Posted on 09/28/2002 4:10:06 PM PDT by windchime
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: TODD HARRIS SEPTEMBER 27, 2002 850-224-4532
Bill McBride: 60 Minutes of Debate, 60 Seconds of Specifics
Jacksonville – Corporate lawyer Bill McBride tonight spent 60 minutes debating, but offered only about 60 seconds worth of specifics. In fact, as he had for the past year, McBride tonight offered plenty of slick rhetoric, but was woefully short of the details of how to actually pay for all he has promised. In fact, a simple look at McBride’s web page reveals that the average length of his economic “plan,” his environmental “plan” and his health care “plan,” is about 60 words. His plan to fight crime is…well, there is no crime plan at all.
Tonight Gov. Jeb Bush articulated his specific record of accomplishment and leadership over the last four years, and offered Floridians a detailed vision for his second term. Corporate lawyer Bill McBride however, as he has done for the past year, continued to waffle and slide around the issues, presenting only a series of vague promises and easy solutions.
For over a year Floridians have been waiting for McBride to explain how he plans to pay for the billions in promises he has made along the campaign trail. Tonight, McBride’s message was simple: Keep waiting.
Despite the fact that he is running ads promising a better environment and new jobs, McBride to this day has yet to release any plans to address these two important issues. Nor has he issued a campaign plan to deal with crime, or health care or economic growth. In fact, according to his web page, McBride’s entire “plan” to manage Florida’s $472 billion economy is all of 92 words long. His “platform” regarding how he would care for Florida’s precious environment is 57 words. And his approach to tackling the issue of health care can be summed up in a whopping 104 words.
Tonight the voters of Florida heard fiction from Bill McBride rather than the truth -- voters deserve better, they deserve facts. _______________________________________________________________________________
McBride Fiction vs. Fact
Fiction: Bill McBride says he has a detailed plan to pay for his education plan.
Fact: How will we pay for education? Governor Bush has detailed that Bill McBride has not provided a plan based on reality for paying for the $30 billion class size amendment and billions for readiness and other education. A 1% move in general revenue to the education budget will de-fund vital programs such as those for seniors and child welfare.
Fiction: FCAT should not be used to measure the progress of our schools.
Fact: Under Governor Bush’s A+ Plan, we now have true accountability and higher standards, with schools focused now more than ever on student achievement. If Bill McBride has his way and removes all the teeth out of the FCAT, Florida schools stand to lose $2.5 billion in federal funding over five years. The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act requires a state accountability system with yearly student assessments, and testing must be the primary means for determining performance. Even Senators Daschle, Clinton, Graham, and Kennedy voted to give reading and math tests to grades 3-8 to identify low-performing schools. In Florida, real teachers and administrators review all FCAT questions.
Fiction: We’ve got an economic crisis, and the Governor seems to ignore it.
Fact: Bill McBride has recommended no plan to promote economic growth except for a 92-word paragraph. McBride said when he was at the Florida Chamber of Commerce three years ago, people didn’t want to come to Florida. This week, a nationwide survey ranked Florida’s business climate third in the nation. While other states like California, Michigan, and Ohio are raising taxes or drastically cutting services as a result of budget deficits as high as $23 billion, Florida’s budget is balanced and our economy is strong. Our continuing commitment and efforts to strengthen and diversify Florida’s economy have paid off – Florida is a national leader in job growth with 600,000 more jobs since 1999. In August, Florida led the nation in job growth, and of the 10 most populous states, Florida was the only one to receive positive job growth. Florida also ranks 5th in the country in the creation of high-tech jobs. Our economic growth is due in no small part to broad-based tax relief. Since 1998, we have cut taxes by $6 billion – reducing the state tax burden to its lowest point in a decade, while continuing to fund Florida’s priorities, such as education, child welfare, developmental disabilities at record levels. With this tax relief, Floridians can choose how to best spend their own money, and boost the economy at the same time.
Fiction: For four years, child welfare has languished, and Governor Bush has not lived up to his promises.
Fact: We have made improvements to Florida’s child welfare system – doubled funding, increased adoptions by 70%, and decreased the average child’s time in foster care by over 6 months. But we still have much more work to do to ensure that every child is safe. In addition to meaningful reforms within DCF, we are working with community organizations to help repair families in need and to care for over 45,000 children who have led unthinkably tragic lives. Fulfilling the goals Governor Bush set forth in 1998, Florida now has twelve counties where community-based agencies handle cases, doubled the funding for Healthy Families, and more local Sheriffs departments conducting child abuse investigations. Following the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel, the Department of Children and Families is requesting $221 million in increased funding for next year - $88.7 million for more workers, $48.4 million to increase pay for frontline staff, $37.2 million for laptop computers, and $47.3 million for further preventative services, such as Healthy Families.
Fiction: Governor Bush’s school construction plan is a late election epiphany.
Fact: Governor Bush supports smaller class sizes. As part of his Blueprint for Achievement, the Governor has proposed Classrooms for Kids, which will dedicate the growth of the Communication Services Tax (CST) sales tax revenue over the next five years to provide $235 million, yielding $2.8 billion in school construction and renovation funds for Florida’s 67 local school districts. This translates into 12,000 new classrooms. On the other hand, the class size amendment will force the state to cut critical services for seniors, developmentally disabled, public safety, and allow no room for increased teacher pay. Spending cuts alone would not pay for the high cost of this amendment, creating an additional tax burden on every Florida household.
Fiction: If I were Governor, I would have made prescription drugs my number one priority.
