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We've Lost A Major Player In Political Arena

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Daniel Ruth

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2008

For starters, you need to know that Ralph Hughes and those of us in the scribbling racket got along about as well as Alberto Gonzales and the Constitution.

Hughes regarded reporters as if we were a cootie-infested alien life form and we pretty much thought of him as ... well, no sense getting into that. After all, the political gadfly has passed away at age 77.

It was an interesting, strained non-relationship. And now it's time for a truce.

Still, it is fair to say the take-no-prisoners Hughes would be uneasy with some sort of faux syrupy hail-fellow-well-met remembrance.

Hughes liked to play hardball politics. He really liked to play high inside, brush-back, hardball politics. And he was very good at it.

If you were a conservative politician in this county, this state, preferably one so far to the right you made Vlad the Impaler seem like a week-kneed, card carrying ACLU sob sister, you had no better friend than Ralph Hughes and his even better friend, Ralph Hughes' checkbook.

A Shiny Political Charm Bracelet

Hughes lavished his dollars on the likes of Hillsborough County Commissioners Jim Norman, Brian Blair, Ken Hagan, Al Higginbotham, Mark Sharpe, Kevin White and Ronda Storms, as well as Tax Collector Doug Belden, and perhaps the shiniest trinket on his political charm bracelet - Jeb Bush.

You had to believe Hughes relished the role of kingmaker, using his financial muscle to make politicians currying his favor pucker while wielding influence over the affairs of the day, from inveighing against government waste to promoting school vouchers.

Hughes was also famous for issuing frequent manifestos-du-jour on his Cast-Crete Corp. letterhead. Martin Luther wasn't this prolific.

Hughes was the Big Daddy of Hillsborough County politics and yet, it always seemed odd to me that a man who was so critical of perceived waste and inefficiency never expressed the slightest desire to run for office himself.

More Power Behind The Scenes?

But really, why bother to run for say, a single seat on the Hillsborough County Commission, when you could basically take out a long-term lease on virtually the entire board?

Which begs a question: In the wake of Hughes' passing, to whom did the mogul bequeath Norman in the will?

Perhaps there's a fair point to be made that Hughes exerted a disproportionate degree of influence on local government by virtue of his wealth.

Yet money has always been the mother's milk of "good government." There have always been individuals of affluence who imposed their will on public figures through their bank accounts.

And it should be noted that whether you loved or hated Hughes, there is no evidence he broke any laws in his political contributions.

As well, there was never any prohibition against some fat cat, rich liberal using their financial clout to rent a commissioner or two.

I suspect Hughes would have loved that kind of political fight.

But it's just a guess. Hughes would have never admitted something like that to an ink-stained, cootie-infested wretch of a scribbler.

Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.

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