Posted on 10/18/2002 1:33:46 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
ORLANDO, Fla. - A couple that held a fund-raiser Thursday for Bill McBride, Florida's Democratic nominee for governor, have fought for years to end the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and once had Elian Gonzalez over for dinner.
Elizabeth Bagley, President Clinton's ambassador to Portugal, and her husband, Smith Bagley, an heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune, were expected to raise more than $100,000 for McBride at their home in Washington, D.C.
When told about the Bagleys' anti-embargo background, McBride campaign manager Cathy Kelly said, "I don't know about this."
McBride could cost himself votes among Florida's Cuban-American community if he's seen as soft on the 40-year-old embargo, which bans most trade and travel between the United States and Cuba.
Despite his dinner with the Bagleys, McBride supports the embargo and doesn't believe it should be lifted until Fidel Castro guarantees human rights and takes steps toward democracy, spokesman Alan Stonecipher said.
"Just because you know somebody or meet somebody or go to their dinner or house doesn't mean you hold the same views," Stonecipher said.
Republican Gov. Jeb Bush generally has the support of Cuban-Americans in Florida. Stonecipher noted the governor was being endorsed by Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, a Democrat who recently traveled to Cuba to meet with Castro.
"If we're going to have guilt by association, it's going to play both ways," he added.
Bush spokesman Todd Harris had no immediate comment.
A foundation run by Smith Bagley, the Arca Foundation, spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on efforts to change U.S. policy toward Cuba and promote cultural and educational exchanges between the countries.
The Bagleys held a dinner for Elian Gonzalez and his father while they awaited their return to Cuba. A month earlier, armed federal agents seized the then 6-year-old boy from his relatives' Miami home.
Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, an anti-Castro think tank in Washington, said he couldn't be too critical of McBride.
"Mr. McBride's first priority at this point has very little to do with the Cuban American population ... He's looking for money and that's a fact of life," Calzon said.
Of course, it doesn't look right. They were accomplices in a kidnapping plot. NOW THERE'S A LITTLE BOY ON MEDS WHO MISSES HIS FLORIDA FAMILY AND MICKEY MOUSE. They have no mickey mouse in Cuba - but I'm sure the cells of political prisoners are full of rats.
I just gave him some questions to ask Bill McBride that I don't think he can dodge, weave or attempt to answer. I believe the questions I supplied to Tim Russert would cause McBride to faint at the podium. McBride has his pat, prepared remarks that he can't even do well. I did tell Russert via email that at least Janet Reno had a brain. She talked slow but she could at least finish a sentence and we knew what she meant - even though we may have disagreed with her. Fregards and thanks for the email address.
DU lurkers, lol.
"Isn't it true that the real reason the teacher's unions and the NAACP is trying to defeat Jeb Bush is because his One Florida education plan is proving that school choice and cancelling affirmative action helps minority students, taking power away from two of the biggest left-wing political activist groups?" "Why would black Floridians be angry at Jeb unless the NAACP and others are lying to them?" "Did you know that black Republicans in Dem. precincts had the greatest number of tossed ballots during election 2000?"
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