and he is going to seek our advice very openly," Dinnen said.

No, Ms. Dinnen, that is not at all what Mr. McLawyer said nor meant. He has repeatedly bragged he would have a union office next to his in Tallahassee. A very frightening thought to me, an independent teacher, and to all other teachers in FL who are no longer in your union for various reasons. It opens McBride to criticism that he is too close to one interest group, he said.

Yes, he is way too close to one interest group, and that interest group doesn't even have the interest of its own members at heart. That's what makes this so disturbing to me. You have union officials using McLawyer's campaign and the future of FL as their personal stepping stones to bigger political futures. No wonder the teachers union never has time for new teachers.

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