Uhhhh? Don't you mean Mc Bride?
and VOTE OFTEN. And show up after 7 p.m. demanding to VOTE AGAIN. You know the opposition will.
You're damned right he will. Too bad it won't be against Shaky; it would have been interesting to actually see an election go 80%/20%.
Associated Press, September 26, 2002, by Alex Veiga
MIAMI (AP) _ A state senator and a former governor who held office for three days are among a group of Democrats who have crossed party lines to back Gov. Jeb Bush over Democratic opponent Bill McBride.
State Sen. Ron Silver of North Miami, former Florida Gov. Wayne Mixson and several former state lawmakers and current mayors, all Democrats, endorsed the governor Thursday.
``I ask myself is there any reason why I should not re-endorse the governor for re-election. I cannot think of one reason,'' said Silver, who supported Bush in 1998. ``The governor has done it the old fashioned way: He has earned re-election by the people of Florida.''
Bush also picked up the endorsement of Bob Crawford, a former Democratic agriculture commissioner and the current director of Florida's Citrus Commission.
``I have served under five governors. I think he's the most effective governor we've had during that time,'' Crawford said.
Bush, who last week drew $250,000 for the Florida Republican Party from about 50 South Florida Democrats, appeared in Miami Beach Thursday afternoon along with 17 of 52 Democrats who are making up a steering committee in support of his re-election campaign.
Bush thanked the Democrats for their support and defended his record in office, particularly progress made in the number of black and Hispanic fourth-graders who can read at grade level since he became governor.
``That didn't happen by osmosis. That didn't happen by luck,'' Bush said. ``That happened because there was a focused effort to assure that children weren't left behind.''
Among those present Thursday were three former state House speakers: Don L. Tucker of Tallahassee, T.K. Wetherell of Daytona Beach and James Harold Thompson of Gretna. The mayors of Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Miami Beach were also supporting Bush.
Florida Democratic Party spokesman Ryan Banfill said the endorsements do not signal McBride is losing support from his own party, because many of the Democrats supporting Bush supported him in 1998.
``It means about 10 more votes for Jeb Bush, that's about all it means,'' Banfill said. ``The endorsement that matters is the endorsement that comes from the people of Florida by the voters who cast on Election Day, and that's the endorsement that Bill McBride will win.''
Silver was the only Democratic co-sponsor _ along with most Republicans in the Senate _ of a measure that gave businesses a $262 million tax break as part of the effort to stimulate the economy last spring.
Silver and Bush were at odds, however, on the idea of a cruise tax to help the Florida Marlins build a new stadium. Silver sponsored the tax, Bush opposed it. It never passed.
Mixson, who was former Gov. Bob Graham's lieutenant governor from 1979 to 1987 and briefly served as governor when Graham left for the U.S. Senate, donated $500 to the Bush campaign last year, according to state records.
Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle and Mixson all supported Bush's brother, President Bush, in the 2000 election.
The endorsements came a day before Bush and McBride's first televised debate and on the heels of new poll results showing the Tampa attorney has gained some ground against the governor.
A survey released Thursday by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research shows that McBride has closed to within striking distance of Bush _ 49 percent to 43 percent.
No-party candidate Bob Kunst got 1 percent. Seven percent were undecided. The phone poll of 625 registered, likely voters, conducted Sept. 22-24, had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
A similar poll by Mason-Dixon in January showed Bush with a 31 point lead over the Tampa lawyer.
A poll released Monday by MSNBC/Zogby showed Bush leading with 49 percent to McBride's 39 percent among likely Florida voters. The survey of 500 likely voters on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
``I'm pleased most of the polls show that I'm ahead,'' Bush said. ``I``m not taking anything for granted.''
State Sen. Tom Rossin, McBride's running mate, criticized Bush's leadership during a discussion with reporters on Thursday in Tallahassee.
``Many of the mistakes that he's made stem from the fact that he can't take criticism,'' Rossin said. ``He doesn't understand that working in a large organization, and the government of Florida is a very large organization, that you need all the input you possibly can get in order to lead and he can't lead because he doesn't get that input.''
Rossin was to meet with U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman Friday afternoon in Miami to discuss the campaign and attend a fund-raiser.