Fact: On July 31, Bill McBride promised Floridians a prescription drug plan, and he’s yet to deliver. His website has a vague paragraph about health care with 104 words. Governor Bush didn’t wait for Congress. Governor Bush has led. He acted to provide help to Florida’s neediest seniors today through the Silver Saver program, which provides a comprehensive drug benefit of $160 per month for nearly 60,000 low-income seniors. Under Governor Bush, the availability of prescription drugs for seniors has expanded dramatically. Bill McBride has no prescription drug plan.
Fiction: Bill McBride has a plan to reduce crime.
Fact: Bill has no plan to reduce crime and has proposed nothing. The law enforcement community knows who the better candidate is. Governor Bush has been endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association, 38 Florida Sheriffs, and the Fraternal Order of Police, among others. Tough sentencing laws such as 10-20-Life and Three-Strikes-and-You’re-Out have led to the lowest crime rates in the state since 1972. That is real leadership.
Fiction: Bill McBride has a plan to protect the environment and manage growth.
Fact: Bill McBride’s plan to protect the environment and manage growth is 57 words long. Under Governor Bush, Florida is moving forward with a massive $8 billion Everglades Restoration plan. Water funding for restoration and wastewater are now at record levels. The threat of offshore drilling has been eliminated by the buy out of oil and gas leases, and the prohibition of lease sales off the coast of Florida. And Florida Forever is providing $3 billion for land preservation over the next ten years.
Fiction: One Florida was a bad program. One Florida took away a lot of opportunities for people.
Fact: One Florida has increased minority enrollment and minority contracting in the state of Florida. African- American enrollment increased this year at the University of Florida by 43%. Minority contracting has increased by 232% in Governor’s agencies. Bill McBride supports unfair set asides, quotas and price preferences. One Florida proves there is a better way. ###
Please visit our website at www.jeb.org.
1. McBride was negative; Bush was positive. A standard ploy of all challengers is to point out the failings of the incumbent. The problem for McBride is that the incumbent has made great strides in righting Florida's ship.
Bush did an excellent job pulling the teeth from McBride's argument. Are there problems in the schools? Yes, but the situation is better than it was and continuing to improve.
2. Appearance. McBride had on the better suit and tie, but his clothes don't fit well and he looks uncomfortable. Jeb's suit fit well, but a darker color would have been better for TV. Others may disagree, adhering to the 'earth tones' theory (grin).
McBride was uncomfortable in the debate. He smile looked 'frozen' and more a grimace than a grin. Bush was more relaxed - serious but friendly. McBride's hand waving distracted viewers from his message. His speech is halting, not from a speech impediment, I think, but more the case of a candidate trying to remember what comes next in the memorized text.
3. McBride tried the typical Dem ploy of portraying himself as a 'man of the people' with his story of picking oranges. This was a not so subtle attempt to contrast his background with Jeb's. Bush, however, was MUCH smarter than the average Republican, and did not allow himself to be drawn into that discussion.
This has probably been mentioned elsewhere, but McBride managed to work in a reference to the military, again subtly reminding viewers he is a Veteran.
McBride also tried this tactic by repeating that Bush must not have been out in public or in schools or he would agree with McBride. Again, Bush did not allow himself to be tagged with the 'I care more than you do' argument. Bush brilliantly turned this on McBride by relating specific stories about schools, naming names (always a good idea!), showing he is in touch with the people he serves.
The person who prepped Bush about the traffic situation earned a raise. Excellent rebuttal, given with humor and without stumbling around for an answer.
4. McBride's lack of experience as a practicing lawyer was evident in his closing argument....his was weak and lacking specifics. He did not do the ONE thing all challengers have to do: give the viewer a reason to vote FOR him, rather than AGAINST Bush.
Bush, OTOH, had an excellent closing argument. He carefully blended his past triumphs with pointing out that more needed to be done. In other words, he gave the viewer a reason to vote FOR him.
I could go on (grin), but I won't. McBride's lack of experience in business AND government was evident. Bush was calm and controlled, but 'warm'. It's difficult to project that in such a setting, but he pulled it off.
"Gov. Jeb Bush's cool confidence in his record rose above maverick Democrat Bill McBride's nervousness and difficulty with detail in their first head-to-head confrontation." (Orlando Sentinel)
"The governor succeeded in his key goal: tagging his opponent as 'vague' about a number of important issues as the folksy McBride spoke in sweeping generalities." (Orlando Sentinel)
"McBride appeared flummoxed by [the hate crimes and environment] questions, offering little in the way of experience or ideas for the future." (Tampa Tribune)
"McBride didn't practice for the debate and it showed." (Sun Sentinel)
"In response to a question about hate crimes, McBride gave a fuzzy answer about treating everyone equally, while Bush spoke with specifics about visiting a Muslim mosque in Pinellas County." (St. Pete Times)
McBride "flubbed several lines, offered halting opening and closing statements, delivered mostly in a drooping monotone, and did little to silence critics who accuse him of lacking substance." (Miami Herald)
"McBride, at the same time, froze when confronted with questions to which he isn't accustomed. He fumbled the hate-crimes question, finally settling on a vague remark on people who are mistreated 'because of who they are.' On the environment, McBride could offer only a vague suggestion that he would bring people together." (Miami Herald)
Debate Moderator Michael Putney on WPLG-TV after the debate: "I think both candidates had their innings both candidates did score some points, but frankly I thought that Bill McBride was a little flat a little unfocused at times and I think he really had more to gain from a good showing tonight then Jeb Bush...Bill McBride needed to show that he had a good command of Florida's government and mostly he did, but there were a few times when maybe he did not."
Bendix also played Babe Ruth in a movie and starred in “Wake Island”.
Good character actor!
Re: Crime, McBride remarked that crime = robbin' people. This guy's a simpleton and I can't figure out how he became managing partner unless his wife got him the job. I think they probably shared clients and that's why he doesn't mention his wife.
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