Florida Political ‘Family’ Would Be a Handful for June, Ward
When Beaver gets a black eye, Ward gives him tips on self-defense. (The Everett Collection)
By Tom Zucco
Associate Editor
If Florida politics were a TV show, it would air late at night on E!, after Keeping Up With the Kardashians. And it would be titled Leave It To Beaver Gone Wild.
Karen Thurman, chair of the state’s Democratic Party, would play the dutiful June Cleaver, with state Sen. John Thrasher, head of Florida’s Republican Party, as stern but fair husband Ward. The part of serial sycophant Eddie Haskell could go to Jim Greer, Jeb Bush or dozens of other contenders.
In this updated version, the Cleavers live at the corner of Dissatisfaction Boulevard and Incumbent Street, and they have eight children in various stages of rebellion. One of the kids, Charlie, just moved out. And two others, Jeff and Rick, made so much money mowing lawns they answer to no one. Then there’s Marco, Kendrick, Bill, Paula and Alex, who hate that Charlie, Rick and Jeff get all the attention.
Welcome to Florida politics circa 2010. If you’re keeping score, here’s where we stand with three months until the primaries.
• A sitting governor renounced his party and is running for the U.S. Senate as a “no party affiliation” candidate. (Charlie Crist)
• A multimllionaire real-estate investor who has never held public office, but did have Mike Tyson as his best man and Heidi Fleiss as his houseguest, is also running for the Senate. (Democrat Jeff Greene)
• A multimillionaire hospital entrepreneur who has never held public office but was forced out of a company he founded on the heels of a massive federal fraud investigation is running for governor. (Republican Rick Scott)
• And just for fun, last week Lawton Chiles III, the son of the late governor, dropped hints that he’s going to challenge Florida CFO Alex Sink in the Democratic primary for governor.
Who’s next to toss a hat into the ring? Katherine Harris? Tom Gallagher? Hulk Hogan? (In the Hulkster’s case, he would toss a bandana.)
If this were a “normal” year, Crist or Marco Rubio would take on Democrat Kendrick Meek for the U.S. Senate seat, and Republicans Bill McCollum or Paula Dockery would battle Sink for the governor’s job. A nice neat little package.
There would be a few fringe candidates of course. There always are. A former mayor of Eustis. The local chair of the Modern Whig Party. That sort of thing. But no serious threats.
But not only do we have a remarkable and unpredictable U.S. Senate race, the governor’s race should be at least as dramatic. A Mason-Dixon poll released last week showed the virtually unknown Scott is within 14 points of McCollum, with Dockery a distant third.
What in the name of Dewey Beats Truman is going on here?
“It is a very unusual and unsettled climate,” says Aubrey Jewett, professor of political science at the University of Central Florida and co-author of the book Politics In Florida. “It’s a climate I have not seen in the 20 years I’ve lived in Florida.”
Jewett thinks Florida is caught up in the same upheaval that’s gripping national politics. Democrats are in control, but President Obama’s approval rating is sinking. Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing hard for a comeback, resulting in a Washington that’s nearly paralyzed by partisan politics. All the voters see is fighting, and they don’t like it.
Add a soured economy and Florida’s 12 percent unemployment rate and the unrest grows even more.
Crist simply tapped into that feeling of frustration, as did Scott and Greene. “People are not looking for established candidates,” Jewett says. “They’re looking for a fresh face.”
Among Florida’s more than 11 million registered voters, 42 percent are Democrats, 36 percent are Republicans, 19 percent have no party affiliation and 3 percent are registered in minor parties.
Come November, Jewett says, one party will win, one will lose, “and all of a suddden, we’re back on solid footing. I suspect the parties will evolve and thrive again.
“But I don’t know if (the Ward and June Cleaver reference) is too far off the mark. It’s a sign of the political times right now. But it’s healthy for Florida politics. It gives people more choices and allows members of the party to determine which direction they want to take.”
Cynicism, Dissatisfaction in 1974
And it’s not unprecedented, although you have to go back about 35 years to the aftermath of Watergate.
“There was a large number of independent voters throughout the nation, up to a third in some states” says Darryl Paulson, a political science professor at the University of South Florida. “Watergate led to great cynicism and dissatisfaction, and this is somewhat the same thing. A reaction against both political parties.”
And that, Paulson says, opens the door for unknown candidates like Scott and Greene, which is generally a good thing.
“But there is an argument that it’s not so healthy,” he adds, “because when rich candidates finance their own campaigns, they always run under the banner of ‘I don’t owe anybody anything.’ That also means they don’t owe anything to the political citizens of the state. They’re a party of one. Accountability is a big factor.”
At least Floridians have a candidate containment program in place. The field for the Senate race is closed. But candidates for statewide office have until June 18 to qualify.
See Hulk run.
Run Hulk. Run.
