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Hi Dog,

See the text I put in bold in the article below.

In light of what I truthfully wrote and explained in this essay, it's amusing to me that four out of five campaigning Dem gov candidates have now decided not to say to FL voters:

"Never forget what happened in Nov 2000."

LOL...

Article:

Democratic Candidates Blast Bush

Democratic Candidates Blast Bush

Four of the party's gubernatorial hopefuls network at a Polk fund-raiser.

Sunday, February 17, 2002

By BILL RUFTY
The Ledger

LAKELAND -- The Democratic Party in Polk County is back.

At least that was the feeling of officials and rank-and-file party members Saturday night as Democratic candidates for governor came to Lakeland.

The event was the Jefferson- Jackson Dinner at Cleveland Heights Golf & Country Club in Lakeland, and Republican Gov. Jeb Bush was the main course, served up in fiery remarks by the gubernatorial candidates.

State House Democratic leader Lois Frankel, state Sen. Darryl Jones, former Holland & Knight managing partner Bill McBride and former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno all took swipes at Bush, the man each wants to face in this fall's election. The Democrats will compete in the Sept. 10 primary, and the winner will face Bush in the Nov. 5 general election.

The $50-a-plate Lakeland event was a fund-raiser for the Polk County Democratic Executive Committee. Organizers opened an additional room to increase the seating to 243, but they still had to turn down others who wanted to attend, said Polk County Democratic Party Chair Sharon Becker.

"The message is: It is OK to be a Democrat again," Becker said of the crowd. "Our policies make more sense, but they don't fit on a bumper sticker. They are more complicated and more compassionate."

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, the only Democrat to carry Polk County in 2000, could not be at the event, but his 25-year-old daughter, Nan Ellen Nelson, a professional singer, led the audience in "God Bless America" and then sang one of her original songs.

As the candidates arrived, makeshift receiving lines popped up around each, nearly crowding out people trying to find a table.

The four candidates blasted Bush for what they said was his inaction on education, health care and other key social issues.

"His idea of education reform is the FCAT (test), and he uses it as a substitute for the real way to improve education -- paying teachers competitive wages, more attention to the early grades and reducing class size," Frankel said. "He has no plan other than some bill floating around that will allow advertising on school buses."

"Jeb Bush has done nothing with education, health care and the resources that were necessary to move this state ahead," Reno said as she was approached by a long line of well-wishers.

McBride, who gave up dinner to work the tables and shake hands with as many diners as he could, said the party has to get the word out to voters about the current governor.

"He ran on Democratic Party principles and has governed from the far right," McBride said. "He has not served Florida well."

But it was Jones, who suffered at the hands of GOP senators when then-President Clinton tried to appoint him secretary of the Air Force, who had the hottest of the criticisms.

"When you are as close to the situation as I am (in the Florida Senate), you quickly realize that the governor is running this state into the ground," Jones said. "When you know what he is doing and what the possibilities can be, you can either walk into the sunset or stand and fight. And I intend to fight."

A fifth [Dem] candidate, Bob Kunst of Miami, was outside in the parking lot protesting because he was not allowed to sit at the head table and speak.

"I figure they will all split the boring vote, and I'll win the vote of those who are angry," said Kunst, who is traveling the state with placards proclaiming that Bush "stole" the 2000 election for his brother, President Bush.

Mainstream Democrats at the event were careful to distance themselves from Kunst. They said the way for the party to win is to focus on the future and the issues.

Much of the focus inside the building Saturday night was on the Democratic Party's hopes in Polk County.

Among those attending were past and present party movers and shakers, including Homer Hooks and his wife, Lois Harrison, Polk Tax Collector Joe Tedder, unsuccessful congressional candidate Mike Stedem, former Tax Collector Hobson Strain, state party secretary, Juanita Geathers, state Committeeman Bob Grizzard and former state Sen. Scott Kelly of Lakeland, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1966.

"I can't recall the last time we had a turnout like this," Kelly said.

He said he hoped the party has learned from past mistakes and will use the successful event as a new start.

"We failed to get the young, bright candidates," Kelly said of the fall of Democratic Party dominance in Polk elective offices that began in 1996. "We sat on our laurels while the other side didn't.

"We have to get out and recruit the best candidates and teach them how to get the message across."

Bill Rufty can be reached at bill.rufty@theledger.com or 863-802-7523.