Posted on 06/07/2003 6:06:15 AM PDT by summer
Posted on Sat, Jun. 07, 2003
TV ad blitz for McBride under scrutiny
BY PETER WALLSTEN AND LESLEY CLARK
pwallsten@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE - Florida elections regulators say there is good reason to believe that former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill McBride and the state's teachers union broke the law last year with a massive TV ad blitz that many believe led to McBride's stunning primary victory over former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
The state's elections commission voted late last month to proceed with an investigation that could result in multimillion-dollar fines for McBride and a special company formed by the union to produce the ads.
The issue arose last year after the state Republican Party complained that the ad campaign violated state campaign finance laws limiting individual contributions to $500. The ad campaign is valued at $1.8 million.
The commission's vote comes as the Florida Education Association is smarting from a federal investigation into its most powerful stalwart, United Teachers of Dade President Pat Tornillo, who took credit during last year's election for helping to lead the charge to anoint McBride over Reno.
`POLITICAL PAYBACK'
Lawyers for McBride and the union were quick Friday to label the investigation a political vendetta by a Republican-led Florida Elections Commission loyal to Gov. Jeb Bush -- an arch-enemy of the teachers union -- who beat McBride handily to win reelection.
''It's political payback,'' said Robert Harper, a Tallahassee criminal defense lawyer representing McBride. ``Why would they do this in the face of an election that's long over?''
The ads, which flooded the state's major media markets during McBride's underdog primary campaign, touted the Tampa lawyer as the best candidate for teachers. The union leadership -- along with other party leaders -- decided early on that McBride stood a far better chance of defeating the governor in the general election than Reno. The strategy split the party's rank and file, angering Reno's South Florida base and, experts believe, led to low turnout in the general election among blacks and other loyal Democrats.
FREE SPEECH?
Harper and union lawyer Ron Meyer argued in telephone interviews Friday that the ads, which were drafted carefully to specifically avoid asking for viewers to ''vote'' for McBride, are legal free speech.
Both noted that the commission's staff was split on whether there was a violation, but Harper acknowledged that ``it's a close legal question.
''The majority of the courts have ruled in our favor on this kind of thing, so I think we're on firm legal ground,'' Harper added.
The dispute underscores an ongoing struggle in state politics over the blurry lines between the unregulated corporate and union donations known as ''soft money'' and the stricter limits placed on candidates.
A new federal law awaiting approval by the U.S. Supreme Court bans soft money in federal races, but Florida state campaigns still thrive on it.
If they are found guilty, McBride and the FEA-backed Quality Public Education Corp. could face hefty fines -- more than $5 million for McBride and $3 million for QPEC.
Elections commissioners reached this week by telephone said they were constrained by law from discussing details of a pending investigation.
The union's complaint of political payback led four commissioners with close Republican ties to recuse themselves from the proceedings involving McBride, including former Bush aide-turned lobbyist David Rancourt and GOP operative and lobbyist Rich Heffley. Bush replaced them with temporary members, leading to a vote finding ''probable cause'' to open a full-fledged investigation of the ad campaign.
Despite accusations of partisanship, one of the commission's Democratic members said Friday he agreed with the decision [to investigate].
''If you listen to the ads word for word, they walk a fine line,'' said commission member Jimmy Patronis Jr., whose family runs a prominent seafood restaurant in Panama City Beach. ''It's hair-splitting whether they are endorsing'' McBride.
CRUX OF ISSUE
For elections officials, the crux of the issue is whether McBride's campaign -- governed by the $500 per-donor limit -- and the teachers union, which raises unregulated soft money, coordinated their efforts. McBride and his aides said during the campaign last year that they did not coordinate with the union.
But elections commission documents obtained Friday by The Herald suggest a close tie. The records point out that the union hired McBride's own media consultant, David Doak, to produce the ads.
Doak in February told commission staff that he worked on the McBride campaign, and another consultant in his firm, Frank Wilkinson, handled QPEC.
Doak told investigators that his firm ''consciously and intentionally abstained from discussing the QPEC ad with members of the McBride campaign,'' according to commission records.
But the elections commission's general counsel, Phyllis Hampton, found that 'regardless of whether the members of [the Doak firm] did or did not discuss the QPEC ad with members of the McBride campaign, the ad is not an independent expenditure . . . because there was communication with the `media consultant.' ''
TRANSACTIONS
Between July and October 2002, QPEC collected $1.9 million from 45 contributors, the three largest being the FEA at $1.5 million, trial lawyer Wayne Hogan at $100,000 and trial lawyer Robert Kerrigan at $150,000. Both Hogan and Kerrigan were vocal McBride backers.
''If these entities or individuals had contributed directly to the McBride campaign, none could have contributed more than $500 per election,'' Hampton wrote.
Hampton went on to write that the ads were critical for McBride's recognition ``across the state of Florida, which was especially important since his primary opponent, Janet Reno, had much greater name recognition.''
''McBride's campaign went in a matter of weeks from virtual obscurity to the forerunner in the Democratic primary,'' Hampton wrote.
The commission documents noted that the FEA [FL Educators Assocation - teachers union] has been cleared on at least three similar charges in the past, but that one ruling sent a warning that ``future violations will be dealt with harshly.''
Now that we've opened this can of worms, I bet you there's even more about McLawyer that is really shady. No wonder he quit his law firm for good or maybe they forced him into early retirement. Hmmmmmmm? I hope he and his wife are political history but I'm sure Alex will try to run for something.
Meanwhile, Crist for Governor in 2006. He was on tv all week about the veiled driver's license matter. I don't know if he's running but if he does, he's got my support.
Russert may use kid gloves with Tom Daschle but he let McLawyer have it probably so TR could show off.
I still have the debate threads on my bookmark page. FR transcribed all the Jeb v. McLawyer debates if anybody's interested in McLawyer's responses in light of these new developments.
I wonder how many times the FEA came up in the debates. Remember the one debate was by "radio" from Orlando?
Isn't that the one where none of us managed to get tickets?
...and a few Monday McBridism giggles from the memory banks...McBride’s Thoughts about the Universe…
"We need to start viewing Florida as one."
"It's the way I believe in my heart, that everybody will follow."
"There is profiling that goes on. I know that a lot of people are working on this."
"I think more importantly the question is just what this is all about."
"People having trouble, join me with this."
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